Most of the bike lanes in the Netherlands are a different color to distinguish them from the road and pedestrian lanes. And they are generally a shade of red, like this one in front of our house in Wassenaar.
Bikes {fietsen} are king here ... having priority over cars and pedestrians, it takes a while for foreigners to get used to watching out for and yielding to bicycles and those pesky scooters {bromfiets}.
The most dreaded sound in all of the Netherlands is the bike bell. Especially when you're walking. When we hear a bell, we kind of freeze in anticipation of being struck by some wild bike rider. Generally they just swerve and give us the evil eye.
For a humorous look at bikes in Amsterdam through the eyes of a foreigner, check out this site.
Hats off to Beetle at Cologne Daily Photo ... the bike lanes are also red there and were featured as the theme day photo on July 1.
8 comments:
Very good idea. I like the bike paths being a different color. We don't have them here but should.
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Nice idea. We have some bike riders in our area but it's not big as some other areas. I need to start getting my bike out. It hasn't been used in years.
I enjoyed reading your post..and the link you gave on the difference in bike riders in Amsterdam vs San Francisco. I wass amazed no helmets..
Good idea! We only have bike lanes on bridges. Biking is not as popular here as in the Netherlands.
If I worked closer to my office, I would ride a bike to work instead of taking the subway.
Making the paths themselves in a different colour is a smart idea. We don't do that here in the US, or at least I've not seen them. I think bike lanes are a splendid idea!
I so enjoyed the link you provided!
I experienced the bike culture in Amsterdam in person, but the photos were a hoot!
(PS I visited Chicago last week, during the preparations for the Taste of Chicago. Do you miss the Windy City?)
Well, the different color thing is a good idea.
I think we're technically/theoretically supposed to yield to bikes in the USA- or at least in New Jersey- but I'm not sure about that. I DO know that we're supposed to pedestrians and nobody ever does.
I loved the bikes in Amsterdam link, now I want to go there! So glad to see someone else doing more than one day of red...I guess I'm not the only only that has way to many "red" photos!
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