Sustainability, Safety, cycling as means of transport for women who moved to the Netherlands

Temporary bike parking outside Utrecht CS before a series of mega indoor bike parks were built around the station, including what will be the worlds largest when completed.

Cycling and the Netherlands are as much synonymous as Edam cheese, Tulips and managing to keep the water where they want it. Cycling is a very popular sport, and can be an expensive hobby, but as a mode of transport, it's got to be one of the most sustainable, certainly for short distances.
There are 22.5 million bikes in the Netherlands, that's 1.3 per person.

The Netherlands is a small country, it's flatness may play some part in the popularity of cycling, but the fact that it rains all year round, horizontal hail and gusty winds, doesn't seem to stop people here either. There's a Dutch saying “wij zijn niet van suiker gemaakt” We aren't made of sugar, we aren't water soluble, we don't dissolve in water, in other words, so fear not, the rain will not harm you. (It does sting your cheeks and knuckles a bit if you get the horizontal wet snow head on.)

Sustainable living can be complicated. It's something we aspire to, but it needs to serve its purpose. When it comes to transportation, as in getting from A to B quickly, safely, and affordably; if any one of those factors isn't present, then people simply don't do it.
Where I come from, the UK, is similar to most of the world when it comes to modal share of cyclists it's 2% of the population overall, with most of them being in cities. Out of that two percent, only a tiny percentage of them are women. There are many theories as to why that might be . Most revolve around appearance, not wanting to get helmet hair, that sort of thing are often suggested, but I think the biggest of all turn-offs is the danger factor.

Cycling in traffic is dangerous, it's the biggest danger to a cyclist and it's going to be by far the biggest reason why you might fall off or be knocked off a bike.  Also sexual harassment, real or imagined, many of the women who were in that tiny but significant percentage can reel off many accounts of physical and verbal intimidation and harassment by other road users (including other cyclists!). It's a jungle out there, and lets face it, who needs that in your life?

Princess Maxima, Argentinian princess married to the Dutch King Willem Alexander adopts well to the culture of cycling. 

So why in the Netherlands, of the quarter of the population on any given day, who ride around regularly, are well over half of them are women?  No helmets? No helmet hair?  Women do wear trousers more often maybe? I've seen plenty of cyclists here in suits and dress shoes, high heels, dresses, even fur coats. Cycling in February with wet “net uit de douche” hair and no hat, has to be one of the Dutch teenager's superpowers, but it's not unusual to see well dressed women with hairdos on bikes. Being dressed up to the nines might not be as expected perhaps as much as in other countries. Women here tend to please themselves when it comes to appearance. Has this been influenced by the prevalence of every day cycling in every day clothes?

Road safety. Now there's the big elephant in the room.

Parents dropping of their kids at Esta Scouts (cubs) in Utrecht

Globally, according to the World Health Organisation, in the US, you are 10 times more likely to be killed in a car than for example being stabbed or shot. In Europe there are far less shootings but the ratio is about the same. On a daily basis, travelling by car, is probably the most dangerous thing you will do.
This handy WHO interactive map  reveals some very interesting statistics regarding road safety around the world.
Spoiler alert, it tells you that road deaths are responsible for more death than pretty much anything else, it's not an interactive map to lighten your mood.
This doesn't factor deaths by air pollution and inactivity despite there being overwhelming evidence that the Netherlands save buckets of money in health care by keeping a larger proportion of their population relatively active. Most people will cycle at least some of the time. A recent article in the Times in the UK reported that research suggests that the UK could chop 1.6 billion pounds out of the NHS budget by going Dutch and spending as much as the Dutch do per person, on cycle infrastructure.
Even more interesting is that cyclist fatalities in the Netherlands per 100,000 is the highest in Europe at 1.1 per 100k population. So when you say to people the roads in the Netherlands are the safest in the world for cyclists, according to the WHO, not necessarily!
It goes to show that statistics don't tell you the whole picture. It isn't a measure per km travelled.  Of those 100,000 in NL, possibly most of them will have got on a bike recently so that higher percentage of fatalities is more to do with them riding at all.  You only have to be next to the Bijenkorf on a weekday morning about 8.30 am to understand that. That stretch of road is the busiest in NL with over 25,000 cyclists per day! 

Safety is mostly about how safe something feels, and by a steady improvement over the past three decades, the Dutch have invested in the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily travelled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighbourhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way, complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and widen public support for cycling.

Dafne Schippers brug, from the new rapidly expanding 'burbs into the centre of Utrecht. The building that forms part of it is the local primary that was rebuilt to accommodate this impressive piece of infrastructure.

Of that over a quarter the population of the Netherlands cycle to work or school,  many mums and dads will take their kids on their bikes on their way to work. This is also where the safety factor comes in; if you are safe to ride your kids to school you can do that thing that we all need to do every day - a succession of short journeys. Invariably, once you've started in any one mode, that's probably the one you'll stick to all day. So if you can start the day on a bike, taking your kids to school, you continue on to work, or the train station, or the shops, or the gym.

