Death by Bike in Amsterdam

When we arrived in Amsterdam we were all very excited to finally get off the long train ride. Excited yet tired, we stepped out of the train station in attempts to find our way to the hostel. As we wandered aimlessly through the streets the first thing I noticed was the differences between the modes of transportation. The first street we came to I noticed that it was divided into multiple lanes. There was one lane for bikes, one for trains, and finally one for cars. Confused and looking like tourists we dodged the bikes and ran passed the trains and cars because we had no idea on how we were suppose to cross the street. The street appeared to be in complete chaos and my first thoughts were how no one got hurt or even killed. There was so much foot traffic along with thousands of bicycles and motorcycles weaving through pedestrians missing them by inches. Although there appeared to be very little order to the traffic, the locals seemed to have no problem with getting around safely.

As we continued walking towards the hostel I began to look more closely at the bicycles and the people riding them. I observed many differences between the bikes in Amsterdam and the ones used in the States. The type of bike appeared very old with only one gear. This was the main bike the locals used to get around the city. Other than the differences of the bicycles, there were also many differences in the people riding them. None of the locals used any type of helmet, some were dressed in nice clothing and many of the bikes carried two people. A good link which shows many different bikes used and pictures: http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/ .

The entire city of Amsterdam is relatively small with about zero hills. This terrain and overall size makes the bicycle an ideal mode of transportation for someone living there. Aside from the geographical terrain there are a large number of pedestrians wandering the city at just about all hours of the day, which would make it extremely frustrating to drive a car everywhere. These examples relate to the concept of human environment interactions. The society and modes of transportation are highly shaped by that of the surrounding environment.

When we finally arrived at our hostel we decided to take a free tour which was offered through the city. During the tour our tour guide explained how the bikes worked in the city which was a huge relief because I didn’t want to die that weekend. She basically just said, “Just stay out or their way.” I thought to myself well I guess that would be a good rule to follow. She said this because, if she was kidding or not I didn’t want to find out, the locals will sometimes play a game on how close they come to hitting tourists. I understood then that the locals have to deal with dumb tourists on a regular basis getting in their way so I made it a goal during the trip to not piss off anyone on a bike.