I expected to be impressed by the Dutch approach to bicycling, but the experience has been overwhelming. Everyone cycles, and, it appears to my overly cautious eye, they all are so nonchalant about it. The madcap flow of bikes in Amsterdam requires constant vigilance if you are an unwary tourist, on foot or on bike. But even when sharing the roads with cars the Dutch go right ahead as if they own the road, which effectively they do, since if a collision with a car occurs the motorist is automatically at fault. And many cyclists seem to be focusing more on their cell phones than their surroundings, at speed; sheer mayhem when you throw in all the motorbikes zipping along in the same lane.
Madness, but it works, because the Dutch have built the infrastructure to make it all so reasonable and apparently safe, given how many kids I see on their own bikes or the younger ones riding in all sorts of carriers on the parent's bikes. Nirvana.
Shelves with bike ("fietsen") maps and guides.
Signs for bike paths; the numbers refer to junctions where the next sign post will be.
Bike lanes on rural road, squeezing the car lane.
A bike storage "breadbox" design
Barges for bike parking in Amsterdam
Multilevel overflow parking outside train station's underground garage for bikes
Bike shop featuring kid trikes
And another colorful display
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