Bikes - some of the bad bits...
The Netherlands is often praised as a paradise for bikes. Well, who knows where bikes' souls go after they've been drowned at the bottom of a canal?
But here in the corporeal realm, I can tell you that while cycling is mostly heavenly, there are also plenty of moments from hell.
Let's go to hell first, it's more fun.
Beginning with the low-grade aggravations which gradually poison the soul... Tourists who can't distinguish between a road and a footpath. New students in September who don't know where they're going in the twisty maze of alleyways, all alike. High schoolers cycling three abreast overtaking high schoolers cycling three abreast. Trying to get a new-fangled bike into an old-fangled bike rack. It goes on.
Actually, I caused my share of moments when I first came back. I badly misjudged overtaking one time, but the offended party responded with a kindly, "no harm done." It's something I strive to remember when someone makes a mistake in front of me.
However, it's hard to hold onto that spirit of forgiveness around mopeds. They're allowed on many cycle lanes but most are souped-up to exceed the 25kph limit. Furthermore, they have a bad habit of getting impatient with, e.g., high schoolers cycling three abreast, and then pulling out far too wide to overtake, to the possum-like horror of any cyclist coming the other way.
But clearly, there's a difference between a mistake and the deliberate flouting of all common sense.
Texting while cycling, for example. I have no words. (The Netherlands also has no words in law -- it's legal!)
Which brings me to the single outright most stupidest thing I've seen. It's common enough to see romantics holding hands while cycling side by side. But this pair on the Breestraat...
Let me explain. The Breestraat is one of Leiden's two main shopping streets. It's car-free, to leave room for the 600 buses that pass through there every weekday. And taxis, delivery trucks and anyone who thinks the rules don't apply to them.
This is where our two lovers decided to stage their parting kiss, while cycling, one on a regular bike and one on a CARGO bike...!!!
Romance isn't dead. At least, not yet.
But here in the corporeal realm, I can tell you that while cycling is mostly heavenly, there are also plenty of moments from hell.
Let's go to hell first, it's more fun.
Beginning with the low-grade aggravations which gradually poison the soul... Tourists who can't distinguish between a road and a footpath. New students in September who don't know where they're going in the twisty maze of alleyways, all alike. High schoolers cycling three abreast overtaking high schoolers cycling three abreast. Trying to get a new-fangled bike into an old-fangled bike rack. It goes on.
Actually, I caused my share of moments when I first came back. I badly misjudged overtaking one time, but the offended party responded with a kindly, "no harm done." It's something I strive to remember when someone makes a mistake in front of me.
However, it's hard to hold onto that spirit of forgiveness around mopeds. They're allowed on many cycle lanes but most are souped-up to exceed the 25kph limit. Furthermore, they have a bad habit of getting impatient with, e.g., high schoolers cycling three abreast, and then pulling out far too wide to overtake, to the possum-like horror of any cyclist coming the other way.
But clearly, there's a difference between a mistake and the deliberate flouting of all common sense.
Texting while cycling, for example. I have no words. (The Netherlands also has no words in law -- it's legal!)
Which brings me to the single outright most stupidest thing I've seen. It's common enough to see romantics holding hands while cycling side by side. But this pair on the Breestraat...
Let me explain. The Breestraat is one of Leiden's two main shopping streets. It's car-free, to leave room for the 600 buses that pass through there every weekday. And taxis, delivery trucks and anyone who thinks the rules don't apply to them.
This is where our two lovers decided to stage their parting kiss, while cycling, one on a regular bike and one on a CARGO bike...!!!
Romance isn't dead. At least, not yet.