Amsterdam Tour - 3
HOEK VAN HOLLAND – AMSTERDAM, July 21, 1994
After an extremely uncomfortable night on the ship - the reserved reclining seat was OK to sit on, but impossible to sleep in - we sailed into Hoek van Holland and disembarked about 07:30 in the morning. Interestingly, there were no passport or immigration checks of any kind - perhaps a sign of the "free travel" provisions within the EU.
Again, I was lucky with the weather. It was warm and fairly sunny. I found a cycle path right outside the harbor gates and luckily got on the coast route to Den Haag. The first ten miles were very pleasant and I arrived on the Southern approaches to Den Haag feeling quite good. Unfortunately, here it began to go wrong. The cycle paths in the city were poorly signposted and so I was soon lost. After much wandering around, I found some signs for Scheveningen. While I had not originally wanted to take this route, I decided that it was better than being lost. This took me on to the path through the dunes that I had ridden in 1986 with Susan and her cousin Andrea. It was quite pleasant.
With a few minor wrong turns, I arrived in Haarlem and then got on a cycle path following the main A5 highway into Amsterdam. I got into Amsterdam around 12:45. The plan was for me to meet my cousin Suresh at the Concertgebouw that he assured me was ‘easy to find’. Needless to say, this proved to be a slight exaggeration and I would not find it for love or money. I also had serious problems with the pay phones. Eventually I managed to get a call through to Suresh and we agreed to meet at the Central Station instead. This worked quite well and half an hour later I was at the station.
Holland is said to be a paradise for bicycles and cycling. I certainly did not seem that way to me. The infrastructure for cycling in Holland is based on the assumption that everyone will ride and is designed to conform to the fitness level of the average person. [Just as our roads here in the US are designed on the assumption that everyone will drive and so conform to the ability level of the average driver.] The Dutch system is wonderful for someone who wishes to travel 10 miles or less at a speed not exceeding 10 MPH.
However, for a reasonably fit cyclist, the cycle paths are a nightmare. The vast majority of them are paved with a modern version of cobbles. With a racing tire pumped up to 120 psi or more, this means that riding at normal cycling speeds of 14-16 MPH is a bone-shaking experience. In populated areas, sharing the cycle ways with a heavy traffic of one-speed 50 lb bikes can be quite dangerous, not to mention the "bromfesters" or small motorcycles that are allowed to tear along the cycle ways at up to 40 MPH! On one occasion a woman on a bromfester ended up in the ditch after she attempted to overtake another one while coming straight at me in my lane!
The only way a system of cycle ways can work is if we realize that cyclists, like motor traffic, are made up of a great deal of variety in terms of speeds. Smoother surfaces and multi-laning in densely populated areas is the only solution. The Dutch system is the equivalent of a road system made up exclusively of two lane pot holed roads.
I don't think I would like to be a racing cyclist in Holland. I can't imagine a fast-moving racing pack on a cycle way!
After an extremely uncomfortable night on the ship - the reserved reclining seat was OK to sit on, but impossible to sleep in - we sailed into Hoek van Holland and disembarked about 07:30 in the morning. Interestingly, there were no passport or immigration checks of any kind - perhaps a sign of the "free travel" provisions within the EU.
Again, I was lucky with the weather. It was warm and fairly sunny. I found a cycle path right outside the harbor gates and luckily got on the coast route to Den Haag. The first ten miles were very pleasant and I arrived on the Southern approaches to Den Haag feeling quite good. Unfortunately, here it began to go wrong. The cycle paths in the city were poorly signposted and so I was soon lost. After much wandering around, I found some signs for Scheveningen. While I had not originally wanted to take this route, I decided that it was better than being lost. This took me on to the path through the dunes that I had ridden in 1986 with Susan and her cousin Andrea. It was quite pleasant.
With a few minor wrong turns, I arrived in Haarlem and then got on a cycle path following the main A5 highway into Amsterdam. I got into Amsterdam around 12:45. The plan was for me to meet my cousin Suresh at the Concertgebouw that he assured me was ‘easy to find’. Needless to say, this proved to be a slight exaggeration and I would not find it for love or money. I also had serious problems with the pay phones. Eventually I managed to get a call through to Suresh and we agreed to meet at the Central Station instead. This worked quite well and half an hour later I was at the station.
Holland is said to be a paradise for bicycles and cycling. I certainly did not seem that way to me. The infrastructure for cycling in Holland is based on the assumption that everyone will ride and is designed to conform to the fitness level of the average person. [Just as our roads here in the US are designed on the assumption that everyone will drive and so conform to the ability level of the average driver.] The Dutch system is wonderful for someone who wishes to travel 10 miles or less at a speed not exceeding 10 MPH.
However, for a reasonably fit cyclist, the cycle paths are a nightmare. The vast majority of them are paved with a modern version of cobbles. With a racing tire pumped up to 120 psi or more, this means that riding at normal cycling speeds of 14-16 MPH is a bone-shaking experience. In populated areas, sharing the cycle ways with a heavy traffic of one-speed 50 lb bikes can be quite dangerous, not to mention the "bromfesters" or small motorcycles that are allowed to tear along the cycle ways at up to 40 MPH! On one occasion a woman on a bromfester ended up in the ditch after she attempted to overtake another one while coming straight at me in my lane!
The only way a system of cycle ways can work is if we realize that cyclists, like motor traffic, are made up of a great deal of variety in terms of speeds. Smoother surfaces and multi-laning in densely populated areas is the only solution. The Dutch system is the equivalent of a road system made up exclusively of two lane pot holed roads.
I don't think I would like to be a racing cyclist in Holland. I can't imagine a fast-moving racing pack on a cycle way!
posted by Ram at 6:10 PM
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