Superhighways and other sights

Admittedly, one blog a month is not really a frequency to boast about. On the other hand, at least it is better than one blog per four. So I’m making progress. And I suppose that being out of the country for half of the time is a decent excuse. If I keep improving like this, my next blog should be here in a week or so.

The Cycling Superhighway. For superfast cyclists.

Anyway, enough about me, more about cycling. I thought that to compensate for the unmitigated display of Dutch chauvinism in my last blog, I should give some attention to cycling facilities here in London that were a novelty to me. Indeed, for al the Dutchies reading this, there is certainly stuff that foreigners can bring to cycling. And I’m not just talking helmets here. Perhaps the Netherlands, being a ‘traditional’ cycling country is also somewhat conservative at times.

Dedicated cycling paths are springing up all over London. But what’s more, the city has actual Cycling Superhighways. Yes indeed, designated cycling routes that quickly lead you to a number of common destinations. Marked in clear blue, these special paths make sure you don’t get lost (which, trust me, isn’t all that hard around here) and are clearly guided so that you will always managed to find your destination.

Taking Boris' bikes for a ride.

Another ubiquitous sight all over London are the blue ‘Boris-bikes’, or ‘Barclays-bikes’, depending on whether you prefer to name them after the mayor who introduced them, or the corporate sponsor. They’re about as blue as the Superhighways and a frequent sight in downtown London, where they’re ridden by tourists and businessmen alike. Coverage now only extents to the centre of London, but the peculiar docking stations seem to be on an unstoppable march outwards, and so are the bikes.

For safe keeping.

Bicycles in London are a precious commodity. Even second-hand bikes easily fetch more than 200 pounds. And what is precious needs to be guarded. The dizzying array of locks, chains and bolts that attach most bikes to whatever sturdy object is around are evidence enough. But for those who want realy security, there are cycle parking lockers. I haven’t tested them myself yet, but they look remarkably theft- and weatherproof.

A telling reminder.

Finally, there are some things that may seem a bit grim from a Dutch perspective. Many lorries and other heavy vehicles carry these posters, warning cyclists of the dangers of passing them too closely on the inside. As far as I can tell, collissions with lorries are one of the most prominent causes of accidents involving cyclists, especially when they move through a driver’s blind spot. These posters serve as a reminder that taking responsibility in traffic is certainly not a one-sided matter. Although one would of course hope that such reminders were not necessary, they currently fulfill a useful function.

Anyway, those were the pictures for today. I think a good illustration of how different countries and cities each try to fit in bicycles in their own unique way. And also a reminder to us Dutch that even though we pride ourselves in our cycling traditions, there are many other intriguing, innovative and surprising perspectives out there.

Springtime Reboot

And then, before you know it, three months have passed without anything happening. You would almost think I’d been hibernating winter away here in London, and not been cycling at all. While that is not true, I can certainly say what a difference spring does make. Whereas there were the one or two co-cyclers on the road during the winter, now whole flocks of cyclists have taken to the streets. And this is probably only going to get better as summer approaches.

Indeed, the weather has been excellent over the past weeks, and I almost feel somewhat disappointed that with the end of semester approaching, I won’t have a reason to cycle to campus that often anymore. On the other hand, not courses also means more free time to go out and explore the different parts of London.

So I’ll try to keep this blog updated more often, and hopefully I’ll remember to bring my camera along to take pictures of London, and also of fellow travellers of course.

To compensate for my negligence, I’ll include short movie I’ve come across recently. It is the Dutch cycling habits seen through American eyes. Of course, it’s a rather rosy picture and they’ve probably cut out the parts where the rain is pouring down. But it’s also fun to see how four of the cities with which I’ve first-hand experience (Zwolle, Nijmegen, Amsterdam and Rotterdam) have been included. I hope the video is interesting for both the Dutch and non-Dutch out there:

From the Netherlands to America from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

London’s cycling infrastructure: On the right path?

While London is not renowned for its cycling amenities, the city has been doing much to make the streets more bicycle friendly recent years. Of course there is the introduction of the so-called ‘Boris bikes‘, though ‘Barcly bikes’ seems a rather more appropriate name for me, since the sponsor’s logo is all over the things. But aside from introducing more bikes on the street, London has also made an effort to provide more street for the bikes.

