This past weekend, I rode my bike for the first time in more than two months, and sadly, neither my bike nor I were in the best shape after our short hiatus. My bike has a bit more rust now, the tires were rather spongy, and the chains were a little sluggish. And I was a bit winded and had a sore butt after my ride!
Despite this, it was great riding around Amsterdam again, and it made me realize that biking will be one of the things I really miss when we eventually leave this country. I love living in a city where the best way to get around is by bike—I don’t think you can truly understand the bike’s superiority in Amsterdam until you’ve been here, but I’ll try to explain it anyway.
Amsterdam is located in a flat country. That alone makes it very easy for walkers and bikers—the only hills you encounter are typically due to bridges over canals. The center of the city, or Centrum, is very compact and easy to walk, but the entire city lies on an area of about 85 square miles (or 220 square kilometers), making walking less practical and biking, driving or public transportation better options. However, many of Amsterdam’s streets are narrow, one-way streets, and they are often blocked by moving vans, taxis picking up and dropping off passengers, delivery trucks and cars. Because of these frequent traffic inconveniences, biking is usually the best option, as you can easily weave around these obstacles.
Just about everyone who lives in Amsterdam recognizes the advantages of biking, which is why you see so many cyclists, or fietsers. Unfortunately, the sheer number of fietsers—combined with all the pedestrians, cars, buses and trams in the city—made biking a scary proposition for me when I first moved here. It took months before I felt like I knew the city well enough to even consider it. (Amsterdam is not laid out in a grid pattern, so getting lost is quite easy.) And even then, I hadn’t ridden a bike in years, so I didn’t feel too confident.
Eventually, I worked up my courage and bought a nice second-hand bike. I felt silly, but the first few times I rode my bike, I walked it to Vondelpark (a good 15-minute walk), rode it a bit, and then walked it back home. I quickly became confident enough to ride along streets with bike paths, but the canals and the more well-traveled side streets remained off-limits. As I said earlier, many of Amsterdam’s streets are narrow, one-way streets, and this includes the canals. Most have no bike path, so cyclists have to hug the curb closely when cars pass. While this seemed very scary, avoiding these canals and streets quickly became hugely impractical, since I lived on a canal, in an area full of canals and narrow streets!
I finally got sick of my “strategic” biking and began riding everywhere after about a month. It was scary initially, but I had to just throw myself in the deep end, so to speak, to get past my fears. I quickly realized that I simply had to do the best I could to bike safely and trust that most drivers in Amsterdam are used to driving with cyclists beside them and know what they’re doing. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Even now, after five years of riding a bike here, I still have the occasional scary moment when a taxi driver comes racing by me on a narrow street, but I’ve learned to hug the curbs well or just stop if I need to.
In spite of all this, or maybe it’s partly because of all my experiences, I love biking here. I get a mini-workout whenever I go someplace, which is great to burn off the calories from the stroopwafels and other Dutch sweets I enjoy! I travel pretty quickly, with almost no standing in traffic and no waiting for a tram or bus. And I’m not contributing to the greenhouse gases that pollute our environment.
I think the thing I enjoy most about biking around Amsterdam is that I really see and experience my own neighborhood and other parts of the city on a regular basis. Of course, I often get caught in the rain while doing this, and I sometimes arrive places red-faced and winded, if I’m running late, but I feel connected to my surroundings in a way I don’t when I’m in a car. Maybe it’s the fresh air or the lack of little metal and glass walls around me, but I just feel like I’m more observant and present when I’m biking.
I hope that makes it clear… If not, you’ll just have to visit Amsterdam and experience it for yourself!
© Kathy Keating and “Life in Amsterdam”, 2009.
