Bike Heaven! If you haven't been, I'd highly recommend a visit --

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-8 mi. on August 6, 2010 at 12:43pm

Thanks! We are waaay behind! I hope to visit bike heaven before I go to heaven.

H3N3 said:

Portland at its peak had a bicycle trip share of around 6%:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2010/01/its_official_portland_...

Dutch cities seem to range from about 25 to 50%:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2009/06/in_amsterdam_more_trip...

So, re: Portland-- better than other US cities, but still barely scratching the surface.

Juan Dominguez said:

Nice thread, I wonder, How does it compare to Portland?

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Permalink Reply by Don Sorsa on August 6, 2010 at 12:50pm

Add Barcelona and Valencia (Spain) to the list of cities actively encouraging cycling by adding bike lanes, inexpensive rental bikes, bike racks, and cars that always stop for pedestrians and cyclists in intersections. Cycling would have been suididal in both places ten years ago, so this is a great change.

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Permalink Reply by Shay on August 6, 2010 at 1:08pm

I was there in May and got to ride some borrowed bikes. It was awesome. It was soooo nice to be able to bike around without getting honked at, almost doored, or swerving around oblivious pedestrians. I want to go back and do a bicycle tour.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie 13.5185km on August 6, 2010 at 1:31pm

Did you get to go to Deventer?
Did you end up buying an "Oma fiets" like you wanted?

Shay said:

I was there in May and got to ride some borrowed bikes. It was awesome. It was soooo nice to be able to bike around without getting honked at, almost doored, or swerving around oblivious pedestrians. I want to go back and do a bicycle tour.

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Permalink Reply by Shay on August 6, 2010 at 4:14pm

Sadly, the answer is no to both. I ultimately decided bringing a bike home was way too much trouble and expense. But I sure liked riding it! They ride so smooth.

Duppie said:

Did you get to go to Deventer?
Did you end up buying an "Oma fiets" like you wanted?

Shay said:

I was there in May and got to ride some borrowed bikes. It was awesome. It was soooo nice to be able to bike around without getting honked at, almost doored, or swerving around oblivious pedestrians. I want to go back and do a bicycle tour.

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Permalink Reply by Serge Lubomudrov on August 6, 2010 at 9:36pm

Will V. said:

Great blog post, but I do hate the way Dutch bikes are so huge, they seem to tower over other bikes on the rack. I'm sure it's not an issue in Holland as most/all bikes are Dutch, but over here they seem to me like the SUV of the bicycle world. My take on them has been colored by the fact that I once spent about 10 minutes getting my bicycle untangled from a Dutch bike that was locked way too close to mine.

SUV of a bike :)

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on August 9, 2010 at 12:22am

20K per minute is 744 miles per hour.

Ya, you'd lose your balance due to your bicycle falling apart from the forces acting upon it. (Even a Seven would crumble at that speed sadly.)

:)

Michael A said:

The lights are times at 20 kpm, that is about 12 miles per hour... I would lose my balance at that slow speed and just fall over
milesperhour said:

i love the multi-level bike parking lots they have there.

Copenhagen is even more amazing. Commuters can travel into the city with green lights the entire way. I wish all cities would do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtX8qiC_rXE&feature=related

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Permalink Reply by djm on August 9, 2010 at 8:41am

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:

20K per minute is 744 miles per hour.
Ya, you'd lose your balance due to your bicycle falling apart from the forces acting upon it. (Even a Seven would crumble at that speed sadly.)

Seven tests each new bicycle in a wind tunnel down the street at MIT to validate the never-exceed speed of Mach 2.2. The frame is fine, but the grip tape rarely survives. :-)

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