tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31025389656942409402026-04-14T20:48:08.245+02:00A view from the cycle pathWhy is it that people cycle more in the Netherlands than in any other country ? The answer is in the infrastructure. Long established blog with content up to the present day detailing how the infrastructure of the Netherlands makes cycling so pleasant that almost everyone cycles in this country and a higher proportion of cycle journeys are made here than anywhere elseDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.comBlogger814125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-72119326616397628652023-04-21T15:14:00.007+02:002024-01-16T12:30:50.730+01:00What's gone wrong with road safety in the Netherlands ?The elephant at the cross-roads: It's not cyclists who are killing more cyclists than before, but more and larger cars such as this one which are killing more cyclists than before. Anti-social vehicles like these designed in such a way that vulnerable road users in front of them are largely invisible, should be illegal.
It's been much reported over the last few days that more people died on DutchDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-15034110351141199882022-06-21T16:28:00.005+02:002023-04-21T15:15:11.328+02:00Some Dutch Cycling infrastructure is older than you might expect, some of it is newerIt sometimes not clear to people whether cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands is a new phenomena or something which has been around decades ago. Sometimes new infrastructure looks "old" or old infrastructure looks "new".
Old infrastructure which looks "new"
Here's an example of a cycle-path and road junction which look right up to date, but which have actually existed for over 60 years.
David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-25001833674660290762022-03-24T13:38:00.013+01:002024-04-03T12:13:35.614+02:00The challenge of declining bicycle sales in the world's leading cycling nationA few days ago I quote tweeted this graph from Datagraver on twitter with a comment that "Sadly, cycling is dying in the Netherlands." The responses to this tweet were largely defensive and many people clearly didn't understand what I meant, so let's look deeper at the bicycle market in the Netherlands and consider what the consequences could be for cycling in this country with lower bicycle David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-69445462683294040262022-02-24T17:19:00.006+01:002022-05-21T10:53:00.970+02:00The patriotic act of riding a bicycle during wartimeRussian forces under control of Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine last night. Sadly, such an act of aggression was expected as it's been clear for a very long time now that Putin is dangerous. He's already occupied part of Ukraine for many years without provoking much of a reaction, and even his fairly obvious Russian support for Brexit and Trump and other actions to undermine David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-66759645621930608422021-09-15T16:50:00.014+02:002022-06-13T16:59:42.121+02:00Stop de Kindermoord revisited. Is New Zealand now outperforming the Netherlands ?Back in 2011 I wrote about the success of the Stop De Kindermoord (Stop Child Murder) campaign in the Netherlands. This presumably had been covered by English language press in the distant past, but by 2011 it had been forgotten about so my blog post got quite a lot of attention at the time and encouraged other people to write their own versions of the same story.
The success of that David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-19724325504252556402020-09-22T16:22:00.011+02:002022-09-03T10:34:07.925+02:00Living without engines and car free day in the NetherlandsA photo from today's "commute", a round-triprider which brings me back home to work.
The last time that I travelled in any kind of motorized vehicle was in February 2019 when I took a lift with a friend to help him with an event. The last time I travelled with a motorized vehicle for my own benefit was in August 2018, driving the car that we owned but never much used to be recycled.It's "car freeDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-49691898405813112292020-09-16T20:25:00.007+02:002021-10-28T18:07:38.019+02:00An endless search for quick fixes results instead in repeated failuresThe Netherlands in April during the "intelligent lockdown"which was actually no lockdown at all.A new record was set in the Netherlands today. 1560 new cases of Covid-19 were reported today - the highest level of new infections that we've ever had in one day. This is a higher rate of infection by some margin than any day during March and April during the first wave of the disease. The secondDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-46081073865150725992020-08-13T18:41:00.010+02:002023-05-02T16:45:51.748+02:00Roundabout safety for cyclists and why Cambridge's new 'Dutch' roundabout is not what it should have been
This is not the Cambridge roundabout. It's an example of a differentdesign, the safe roundabout. This design is much more tolerant ofdriver mistakes and results in a far lower rate of cyclist injuries.Please read my blog post about this design and watch theaccompanying video as both of those describe how thisdesign keeps cyclists safe.
