The Scientist is at a conference in the Netherlands (Utrecht) and he's been sending me photos and amazed emails about the sheer volume of bikes there. It doesn't surprise me at all (I've been drinking the Kool-aid, and I've visited and traveled by bike there), but it's been a bit of a shock for him, despite all my proselytizing.
A couple of photos of what we'd love to have happen here!
Bike parking at the train station: You think finding your car at the mall is tough
On street bike parking
You can fit a lot more bikes in a parking stall than you can cars
Coming back from the market with life's essentials.
Note that the speed limit appears to be 15 Km/hr on a residential street.
Bike traffic
Bike panniers in a shop- look at that selection! Probably not a lot of choices for technical panniers, but tons of fun designs and colors.
And yes, I promise to post about the details of the Anderson bridge meeting, but thought we should have something fun for Friday!
love it.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. And panniers!! Surely they have some small ones that look like satchels, oh how I wish I were there.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Amsterdam and Utrecht, but it was pre-cycling obsession. I could just kick myself for that now.
Velouria
ReplyDeleteYou know, he asked me if there was anything he could get for me while he was there- I told him that, remarkably I didn't need anything right now- I'm pretty set for racks, panniers, etc. I'm sure if I were there, I could find something that wanted to come home with me, but I'm not actively searching for a particular part or accessory.
Beautiful pics!
ReplyDeleteHey, totally off topic but I saw that you commented about some not so nice treatment at a Denver bike cooperative a couple of weeks ago and I'm hoping I could get some details.... if it happened to be the bike cooperative where I'm a board member. I'm very involved in operations and am the bd member in charge of staff. If it was, I'd just like to know what your experience was so I can share some anonymous feedback with the staff and retail volunteers.
email me at maria @ thebikedepot.org if it was us and if you're interested in sharing some specific feedback.
Thanks! :-)
I suspect for Boston to be like Utrecht - the place was founded about 800 years too late.
ReplyDeleteAs for Utrecht, one has to wonder why there are as many cars evident in the photos as there are. I would think that driving around there would be akin to driving a triple trailer combination around a city in the US. As in something you would NOT want to do if you had a choice.
Actually Steve, I would bet that fires, two world wars, waves of development and other "progress" probably make Utrecht and downtown Boston largely the same "age." They're more "streetcar" cities than medieval cities. Even more parallel is Cophenhagen, which in 1940 looked a lot like Boston in 1940, and in 1970 looked a lot like Boston in 1970, but now looks like Utrecht. I think that the number of cars is probably small compared to the number of residents, and the cars in general are smaller, but I'd agree that it probably would be easier, cheaper and more convenient to make most trips by bike or foot than by car. It's only when going out of the urban center that you'd need a car, though if you check out David Hembrow's blog " A view from the bicycle path", there's a lot of bike infrastructure in bedroom suburbs over there too.
ReplyDeletecycler,
ReplyDeleteI have a spare NOS rod/drum brake linkage for Raleigh roadsters. It consists of a pivoting "horseshoe" and a threaded rod and Minerva might like it on her front fork. :) If you are interested in it, I could sell it to you or make a trade. (I'm local.)
Hi AM,
ReplyDeleteActually since I have a front drum brake on Minerva now, the linkage I have is primarily decorative. Thanks though!
cycler,
ReplyDeleteFair enough. :) Are you still using the DIY linkage you wrote about previously?
BTW, here are two pictures (from Portlandize) which show exactly what the part looks like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poetas/3755763635/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poetas/3755763267/sizes/o/in/photostream/
I'm of course referring to the part that connects the brake levers to the front drum brake.
AM- I misunderstood what you were offering, and I might be very interested- thanks for the photos, they cleared it up!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you drop me a line at bikinginheels@yahoo.com and we can discuss details there?