An In-between Pace

 June 25^th
 

Wow!!! After seeing that bike-ped crash last night I am interested to discover if we will continue to see minor accidents on a daily basis.  I know that the amount of bicycles on the road in Amsterdam is on multiple orders of magnitude larger than the amount of bicycles found in U.S. cities, so I would hypothesize that the amount of accidents would increase some amount too.  Although it was a brutal crash last night I do believe that it would have been avoided if the two men walking across the cycle lane would have been sober and the bar adjacent to the lane would have taken better measures (e.g. using a type of rope barrier, etc.) to insure the safety of both parties.  At any rate I do not feel unsafe riding my bicycle, but I do need to get more comfortable passing and merging with other bicycles.  Practice makes perfect!

10:00am

Today I am going to see Amsterdam and the countryside at a different pace than riding on a bicycle, walking on a sidewalk, or driving in a vehicle, I will be running! I really love to explore cities through running.  I’m able to cover more ground than if I was walking and I have a quicker reaction time to adjust to unforeseen variables (parked cars blocking sidewalks, people walking at illogical paces, steep terrain, etc.) than if I was on a bicycle or car.  The plan is to run 13 miles, which I haven’t ran since early January.  I’m a little bit nervous!

2:00pm

MADE IT!  The run was incredible and the pace was good so my legs are still pretty loose.  It was interesting to see how pedestrians, both walkers and runners, interact with bicycles.  It seems like every form of transportation (walking, running, and automobiles) take a backseat to bicycles.  Bicycles are given the right-of-way in every transportation situation that I have observed. There is a universal understanding between these user groups of who is given the right-of-way even when there are no traffic lights or traffic symbols. I am interested to see if I can get more insight to how this social phenomenon began and is maintained in Holland.