How the Dutch!!
Discussion
Have we done this yet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o
Worth taking 6 and a half minutes out to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o
Worth taking 6 and a half minutes out to watch.
An interesting observation is that the majority of riders are riding traditional bikes & normal clothing (not many helmets too). Riding a bike is not a big deal there, it is part of everyday life, good way to get around.
Ride a Dutch bike/Pashley etc in this country, wearing normal clothes, people stop & stare. Dress up like a tellytubby clad in the latest Team Sky lycra, you don't get a second look!
Hopefully more cycle paths etc will be laid & cycling can again become a mainstream means of transport. Its happening slowly, I guess we are like the Dutch were 50 years ago...
Ride a Dutch bike/Pashley etc in this country, wearing normal clothes, people stop & stare. Dress up like a tellytubby clad in the latest Team Sky lycra, you don't get a second look!
Hopefully more cycle paths etc will be laid & cycling can again become a mainstream means of transport. Its happening slowly, I guess we are like the Dutch were 50 years ago...
It also helps that most motorists will also be cyclists (or at least members of their family will be) hence a far greater degree of respect seems to be given to cyclists over there.
Look how well this roundabout works. If we built one like this in the UK I am sure carnage would result and the thing would be closed after a couple of days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEXD0guLQY0
Look how well this roundabout works. If we built one like this in the UK I am sure carnage would result and the thing would be closed after a couple of days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEXD0guLQY0
Loved some of the new style 'Dutch' bikes that were on show at the Cycle Show, and they got me addicted to Stroopwafles.
Wish I could justify one of these.....
http://www.thebicycleman.co.uk/dusenjager-47-p.asp
Wish I could justify one of these.....
http://www.thebicycleman.co.uk/dusenjager-47-p.asp
raceboy said:
Loved some of the new style 'Dutch' bikes that were on show at the Cycle Show, and they got me addicted to Stroopwafles.
Wish I could justify one of these.....
http://www.thebicycleman.co.uk/dusenjager-47-p.asp
them's kool, them isWish I could justify one of these.....
http://www.thebicycleman.co.uk/dusenjager-47-p.asp
I'm sure I saw one of those bikes locked up at Gunwharf Quays in Pompey earlier this year, and couldn't identify it on t'interweb.
It looked really well built, with the lights built in to the top tube and a host of little innovations all over. Thank you, raceboy, for posting the link. I now know where to look if I decide to get another bike.
I love the Dutch approach to creating harmonious spaces for cycling but not their bikes. I'm a fan of modern lightweight machines but having done the Birmingham Skyride this summer, I loved the diversity of bikes that people brought with them.
I can't see our government having the popular vote/backing for doing this. Although more and more people cycle here every year, there's a lot of hatred for cyclists from the ignorant motorist. I don't think we're as culturally "aligned" to cycling as the Dutch are which is a shame for us cyclists.
I would have thought the key to the cycling revolution here would be the banning of cars in more and more cities. London seems the most obvious place - leaving exceptions for taxis (so people can get themselves and their luggage to hotels) and delivery vehicles but perhaps limiting their operational time-frames.
London is the only city to have a genuinely useful public transport system so removing cars (at first) and then limiting other traffic from the streets there seems more likely to work than in other cities. It wouldn't be a huge shock either, as London has already "suffered" limitations due to the congestion charge and LEZ, and the introduction of the Boris Bikes shows the direction politicians are looking.
I wonder how high the congestion charge would need to go before people stopped using their cars there. I recall a short drop in car usage in London following its original introduction but then the numbers started to rise again. If they raised the price to the point where people stopped driving into London in their masses, a total removal of traffic wouldn't be so hard for the public to swallow.
And once London had done it, other cities could follow.
On the Birmingham Skyride, people drove to the periphery of the route, parked-up, and rode around. This was only a limited course provided for cyclists too - the majority of other roads in Brum remained open - but it proved the point. Brum's different to London though in not having such a good public transport system. An underground/tube system would be prohibitively expensive but until the 1950s Birmingham had a tram system which worked well (according to the oldies I know).
It's got to happen though, hasn't it? Cycling needs to become an option that people consider more than for just leisure though, doesn't it?
That said, opposition comes in the form of:
1. We all seem to live significant distances from our place of work
2. British weather puts people off cycling
3. We are a nation of fatties born out of some cultural or biological laziness. How do we overcome this?
I can't see our government having the popular vote/backing for doing this. Although more and more people cycle here every year, there's a lot of hatred for cyclists from the ignorant motorist. I don't think we're as culturally "aligned" to cycling as the Dutch are which is a shame for us cyclists.
I would have thought the key to the cycling revolution here would be the banning of cars in more and more cities. London seems the most obvious place - leaving exceptions for taxis (so people can get themselves and their luggage to hotels) and delivery vehicles but perhaps limiting their operational time-frames.
London is the only city to have a genuinely useful public transport system so removing cars (at first) and then limiting other traffic from the streets there seems more likely to work than in other cities. It wouldn't be a huge shock either, as London has already "suffered" limitations due to the congestion charge and LEZ, and the introduction of the Boris Bikes shows the direction politicians are looking.
I wonder how high the congestion charge would need to go before people stopped using their cars there. I recall a short drop in car usage in London following its original introduction but then the numbers started to rise again. If they raised the price to the point where people stopped driving into London in their masses, a total removal of traffic wouldn't be so hard for the public to swallow.
And once London had done it, other cities could follow.
On the Birmingham Skyride, people drove to the periphery of the route, parked-up, and rode around. This was only a limited course provided for cyclists too - the majority of other roads in Brum remained open - but it proved the point. Brum's different to London though in not having such a good public transport system. An underground/tube system would be prohibitively expensive but until the 1950s Birmingham had a tram system which worked well (according to the oldies I know).
It's got to happen though, hasn't it? Cycling needs to become an option that people consider more than for just leisure though, doesn't it?
That said, opposition comes in the form of:
1. We all seem to live significant distances from our place of work
2. British weather puts people off cycling
3. We are a nation of fatties born out of some cultural or biological laziness. How do we overcome this?
donfisher said:
Watchman said:
It's got to happen though, hasn't it? Cycling needs to become an option that people consider more than for just leisure though, doesn't it?
What part of london are you talking about? All zones? Just zone 1? Banning cars in London is a ridiculous idea.
el stovey said:
If you're a developing country everyone goes around on s
tty bikes then when the poor people get money they all get cars then as the country enters the post industrial stage they all start cycling again. 
True to a degree, but I'd hardly call Holland developing or post industrial. Just a bit more ahead of the game than us..tty bikes then when the poor people get money they all get cars then as the country enters the post industrial stage they all start cycling again. Jimboka said:
el stovey said:
If you're a developing country everyone goes around on stty bikes then when the poor people get money they all get cars then as the country enters the post industrial stage they all start cycling again.
True to a degree, but I'd hardly call Holland developing or post industrial. Just a bit more ahead of the game than us..tty bikes then when the poor people get money they all get cars then as the country enters the post industrial stage they all start cycling again. Pass it on.
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