As our family's summer tour of (part of) Western Europe progresses, we became aware of important and meaningful differences in bike cultures. (Ex: very impressed by the quality of infrastructure and drivers behavior in Germany, Berlin in particular where our 5 year-old could ride by herself across town; disgusted by the Dutch policy allowing scooters on bike paths, so much that we are happy to leave Amsterdam)

This contrast between our experiences in Berlin vs Amsterdam is totally unexpected. I've Googled "bike culture" and did not find information/warning about this crucial fact (scooters and bikes sharing paths). Wikipedia entries focus on the otherwise remarkable Dutch infrastructure and lump The Netherlands with Germany and Scandinavia in a group of countries with strong bike cultures. Yet, the touring experience is very different, and googling "Amsterdam bike scooters" reveals how deeply cyclists dislike the current situation.

I was wondering if there is a source from where one could learn about bike culture/infrastructure differences, as seen from the eyes of touring.

Write It , You will first need a literary Agent.

There is quite a difference between bicycle cultures, and cultures in general, in different places ... you just expect that when you travel. It shouldn't come as a surprise. You just can't lump all the different countries in Europe together and assume they'll have the same culture.

We even noticed a difference in popular bicycles as we have gone from country to country around Europe and in other parts of the world.

Completely agree. Now, are such differences documented somewhere? (Plenty of sources on food, on social intersections. None that I am aware on bikes)

Same here. There was a recent thread about e-bikes. We got the impression that they are frequent in (rolling) Bavaria, but not one in Amsterdam.

You might try reading stories on Crazy Guy on a Bike ... or the law regarding bicycles for each country or area ... or just go with the flow and enjoy the differences.


I found the differences interesting, but they didn't worry me at all. And I also know that what we experienced in 2012 might be completely out of date in 2022.

You may even find differing bike cultures within one country. In Vancouver (large metropolitan city) there is a large urban bike culture. Lots of fixies, old road bikes and others with advocacy groups etc... which have take back the lane/critical mass type events. Commuters, MEC types, hipsters... Riders are vocal, road savvy and mostly confident in taking ownership of their rights to the road.

80km's away in Abbotsford (my town), there is a different vibe. Very few daily commuters, some recreational weekend/fairweather types who are mostly law abiding but sometimes clueless with regards to rules of the road and a large subculture of homeless/drug addicted/theft riders who use bikes as a primary means of transportation. Not to judge a serious social issue but from a cycling perspective, bikes are used as cargo vehicles, accessories to property crime, targets of theft themselves and ridden with what can only be called a suicidal disregard for road rules.

Last summer I was taken aback (in a good way) by the proliferation of bicycles in small tourist towns like Banff, Jasper and Nelson. I actually snapped quite a few pics of them because I like old bikes. When I lived in Banff years ago I was one of only a few locals who routinely rode a bike, most took taxis to and from work. Now there are many bikes on the main streets owned by locals and an odd subset of cruiser style bikes as well. You can tell the local bikes because they are beaters for the most part as opposed to expensive shiny bikes. Add to that adventure tourism with the MTB scene (my son is currently downhilling in Whistler using the ski lifts to access the peak).

I am looking forward to seeing if there is any bike culture on the prairies while passing through small towns other than transient tourists and what kind of bikes are there.

Interesting topic.

I saw quite a few in the Netherlands. I dunno about Amsterdam specifically, there were just way too many bikes there to pay attention to what any particular person had.

But no, when I was researching, I didn't find much of a unified source on what to expect past laws and infrastructure. There are even little differences one may not expect or to think to write about, where we started in Brussels old road bikes were the more common example of what people rode, by the time we hit the Dutch border we saw little beyond upright city bikes, even on the the trails in between towns.

I won't spoil your exploration by giving you my take of the prairie towns, but it is a great ride. I will tell you that the truck drivers are outstanding; they go out of their way to give a cyclist space. I'm looking forward to following your ride later this summer.

The Dutch believe that bicycles are an integral component of their transportation system, and act accordingly. We have ridden in Europe quite a bit and have never had any issues sharing the facilities with scooters. The only cycle accident I ever witnessed in The Netherlands was in Nijmegen, a college town. It was a bicycle to bicycle collision with no injuries. It will get more interesting with the increasing popularity of e-bikes. At least you can hear a scooter It is really only a problem around the larger cities.

That is one of the reasons we usually stay out by the Schiphol Airport and take the train if we want to go into Amsterdam. However, for us visiting Amsterdam once was enough. I would not take my bike into Amsterdam. Not because of the riding conditions, but because I value my bike and want to explore without worrying about it being there when I get back. About 55,000 bikes a year are stolen there; with over 18,000 bikes retrieved from the canals annually. There are too many really nice cities in the country we'd rather spend time exploring.

Everyone knows Amsterdam is a cycling paradise.

https://www.cultureshocktherapy.com/photo-nl_570.php

Another example - even Amsterdam and more populated western city regions of the Netherlands will feel different than less populated eastern areas - this in a country less than 300km (180m) North to South and 200km (120m) east to west...

Prairie towns.. where some main streets are still made of gravel

Doug, I'm interested in the route you took from Calgary east. I'm looking at the Trans Canada from Winnipeg to just past Brandon, then dropping south through Oak Lake to the #2/#13 west to Weyburn then up back to MooseJaw and along the Trans Canada again. At Swift current I'm considering cutting northwest via #32 to the Great Sand Hills and then back to Brooks and the Trans Can via the 555/544. This mainly to get some more isolated riding on secondary roads.