Presumably a safe road for cyclists.

However, in its enthousiasm to make the roads bicycle friendly, the city may have gotten a bit ahead of itself. One of the things I found most curious at first, was the great number of bike symbols painted on all kinds of roads that were obviously not bicycle pathways. It almost made one wonder if cycling on roads without such designation was either extremely dangerous or illegal.

It turns out this is a matter of perspective. Transport for London has been so kind as to designate some roads as particularly bicycle friendly. They even distribute free cycling maps of parts of the city, so that cyclists know how to find their way around! A great service that I have never seen in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the rather intricate network of roads that constitute these routes makes it a lot easier to get lost (something certainly addressed in a later blog).

This is certainly not calling hands-free!

On the main roads, bicycle paths are usually narrow bands along the sidewalks. So far, I haven’t been able to figure out their logic yet. They seem to start and stop at random places, sometimes changing from bicycle paths to bus lanes and back again. Some busy roads also have separated bike lanes, but these seem to be exception rather than rule and are probably more dangerous than the paths on the actual streets. The single lane on my route from home to the university sometimes feels more like an obstacle course, with pedestrians, heaps of leaves, trucks and even telephone booths to avoid. And just as with the lanes on the road, these dedicated paths also tend to end rather abruptly.

Yes, well, here it ends then.

Still, I have to give Transport for London credit. Considering that London has no cycling tradition, the infrastructure is pretty good and seems to be growing. It could do with some more consistency here and there, but it certainly makes one feel safer. With the map of my borough recently delivered, I am curious what there is out there to discover.

The Right side of the Road

Probably the most frequently asked question I get asked by my Dutch compatriots, is whether it isn’t difficult to cycle on the wrong side of the road. I say the wrong side because the British, with their peculiar need for cultural distinctiveness, still defy the rest of the world by driving on the left side of the road. In my experience however, this is one of the easiest things to get used to. The only moment I ended up facing traffic head on was on some steep and narrow alley where the difference between left and right was almost negligible.

It might be because I first spent a month getting used to British traffic as a pedestrain. Or it could be that it is difficult to also fix the wheel of a bike on the wrong side, as it is with cars. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t hard to adapt. As a cyclist in London, you are hugging the sidewalk for most of the time anyway, which leaves little room (sometimes literally) to contemplate such metaphysical concepts as the preferred side of the road to be on. London is also not really the perfect place to navigate on autopilot, leaving little room to end up making a bad turn out of habit.

Okay, to be honest, it does take some getting used to that cars and busses are passing you on your wrong side. But even that is something you hardly notice after surviving a day or two in London traffic. If only because being overtaken by a London Doubledecker can be a disquieting experience regardless of which side it’s on…

Hello London

Moving abroad is a great way to explore and sample new cultures, peoples and places. But it also opens your eyes to the pecularities of your own culture. Now, we Dutch often say we have relatively little when it comes to distinguished culture. Foreigners frequently associate us with wooden shoes, tulips and cheese. Or weed and a liberal attitude towards prostitution, if they’ve actually visited Amsterdam recently. But those are things we ourselves do not commonly identify ourselves with. At least, I’ve never met a prostitute on wooden shoes and with a tulip in her hair, smoking a joint and munching on a piece of Gouda.

By going abroad I discovered there’s one other thing for which we Dutch are renowned. And that is cycling. We might not know it ourselves, but our dedicated lanes, ubiquitous cyclings shops and consideration for cyclists are the envy and inspiration for cyclists around the world. And yet we are so used to this massive proliferation of bikes that we hardly think it noteworthy ourselves.

London therefore proves to be an interesting experience. Over recent years, it has made quite an effort to improve on its bicycle-friendliness. Yet by Dutch standards, it is far from being a biker’s Paradise. As one bicycle mechanic at a second hand store quipped: “Here, the revolution has only just begun”.

So during the year that I’m staying here in London, I will use this blog to share observations, experiences and insights gained while riding my two-wheeler through marvellous London. It might be things that appear strange to a Dutchmen, or things that remind of home. Perhaps those starting the cycling revolution in the 21st century have one or two things to teach those traditionalists in the Low Countries. Who knows? I certainly don’t yet, but I’m sure there will be much to discover around here.