Cambridge in the UK recently opened a "Dutch David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-29498324752676137972020-04-14T16:19:00.008+02:002021-10-28T18:07:59.214+02:00A glimpse of a better future (where are we heading to after the pandemic ?)Suddenly it seems that nearly everyone can see, hear and smell the benefits of fewer motor vehicles. Stories are appearing from all around the world about clear skies, fresher air and being better able to hear bird song. The corona virus lock-downs have brought us more peaceful streets, fresher air, less noise. Fish are seen to have returned to rivers, insects appear to be more numerous. TouristsDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-72920696975256043822020-02-18T14:32:00.016+01:002023-05-23T12:14:04.927+02:00Who are the one percent super polluters ?If you're reading this you're probably earn a salary in the top 10% worldwide, if not the top 1%. If you think I have incorrect figures for 1% and 10% salaries please see the update at the bottom of this blog for my response to the misleading Oxfam / Guardian report
Our starting point for this article: We needed to reduce our emissions by 18% a year, beginning in 2019. Of course, we now know David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-43680281818031922082019-11-27T15:05:00.002+01:002021-01-11T11:01:05.237+01:00The extraordinary efficiency of bicycles, the potential of active modes, and the role of active travel in transport povertyLast month my eldest daughter ran the Amsterdam marathon. She achieved her aim of running the 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in under her target of four and a half hours. A marathon is something you need to train for. The race was won by the spectacular Eliud Kipchoge, an extraordinary athlete and the world record holder, who has won nearly every race he's ever entered and who finished with a time of David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-81468635365152009102019-08-24T15:00:00.005+02:002020-09-29T11:05:00.939+02:00The car-free myth. The Netherlands is a great country to live in if you're car-free, but it's a very long way from being a car-free country. Dutch car ownership and use are at an all time high.
The 1970s in Assen. The city was then full of cars. Cars are
now restricted in the city centre, but it would be incorrect to
assume that they've gone away. In fact, car numbers have
tripled since this photo was taken.
A myth has grown up about the Dutch being enthusiastic cyclists who live in green cities and rarely drive. In reality, the majority of journeys are made by motorized vehicles andDavid Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-39492195397759663712019-08-08T21:10:00.001+02:002020-02-10T17:19:23.327+01:00Long term review: My Pashley PDQ touring recumbent. 20 years on the Ship of Theseus.Long term review: 20 years ago I bought a Pashley PDQ recumbent bicycle for touring. I still have it and still use it.
Pashley PDQ recumbent bicycle. Compact, simple in design, reliable. Still a good buy second hand in my opinion.
Cycling need not be an expensive activity. Good quality bicycles last a long time. If we're careful to buy decent quality machines and we maintain them with David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-81326349028020717672019-06-07T16:28:00.003+02:002021-09-15T09:45:22.613+02:00This Week in 1992. A thirty year old time capsule demonstrates both the problems due to cars and the lack of progress that we've made in addressing them.This TV programme was transmitted in the UK in 1992. That's 27 years ago. I'm fairly sure that I watched the programme as I would certainly have been interested in this subject at that time. None of the the problems shown in this nearly 30 year old video have really been resolved. Many of the proposed solutions remain the same but they've not been implemented. It's another story of missing David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-25349937503577029412019-05-13T21:25:00.000+02:002019-11-15T08:59:42.065+01:00The first cycle campaigning youtube videos are in danger because of The Orchard Music and Youtube's broken copyright infringement detection
Judy and I went touring in the Netherlands in 2002 and brought
back many photos, but the primitive digital camera which I
had then couldn't record video at all. I made some VHS videos.
YouTube was founded in 2005 and grew quite rapidly. At the end of 2006 it was bought out by Google and YouTube has remained under Google's ownership since that time. I started using YouTube quite early on, David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-1874937268833966272019-03-30T17:20:00.002+01:002019-08-20T16:47:01.956+02:00The Discovery Of HeavenIt was a lovely day yesterday and the cycle-paths of Drenthe were calling so I decided to make the journey to the Dwingelderveld to eat my lunch next to the somewhat famous radio telescope. Why there in particular ? I'm currently reading Harry Mulisch's "De Ontdekking van de Hemel" ("The Discovery of Heaven"). The author stayed in the area of the radio telescope during the time David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-89532228798059829522019-03-25T17:39:00.002+01:002020-09-16T11:03:20.618+02:00How bidirectional cycle-paths improve cycling safety and efficiency
Click for more information about the railway station including the excellent convenient access between the platform, the extensive cycle parking and these cycle-paths.
