København & Amsterdam; Stop…And Turn
Posted In: amsterdam, Amsterdamize, city cycling, copenhagen, cycle chic, cycling, København, netherlands, people on bicycles, Photos, signaling
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Mikael recently published a set of 49 pictures called ‘Bicycles: Cyclists Signalling* a Turn or a Stop‘, 48 of which he took in Copenhagen, 1 in Amsterdam. Two examples, one of a stop & one of a turn:
Given the similarities of our two bicycle cultures (which also includes drinking habits), I figured I could match that, so I roamed my archives and found out I had the opportunity to top that figure by 1..call it symbolism :) (and I’ll get to cycling & drinking some other time).
As you obviously figured out on your own, Amsterdammers & Copenhagenianerannersuskjuians (freely translated from a Dane’s mouth chewing on raw herring with pickles) have the signaling in common, but the Dutch don’t do and have never done the stop sign. We don’t miss that, what we have works for us. Stopping just needs a little anticipation, a quick scan of your environment and it’s fine to do so. No fuss.
Or…you could just argue that the Danes are more polite, in conversation (less blunt) and in this case, regarding gesturing to their fellow human beings – leaving out the middle finger phenomenon. But…then you could counter that the Dutch are more laissez-faire, no-nonsense. Which in turn are generalizations that probably have some truth to them, but don’t do little nuances any justice. Nuances like that people on bikes in Amsterdam are so intuitive in traffic, they don’t need to read a whole lot of body language to see what’s going on or going to happen. [...] Oh right, ‘body language’. No no no, I’m not even touching that sexist filth called ‘Cycle Chic’. Ugh, what is he on, right?!? People in normal clothes on normal bikes (or vacuum cleaners, as he calls them) going from A to B, chatting about livable urban utopias and what not. Pff, you’re not fooling me.
Anyway. For those who can’t be bothered to take a look at the rest of my specially arranged photo set, here are a few more:
Oh wait, about that ‘cycling & beer’ thing;
It’s not my kind of beer, but it is my town & exactly my spirit. Now, can somebody direct me to København’s equivalent? :p
* ‘Signalling’ is British spelling. Mikael is half British, half Dane. ‘Signaling’ is North American spelling. My girlfriend is from the US…yup, that’s my excuse.
