biketocamp

Hi everyone,

I'll be in Amsterdam next week over holiday. I'm wondering if it makes sense to bring my own touring bike with me from the states or to just rent a bike there at a local shop to ride. I know that is the capital of the world for bicycling and I shouldn't have a problem renting one. I wanted to ask any of you if you have done any touring out there. My plan was to do a short loop that is pretty popular there along with city touring and site seeing all by bike.

Bringing my Surly Ogre can be a bit cumbersome, however I can do it. Wanted some thoughts on this and advice if anyone can share.

jefnvk

If you are just riding around the city, I wouldn't bother. Rent a bike, there are places everywhere to get them downtown. Or, do what I want to do one of these days, buy a used omafiets for $100, ride it around, then bring it home as a souvenir

In any case, people really confuse "lots of cycling" with "cycling haven". Cycling in Amsterdam isn't really fun, it'd be like saying LA is a great motoring city because of all the cars that are there.

boomhauer

Amsterdam is very flat. My hotel rented me a 3 speed bike and it was adequate for an all day tour around the city.

gauvins

We were there a couple of years ago. Two things : (1) Amsterdam is notorious for bike theft. Maybe a biased perception -- there are so many bikes -- but 60 000 stolen bikes per year is quite a lot. Inconvenient if you are a resident, Very unpleasant if you were there for a relatively short tour. (2) Bike paths are overcrowded and can be legally used by scooters (still? Was under review. Don't know where the city stands today). Such that we found that riding in The Netherlands was less pleasant than expected, and Amsterdam downright unpleasant (family with young children). Frequently overtaken by wide scooters riding at high speed.

Traveling to Amsterdam per se, I'd rather not bring my bike. Traveling through Amsterdam, still worth doing. Certainly.

fietsbob

You can order a bespoke assembled bike in Koga's signature program , in advance,
have it sent to one of their many dealers when finished,
and just bring your touring kit on the plane, and use public transit to get to your new bike..

when I arrived at AMS - Schiphol , in the afternoon I rode my bike, from the airport,
to a campground at the seacoast town of Zandvoort ... and slept off jet-lag..

these were longer tours..





....

jefnvk

Was still legal in 2016. Mini cars, too (red pavement indicates bike lane:

Doug64

I believe the theft rate has been as high as 80,000 per year. There is a company that supplements their income by salvaging bikes that are thrown in the canals. I agree with gauvins and jefnvk that cycling in Amsterdam is not fun. We've cycled through The Netherlands 3 times and found that even visiting Amsterdam once was enough! This summer we visited it again because our daughter was riding with us, and she wanted to see it. We left our bikes in a motel in Hoofdorf, and rode the train into Amsterdam. It is much more relaxing when you are not worried about your bike. And for a short tour around the city, renting a bike is a lot less hassle than flying with it.

I do find the rest of the country a nice place to ride. The people are friendly, many small "non-touristy" towns, and very picturesque. We have ended our last three European tours in The Netherlands, because Schiphol Airport is so bike friendly, and it is a good way to wind down from some of the other countries in Europe- no hills!

Riding a bike in Amsterdam can even be hazardous. In all fairness, this was early Sunday morning after the "Canal Festival" on Saturday night. Amsterdam is an interesting place to visit, at least once.

1nterceptor

Have visited The Netherlands a few times; always a lot of fun. Last time was lucky enough to be able to borrow a bike
from a friend of a friend. I'll echo the advice of some. Amsterdam is a nice place; but I would try to spend more time in
the smaller towns.

Stadjer

I think it's fun, but it can get a bit hectic, especially if you're not familiar with the unwritten rules and swarm behaviour. Everything is a bit closer, so there will be what I believe Americans call 'buzzing', but they know you're there, they know how not to hit others. They respect your personal space, but you're only entitled to a very small one.

The scooters are annoying but they are not banned from the cycle lane yet, that's going to happen in early 2019. But the one coming from behind is the one that has the best view, you have to rely on other people's judgement and you can, unless it's a tourist. Just be predictable, show what you're about to do, keep a straight line and go with the flow. If you wear a helmet or ride an obvious tourist rental people will lower their expectations of your traffic skills. Cross tram tracks at an angle, also with the rear wheel, and not when there's a tram coming.
busy crossing video

The countryside around Amsterdam is flatter than Amsterdam, less bridges to climb, so a good rental with maybe a few gears will do.

gauvins

thanks for the clip

1nterceptor

Also wanted to add to the conversation; anywhere you go -
calculate the cost of a multi day rental vs. buying used:
https://amsterdam.craigslist.org/d/b...?lang=en&cc=gb

axolotl

In all likelihood, bringing your own bike will cost you quite a bit in airline fees--either specific bike fees, or standard baggage fees if you've got a folder. I've got a folder (Bike Friday) and I once brought it with me on a short visit to Paris. However, that was before airlines instituted baggage fees for regular luggage (which is what my Bike Friday essentially is). A couple of years ago on another brief visit to Paris that was not part of a longer tour, I used the shared bike program in Paris instead. That worked extremely well. It was quite cheap, the bikes are OK (not great, but OK), and theft is a non-issue because you put it in a docking station each time you finish riding. Amsterdam has a shared bike program, too.

I still take my Bike Friday on short trips in the USA, but in that case I can fly on Southwest Airlines which doesn't charge for 2 pieces of checked luggage.

