It’s clearly red. Yet so many bicycle campaigns try to convince me otherwise it’s disturbing.

What it really is, is the best way to get from A to B. It is so for many reasons, not least because Amsterdam has made a big effort in making it convenient. Using a bike for getting around also happens to be green, economical, chic, fun, healthy, practical… you name it. Yet, as Marco quite brilliantly says over at Münchenierung, it can never be only marketing.

Take for instance the bicycle parking at train station in Amsterdam Zuid (WTC). You go, get a ticket, lock your bike, and off you go. Your bike will be there when you get back, safe and dry. It’s even free for the first 24 hours! After that it’s only 50 cents a day, so I tend to leave my bike there when I go to the airport.

You will have a hard time convincing people to ride a bike because it’s green -or economical, or chic, or fun or healthy, if they don’t find it convenient and safe. At the end of the day, most people will simply do what it’s easier for them to do. Nothing wrong with that, life’s hard enough as it is.

Amsterdam loves it’s bikes, no matter what colour they are.

Any city official who gets to fiddle around with urban planning & infrastructure in relation to bicycles and is allowed to whine, blathering on with the straw man argument that ‘there are too many bikes in Amsterdam’ (re: growing bike use and continued lack of bike parking), should be tied up somewhere high up anywhere in town and watch his fellow citizens ride by.

Preferably for at least 24 hours. And then have him answer the question: “Would you rather deal with too many cars?” Count your friggin’ blessings, man.

We’ve been at this point many times before, in every decade since World War II.

In 1958, for instance, ‘Bicycle Problem In Amsterdam’:

No different in 1970, ‘Bicycle Surplus’:

Deal with it, be smart, provide it, there are enough means & know it’s a real investment in the future. Heck, embrace your very own & much publicized prime instrument for ‘sustainable mobility‘ and put your money where your mouth is. Speaking of money, real money: any Euro spent on bicycle infrastructure actually SAVES the city money, contrary to the bottomless pit that is the financing of car infrastructure, increased demands for health care and the relentless penetration of toxics.

If we’d really take your crying seriously, how the hell would you accommodate The Crazy Bicycle Parade at the start of the Giro d’Italia? Or do you consider the peloton too big for comfort as well?

Just saying.

And please continue to ignore anything that goes on below the river delta, where five southern cities have proven their provincial attitudes: banning bicycle parking from their downtown (shopping) areas, because ‘their square will look tidier’ & ‘and will no more be a safety hazard’ (apparently someone tripped).

National TV news bulletin ‘Netwerk’ deemed it important enough to dedicate a whole show to it (now offline):

“Our city center will be bicycle-free”, the municipality of Venray announced in early March. Bicycles will have to be parked on the edge of the inner-city. Those who don’t comply will be fined. An exception? Hardly. Other cities like Maastricht, Eindhoven and Tilburg are also banning bicycles from their city centers.”

‘Netwerk’ was right to juxtapose their non-existent ‘problem’ with the real issues Amsterdam is dealing with. This broadcast spoke volumes (and at the same time ‘Netwerk’ pretty much exposed the flawed execution of Amsterdam’s ‘orphan bike’ removal program, aka relentless & too eager and sloppy in its signage.

As a source of mine at the Cyclists Union jokingly responded to the southern bans: “Must be something toxic in the (holy) water.” Yeah, but even there not all are infected or just plain stupid. I’ll make up my mind in a few months, see if any protests will have emerged by then…

In any case, it should be easy to do MUCH better over here, right?

Cycling, bicycle parking facilities [which include services such as toilets, bicycle repair service, lockers and nappy area for babies] and public transportation, this combination should continue to be the prime urban and intercity transit solution. Watch my personal experience, one of my daily commutes from Amsterdam to Utrecht, 50 km south of this fine city.

[I filmed this with my phone, so please forgive me for the lack of quality]

Convenience from Amsterdamize on Vimeo.