Imagine if sidewalks (pavements in the UK) for pedestrians were unidirectional. If you wanted to visit your neighbour who lived on the right side of your home then you could walk there directly, but to come back home again in a David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-63343603253157330942019-02-25T21:13:00.001+01:002020-09-16T11:03:30.761+02:00Assen's new railway stationAssen's first railway station was built in 1870. It was completely demolished and replaced in 1989 by a modern design of station. That station has now also been demolished and replaced with another entirely new design. The new station opened a few months ago. There are still a few details of the work to be completed, but everything is in place now. As was promised, the cycle-parking has again David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-78112430271634451752019-01-21T13:38:00.004+01:002019-11-13T09:42:27.946+01:00To the sea and back in January. A winter ride through Drenthe and Groningen + PPPPPP
We have installed triple glazing in some
of our windows. These ice crystals were
on the outside when I set off yesterday.
Yesterday was the date of the Noordelijke Velomobiel Tocht - a winter recreational ride starting in Groningen and heading to the coast and back.
The distance of the ride was supposed to be around 80 km, but it ended up a bit longer and when I added my ride from Assen to David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-15067274374327118002018-12-13T13:14:00.000+01:002019-12-27T15:24:19.585+01:00Daddy, what did you do in the climate war ?
100 years old and subtly updated for the war that we're facing now.
Do you remember the 8th of October 2018 ? That was the day when the world's newspapers carried stories about the IPCC's latest report on climate change. We were told that we faced catastrophe if we do not take serious action, starting right now, to tackle climate change within 12 years. We were informed about the most serious David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-50317657416810140282018-12-04T21:50:00.003+01:002024-09-25T15:30:23.435+02:00Enough of cars... Overuse of motorized transport is destroying everything.
Le Curé: "I don't like cars".
Three months ago our car reached the end of its economical life and we took it to be scrapped. I'm not missing it. I never used it much anyway.
When we first moved to the Netherlands we brought our car with us from the UK but after we arrived it didn't move a single centimetre until more than three years had passed and we finally got around to registering and David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-63768922860798207372018-10-19T19:01:00.000+02:002019-08-24T15:10:17.475+02:00Over the hills and far away - Drenthe has built a hill for cyclists
Steve, Peter and myself on "our" new hill: The "Col du VAM". It's the highest point in Drenthe at 4800 cm above sea level !
Each week, a small group of recumbent cyclists ride together from Assen on short touring rides. This morning three of us went on a 70 km round trip to ride up a new hill which Drenthe has created for cyclists of all kinds to ride over. "Our" new hill is now the highest David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-58192710158320366912018-10-09T11:56:00.001+02:002019-08-24T15:10:37.230+02:00Zwolle: The Dutch city which changed its roundabouts from one unsafe design to another unsafe design
I've written three times before (1, 2, 3) about how the roundabouts in Zwolle cause danger for cyclists. Each time, I've pointed out that the use of the "priority" roundabout design in that city results in those roundabouts always featuring as the most dangerous sites for cyclists in the entire city.
The top ten list of most dangerous locations for cyclists in
Zwolle according to the David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-23485269500678387492018-09-12T16:34:00.002+02:002020-02-18T14:19:05.246+01:00Riding e-bikes does not lead to health benefits
A recent study ("Transport mode choice and body mass index: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from a European-wide study" by Evi Dons and others) compared the effect of different modes of transport on the BMI of thousands of European commuters. Each participant provided details of their height, weight and age as well as their mode of transport, followed by a second survey 18 months David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3102538965694240940.post-14147776627647648072018-08-30T21:54:00.000+02:002020-01-30T10:53:37.718+01:00Building a safe and legal rainbow crossing
My last blog post included the photo above, which no-one commented on. Many places have of course installed rainbow crossings before Assen, but some careful thought went into this which I think is noteworthy.
Bear in mind that rainbow crossings have two purposes, which are not related to one another:
The political purpose: A rainbow crossing indicates that the city within which it appears David Hembrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com3