RobSN

Fascinating - but could you go wild and write down just a few of the unwritten rules (recognizing that this will forever remove them from that category) and explain what you mean by swarm behaviour, or even for us Americans, swarm behavior? I've been to Amsterdam, but haven't cycled there, yet I could tell that there was an understanding by most of the cyclists about what was what - yet I myself couldn't tell which what WAS what!!!

JaccoW

Rent a bike, dont bother bringing in an expensive touring bike. You won't feel safe leaving it somewhere on the street and the area is flat enough for singlespeed bikes.

Riding in Amsterdam has a few unwritten rules as mentioned by many others.

1. If you are a pedestrian, stay off the cycling path
2. If there is enough space, people will overtake you. Even if you consider it way too close and dangerous
3. Be careful around small groups with similarly colored bikes. Those are tourists. Often they don't know how to ride.
4. A ringing bell means you are in their way and they are going to overtake you soon. Move over.
5. U-locks are useless. Buy a motorcycle chain locally if you do bring your own bike.

I should look up that parody video...

J.Higgins 

Swarm behavior, I believe He's referring to the fact that no one waits in line for things, rather "swarming" the clerk, food kiosk, etc.

jefnvk

I rather think he was referring to the fact that you better pay attention, cause when the cycle path light (yes, their cycle paths have their own stoplights) changes, everyone around takes off in a giant pack at the same time and will run you over if you don't go.

JaccoW

Found it!

Anyway, rent a bike and use Online Cycle Route planner - Hollandcyclingroutes.com to plan some rides.
West of Amsterdam, close tot the city of Haarlem is also the dunes of Zuid Kennemerland national park where there are a number of cycling routes.

Keep in mind though, unless you are used to cycling in a crowded city, Amsterdam will not be the most pleasant of riding environments. Your assumed personal space is a lot smaller and people will park their handlebars right next to, or in between you at traffic lights.


It has a population density of 4,908 people per square kilometer (12,710/sq mi) over the entire metropolitan area so compare it to cycling in San Francisco or New York City but with better bike paths.

Stadjer

What I mean with swarm behaviour is the order in the chaos, like in big flocks of birds or swarms of insects no one leads, no one follows, no one has oversight over the whole process but if every individual is considerate to the ones directly besides and in front it functions without collisions.

I'll try to reconstruct the unwritten rules here, because they are unspoken too and it's more something that happens automatically through experience from a young age. A written rule is for example that you stick out your hand before making a turn, but a lot of people don't do that because they're on the phone, carrying a painting or breat feeding or just don't care. But they will stop pedalling and 'prepare' for the turn, that's what others will pick up automatically. If you do stick out your hand but keep on biking like you're going straight you probalby have a bigger chance of surprising others. Also if people want to cross a zebra, if you stop pedalling for a second they (not tourists) will know you have seen them, start crossing and you can bike through behind their back without losing momentum. There's a lot more body language, you can also see in the video I linked that some are assertive, and some ride defensive, but the assertive ones show they are about to claim space or priority by attitude and often more forward positioning, so if they make a move to use a tiny gap it surprises no one. If you take a defensive attitude and suddenly change your mind a make an assertive move that will surprise the others. I Surprise is what causes collisions. If body language is not clear about the intentions or people will make eye contact and negotiate. Usually the front wheel points in the direction people want to go so it signals whether you try to go in front or around the rear, if you want to make a left turn at a crossing and are pointing towards an oncoming cyclist and you 'open' your wheel first it shows you'll go around the rear and the other will not take evasive action towards you. Use your ears, it will give an impression of what comes from behind, the bell gives a lot of information about the distance, speed and angle, and an urgent warning usually sounds different than a cyclist that just wants you to know he's there. Don't turn your head and leave the straight line, it usually means 'don't move' other than forward. So I think the main unwritten rules are: Be predictable, predict and prepare to improvise in a predictable way.

It's really notthing special, just human behaviour. It's simular to why people in airports or other big crowds don't bump into eachother much. It's just on bikes so it happens a bit faster.

J.Higgins 

Thanks, @JaccoW

Looks like it'd be suicide without a bike bell as well.

J.Higgins 

Ah, okay that makes sense now.

JoeyBike

I'd bring a skateboard. Free and easy to transport, no special shoes required, carry it in wherever you go.

I am serious. A longboard actually.

RobSN

Stadjer - thanks so much. I suspect that one would get used to it reasonably quickly, but perhaps not without an initial mistake or two! It really is fascinating. I'm hoping to do the Rhine route either 2019 or 2020 and would definitely finish off with some time in Den Hague and Amsterdam, not forgetting Scheveningen merely to show off my perfect Dutch accent

jefnvk

The cool thing about bikes in Amsterdam (and realistically, the majority of bikes in Europe)? No special shoes are required for them either

JoeyBike

I dig it. I used to own 6 bikes and every one of them had clip-less pedals. Now I am down to three of them, and every one of them have nice platform pedals. The 4th one I just gave away I could ride barefoot. I don't think many northern Europeans wear helmets for pleasure rides, so that can be left at home with the special shoes as well.

jefnvk

Other than the folks actually on drop bar road bikes on fast group rides, and children, I could count the number of people I saw in the Netherlands helmets on one hand. Belgium and France they were more prevalent, but still well in the minority.

Interestingly enough, I didn't wear a helmet that tour, but crashing on it is pretty much what has encouraged me to do so all the time ever since!