If I took my bike into town here, I probably wouldn't return intact. However in Utrecht I cycled into town and back three or four times in the space of 24 hours and even made a trip to the supermarket filling up bags on the rear of the bike, an easy way to carry it home. Cycling felt quite effortless. Drivers in the Britain have no time for cyclists but in Holland it's a completely different story. Bikes have right of way, no matter what. Even walking around I had to be extra careful that I wasn't run over, but by a bike, as walking in a bike is not acceptable. Bikes have right of way over the pedestrian, you must keep out of their way.
Have you ever struggled to remember where you parked your car, for instance, at a shopping centre? Well change that thought from car to bike, which railing did I lock my bike to? Where exactly is that street where I left my bike? That is if you can find a somewhere free to begin with. There are big spaces with bike locks for people to leave their bikes, commonly outside train stations. However, there's often hundreds in the one place, hence why some bicycles are decorated so wierdly and wonderfully.
People worry about maintaining their car; filling it with fuel, paying for road tax and insurance but none of this would be necessary if we all used bikes. The environment would benefit from it too, this kind of culture could be just the thing to get society healthy again. I appreciate a key part of the bike domination is because Holland is so flat but surely there's some way around this. We're constantly putting down new roads and coming up with ways to build on the railway line, of course, all costing fortunes when really, what is stopping us using bikes instead?
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