Rush hour in Utrecht

Ghost Rider

Now this is what I call a bike culture. Apologies if this has been posted before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M&feature=player_embedded#

ednwireland

suprised the guy riding over the pavement was nt instantly vaporised

(in dublin youd see carnage as people jumped the red lights and ended up under the buses and lorries)

love the comments

I wish US cities looked like that, but our fat asses would swallow the seats. Maybe if the bikes had cheese cake dangling in front of them like carrot on a stick. Hm, this is making me hungry I think I'll drive my SUV over to McDonald's and get a tub of lard to eat in the park. Oh wait... my city doesn't have any parks. We turned them all into parking lots for the McDonald's.

SleepDoc

What a fantastic video. No fat people, no day glow, no helmets. Just cycling as a normal part of a commute. Sigh. If only.

Ghost Rider

No helmets, no visi vests - what a wonderful world that would be...

SleepDoc wrote: »

What a fantastic video. No fat people, no day glow, no helmets. Just cycling as a normal part of a commute. Sigh. If only.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

niceonetom

It would drive me mental though. Get out of my way you stylishly slow bastards!!!

jwshooter

look at amount of lady cyclistes ,pity more irish girls dont up of there fat arses and get some exercise .

ludermor

Any reason why all the bikes are so upright? And generally the bikes look pretty crappy compared to bikes here? Suppose lack of hills would rule out the need for gears?

Captain Havoc

One thing I will say, here in Kilkenny we've a Green mayor (as in the political party not the colour of his skin) and he does deserve credit for trying to make conditions better for cyclists and anyone else who wants to leave the car at home. He has called a meeting of cyclists, changed the High St to one way, uses the bike himself (despite having a car) and urged people to use alternative routes. In all honesty, I don't know why you would want to drive to the city centre from any other part of the city.

*Totally uninteresting fact: Malcolm Noonan is the only Green party mayor in Ireland (quelle surprise)

bandit197

Spot the guy at 29 secs in with two bikes. How far would you get in an Irish city like that at rush hour :eek:

loyatemu

ludermor wrote: »

Any reason why all the bikes are so upright? And generally the bikes look pretty crappy compared to bikes here? Suppose lack of hills would rule out the need for gears?

same in Amsterdam - virtually everyone rides high-nelly type bikes. Don't think it anything to do with hills though (Dublin is also fairly flat).

youcancallmeal

niceonetom wrote: »

It would drive me mental though. Get out of my way you stylishly slow bastards!!!

+1
If it was like that in Dublin I would probably just start getting the bus to work. It would be an absolute nightmare cycling in big groups of cyclists that move along at a snails pace

Pigeon Reaper

ludermor wrote: »

Any reason why all the bikes are so upright? And generally the bikes look pretty crappy compared to bikes here? Suppose lack of hills would rule out the need for gears?

Upright bicycles are generally more comfortable and make sense for commuting. The bikes will have gears but normally they'd be hub gears with back pedal brakes along with lights, chain guards and carriers etc. Comfort is more important than speed for most people cycling. Those interested in speed would have second bikes for training but generally these wouldn't be used for the cycle to work. Over here we seem to have things backwards although this is changing slowly as you see more uprights around town now.

Rowley Birkin QC

Thing about the ugly bikes is that you spend so much time leaving it outside shops/pubs etc. that buying an expensive rig just leaves you wide open to having it stolen so everyone cycles heaps. Also it's so flat that anything else for city cruising is overkill. Quite comfortable to cycle.

When I lived there I bought a heap for €16, did me fine for the few months I was there, could leave it anywhere with a very basic lock with no fear of it being whipped. Most Dutch people have minimum 2 bikes too, one for commuting, one for leisure spins.

ednwireland

and i'm guessing most people dont commute that far,

Turbulent Bill

Youtube is blocked here, but I've been to Utrecht so I can imagine the sea of bikes. It's very flat, and windey streets in the city centre, so the upright bikes work fine. Very minimal security as the bikes are all pretty similar - there's little incentive to rob one over another. The main train station has an enormous (and very full) bike park.

The city is also stuffed with tall, blonde, slim women wafting down the cobbled canal banks on their high nellys. Which is nice.

morninwood

niceonetom wrote: »

It would drive me mental though. Get out of my way you stylishly slow bastards!!!

exactly what i thought when watching the vid. i would guess that the cycle paths are mandatory meaning that i wouldn't even have the option of using the road.

youcancallmeal

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

The city is also stuffed with tall, blonde, slim women wafting down the cobbled canal banks on their high nellys. Which is nice.

Congratulations you have managed to make a high nelly sound sexy :pac:

tomasrojo

This thread had a discussion about how fast you can go using cycle facitlities in Copenhagen. I was assured that it actually worked out fine in practice and one could commute 20km or so without it taking four hours.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055733187

Don't know myself; never been to Copenhagen or Utrecht.. I did cycle in Leiden in the Netherlands and some of the outlying areas, and I did find it very slow (but I was on holiday) and they also were allowing mopeds to use the cycle faciltities back then, so my Dutch friend had a rather nasty near miss. My Dublin-honed cycling wits meant I saw the gob****e much earlier.

Ant

I lived in Noordwijkerhout in the mid 90s. My daily commute was mostly through rural areas but I often I cycled to Leiden, Haarlem or Amsterdam at weekends. Can't say I ever had a problem with slow cyclists as the lanes are wide enough to allow overtaking. Sharing lanes with the brummers (mopeds) wasn't a problem as you'd normally hear them well in advance.

tomasrojo

@Ant, I wouldn't regard my experience as in anyway meaningful. It was just a few days, and I was on holiday.

I think they've since taken the mopeds off the cycle facilities, or did I imagine that?

billybigunz

I'll stick with the car I think. Good idea though for the rest to keep the roads clear.

Ant

tomasrojo wrote: »

@Ant, I wouldn't regard my experience as in anyway meaningful. It was just a few days, and I was on holiday.

I think they've since taken the mopeds off the cycle facilities, or did I imagine that?

That's quite possible. I haven't been cycled there since 96 so my experiences may not be as relevant. From looking at the video traffic conditions don't seem to have changed all that much.

Bluefoam

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Now this is what I call a bike culture. Apologies if this has been posted before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M&feature=player_embedded#

But did you notice the moon walking bear?