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Sound of Silence
It has been a busy past few days on the tour but the longer stays in both Amsterdam & now in Utrecht have been welcome.
The ride from Amsterdam to Utrecht was glorious. The weather was splendid.
The plan was to cycle a less direct but scenic route for the first half of the journey, following the green signs, however not long after reaching the edge of Amsterdam we lost sight of them. This wasn’t a problem as the more direct routes were well signed (red & white signs), so we followed these.
What was striking about the journey on the cyclepaths was how peaceful it was. The dominant sounds were of birds chirping, bicycles rolling, footsteps and people’s voices. It was the same in Amsterdam. For such a busy city it is surprising how quiet it is. I have realised that central Amsterdam was quieter than our suburb in inner city Brisbane where unfortunately the car traffic is the dominant soundtrack. Of course there are plenty of cars here – the Dutch appear to enjoy driving as much as anyone – but it is how they use the motor vehicle that is interesting. For short trips (<10km), using the car is almost unthinkable. The bicycle makes much more sense.
It was also interesting to see how well pedestrians & bicycles go together. Never any conflict.
As we entered Utrecht we cycled past some busier roads – the kind that we are expected to cycle on in Australia. Here though there is a smooth separated cyclepath, used by ordinary people on bicycles as well as those out training – it’s just much more pleasant for all groups. Junctions give priority to cyclists and induction loop detectors mean that the lights often turn green for cyclists as you approach. Even at our modest pace, we were faster than the traffic which was constantly held up by buses & trucks.
Here is a short film I made of the journey to Utrecht.
Shortly after arriving we were given a presentation by a member of the Fietsberaad and later that eveningVeronika and I dined at the hotel’s restaurant. The majority of the diners (in their finery) and almost all of the staff, including the Michelin Star-carrying chef arrived… you guessed it… by bicycle.
The following day we were treated to an excellent tour of Houten (a nearby town planned around people, not cars) by Mark Wagenbuur. We met with Herbert Tiemens, the Traffic Policy Advisor of Houten and the “International Bicycle Ambassador” for the Fietsberaad. We were also joined by two famous faces – David Hembrow and Marc van Woudenberg from Amsterdamize.
David has posted an excellent summary of some key points from the tour.
After the tour, Mark took the two of us on a short tour of the oldest part of Utrecht where we had dinner by the canal. Again the most striking difference between here & Australia was the abundance of people and not cars. The air was crackling with the sound of human voices and nothing else…
Nice video. Bit peculiar background music though for ‘Sound of Silence’
It’s more ‘peace & quiet’ than silence but I liked the title – and there is only so much peace & quiet one can view without being bored
The video’s commentary has the same astonishment I felt while riding across Holland last year: what cyclist wouldn’t want infrastructure like this?! The way some cyclists in Los Angeles (where I live) prefer mixing it up in traffic reminds me a bit of an abusive relationship: we don’t know any different, so we’ll just take the few crumbs offered us.
Brent, that is an excellent analogy – unfortunately. I think that sums it up well.
Say helo to the lady from me (the lade that wear the danish t-shirt – Beryl Greenwood)
Will do, Alex!
I don’t mean to bother, but “The ride from Amsterdam from Utrecht was glorioius” needs to be fixed, I’m guessing, “the ride from Amsterdam to Utrecht was glorious” Thanks for the excellent video and pictures. I’ve come to expect bicycling, but seeing so may people walking was almost surreal!
Thanks for spotting the typos, Severin – corrected! I think I may have had one too many glasses of wine
This is the best vid of them all, so far! Excellent! I’ve seen it six times already, and I’m Dutch! But it debunks so well so many fears a lot of cyclists seem to have about cyclepath.
I’ve been reading quite a few cycling blogs these past two years, which is an eyeopener and a joy but also something like an exercise in patience… Like Brent above said, it is very much like an abusive relationship where the victim mumbles, ‘yeah he beats me, but I won’t leave him ‘cuz he needs me and at least I know what I have and I don’t know what I’ll get’, which is sad but not half as frustrating as those of the ‘vehicular persuasion’.
Great vid! If an image is worth a thousand words, you’ve just written a thesis.
Thanks, Marion. I’m really glad you enjoyed it. The route was such a pleasure to ride and what was even more amazing was that we could do the entire journey without having to get out of the saddle for more than a few seconds.