rootboy 

That sounds great! Alas,. no big cycling vacation here but just a couple of days tooling around while my wife attends a conference in Brussels, then one more day upon her return. Decided to fly in to Amsterdam in hopes my brother can come up to me us. I'm looking forward to this too. never been there.

rootboy 

[QUOTE=1nterceptor;12836645]To the OP, if you're not visiting Amsterdam for the usual reasons
people visit there(red light district, pot coffee shops) may I suggest
to also consider The Hague, Netherlands. I've been to both and
enjoy Den Haag's atmosphere better.

...thanks Interceptor. No Hague this time I'm afraid, and not the usual reasons, I suppose. A little van Gogh, a coupla bike shops and some architecture musing, and we're outa there Short stop.

buldogge

I had forgotten about that Mel... Well, you could always use FedEx, although the cost would be higher than with TNT.

Italuminium

I'm from The Hague originally, and live in Leiden now because I'm a student there. Both are nice cities, but I still prefer the hague to Amsterdam and Leiden, fr exact the reasons mentioned above. Leiden is a great city for biking, however. 15 minutes west and you're in a surreal and beatiful landscape in th dunes, 5 minutes east and your training your legs against the savage winds in the flat lands claimd from the water. The only thing missing is a nice mountain or two

lotek 

I'd definitely go to RIH and Zieleman, but then those are 2 of my favorite marques.
I made the mistake of stopping in Amsterdam on a monday, all the shops were closed
so Freek and I had to drink large quantities of beer to make up for that mistake.
While the Zieleman shop is pretty much limited to repairs by Ko's son-in-law
Ko is known to stop by the shop from time to time. One of the things I really want
to do is sit down with Ko (and someone to translate) and get some history on his
bikes, and his early career, including his brief racing career).

Marty

Italuminium

If you ever need that translator Marty, don't hesistate to give me a pm

smoothness 

I went to Amsterdam, Den Haag, and what I think was the Martha's Vineyard of The Netherlands last summer. Best. Time. Ever. Went and searched out bike shops of all kinds - tried to go to https://www.recycledbicycles.org/home.html, but the dude closed it for vacation. There was a really cool squatted building nearby though. The whole front of the building from foundation to roof-line is done up with a grafitti-esque mural. I think it was some sort of commune.

I absolutely had to have one (okay, two) of those iconic front racks, but many of the shops were either too touristy or too far away. I ended up going to a small shop near the hotel I was staying at called "Ciclo Rijwielen." link to the relevant intersection. I thought it was pretty funny that there was almost nowhere to walk past the front door. The owner was very nice even though I didn't speak Dutch; I told him the woes of trying to find sturdy, cheap front racks in the US, and he gave me a business card as a "potential business opportunity," lol. I think he had some older things in there, but cannot really remember - there was a lot of stuff. I would kill to be able to go back there in the near future - I'll bring a suit case just to drag back bike stuff.

The steak place across the street was pretty good too. Apparently very popular with the locals - there was a two hour wait just to get seated.

Biking through the city was fairly easy - I followed the following rules: watch everyone else, don't get sucked into metro tracks, and don't get hit by the speeding mopeds on the bike path. Girlfriend did exactly the opposite, and nearly died in the middle of an intersection. I should have just stuck her in a bakfiets during rush hour to save me the heart attack. Oh you should also ring bell profusely; if lacking one, yell "DING DING" loudly. I kid you not, I witnessed this on more than one occasion. Like other posters have said, you should really do it, even on a rental bike.

Museum wise, try to see the Van Gough collection and the Mauritshuis; there was also a very interesting science and natural history museum in the Hague (i think). All I know is it is housed in some fancy schmancy building that you wouldn't really suspect to have dinosaur bones and 19th century science equipment.

Hopefully you got something useful out of this post . I think I'll take out my dutch bike tomorrow!

rootboy 

Thanks Smoothness. yes, I did get something out of your post and find it very useful, thanks. I'll definitely search out Ciclo Rijwielen shop. Sounds fun.
And thank you too Lotek, for the recommendations. Our first day there is a Monday ! Have to wait until the next day to cruise for bike shops.

auchencrow

Don't forget to bring your camera and note pad, and we will expect a full report on any goodies you might encounter.

rootboy 

Will do Auchen. I suspect I'll see some very cool bikes while there. Already trying to resist temptation to bring one home, and I'm not even there yet!

frantik

pretty sure you can only buy in small amounts over there.. and only from special "coffee shops".. it's legal, but is ain't a hundred percent legal. I mean you can't walk into a restaurant, roll a joint, and start puffin' away. You're only supposed to smoke in your home or certain designated places. it breaks down like this: it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own it and, if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it. It's legal to carry it, which doesn't really matter 'cause -- get a load of this -- if the cops stop you, it's illegal for them to search you. Searching you is a right that the cops in Amsterdam don't have!





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rootboy 

As long as they don't search me for ferreted bike parts ...I'm OK.

ColonelJLloyd 

I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but I enjoyed visiting the Anne Frank house. I also recommend having a muffin of your choice and strolling through one of the big open air markets.

rootboy 

Thanks Colonel,
I think my wife will definitely want to go visit the Anne Frank house.

Italuminium

It's a very impressive place. The museum of jewish history is a good idea to visit on the same go, it gives a nice view of the the vibrant jewish commununity in Amsterdam pre-ww2. And if you plan to do one of those canal tours, book in advance! The cues for the impromptu visitors are huge.

rootboy 

Thanks Italuminium. Just making some notes off this thread. Leaving tomorrow. Can't wait! Dank!