Bike parking under a secondary school in Vleuten we were visiting for our son, this is just half, behind me was the same!

We don't exist in isolation, we also take trips with other people, so again, if anyone can feel safe to ride, then going to the cinema, or meeting up for drinks, or the spa, or a picnic in the park with the kids, is the go-to mode of transport.
Cycling, and specifically cycling for transportation, every day, with my kids, with my friends was one of the main reasons I moved back to the Netherlands. I am a cyclist to my bones, so the fact that it had become increasingly dangerous for me and nigh on impossible with kids in the UK, was a huge factor for me moving back to Utrecht. Utrect is mijn stadje.

I didn't move everything like this! We used a removal company, but not having a car, those last bits and bobs, plus that lamp was never going in the back of a car!

When I thought about writing this piece, I realized that I am not a typical ex-pat, I don't drive, and I belong to that tiny minority I mentioned of women who you'd see fearlessly pounding along Marylebone Road in London during rush hour. I thought that it would be much more interesting to hear stories about why and how, women who moved to the Netherlands, were so much more likely to be seen on a bike. I posted this questionnaire on the International Women's Club Utrecht Facebook group page. I'm very grateful to all the ladies who responded.

Tina
1) How long have you been in the Netherlands?
I don’t live there any more but I was there for 7 years (1989-1996)
2) How would you describe yourself as a cyclist before you arrived in NL?
I rode a bike for fun mainly, occasionally for exercise, since I was a child.
3) Do you remember the first time you rode anywhere in NL by bike, describe what it was like? Was it your own bike? Did you borrow a bike at first? Were you with others or on your own?
My husband carried me on the back of his bike initially. We would go from our flat in Overvecht into Utrecht centrum and eat or shop. I loved riding though Wilhelmina park, probably my fondest memory, it was so beautiful! Then I got my own bike and rode it to work at the stadium and shopping alone to Overvecht Winkelcentrum. That was a huge learning curve. Coming from America where I drove a car, we would shop for the entire week, I tried that on the bike and struggled balancing 3 bags: one on each handle and one on the back which I had to hold with one hand! That only happened once! I soon learned to shop only for a day or so of food. I'm sure I looked hilarious!
4) Do you own more than one bike now? Have you ever owned more than one bike? (for example, a road bike for sport, or a folding bike, or a bakfiets)
I don't own a bike... I take that back - the one I shipped to Holland from America - my mom ended up paying $1000 to ship it not knowing any better, a real shame considering the bike was a gift to me from a former boyfriend who raced bikes and worked in a bike shop.  Now my 1st Dutch ex-husband is saving it for me to get one day.  Anyone want a 12-speed Cannondale?
5) How do you think your behaviour has changed since you moved to NL? (for example, the way you do your grocery shopping, how you transport yourself or your kids, do you cycle for fun?)
I wish I still lived there, just for the exercise it provided.  I didn't, however revert to my old habits of buying a weeks worth of groceries, at least not now that I have an empty nest.
6) Have you noticed any changes in your health?
I was in great shape when I lived there, finally got that ass I always wanted - but its gone now.
7) How often (if at all) do you drive or travel by car in NL compared to where you lived before?
I did get a car after biking for the first 3 years I lived there. I missed having wheels to go places and got tired of the riding my bike in the rain - ruined my leather pants after becoming soaked and sitting at my desk all day, the knees never were the same again.
8) Does air quality or the impact of cars concern you? If so, more or less than before you moved here?
I was concerned about the air quality so my 2nd ex-husband found a study done while I was living there proving that the exhaust goes to the centre of the road, not toward the bike lanes.  That was comforting.
9) What's the best thing you've discovered about cycling here? or what would you say has been the biggest advantage? (financial? health? fun? time not wasted? etc)
I think the biggest advantage is that it is healthy, getting exercise was effortless, so to speak, as opposed to mustering up the energy to go to the gym. Not having to worry about parking a car was also nice, of course sometimes you couldn't find a place to park the bike.

Lisa
1) How long have you been in the Netherlands?
About 18 months
2) How would you describe yourself as a cyclist before you arrived in NL?
Yes; we lived in Ottawa, Canada which is pretty bike friendly. Our first year there, we lived without a car and I cycled regularly to work when weather permitted. I was never tough enough to cycle in Canada in the winter!!
3) Do you remember the first time you rode anywhere in NL by bike, describe what it was like? Was it your own bike? Did you borrow a bike at first? Were you with others or on your own? 
I don't remember what my first bike trip was here...It was probably to work in Bilthoven which is about a 6 km trip. I lived here for 2 months on my own before my family joined me (along with our household goods) so I didn't have a bike when I arrived. That seemed to be really unusual for my colleagues and everyone kept offering me a bike while I was waiting for mine. I actually enjoyed getting to know my way around Utrecht on foot first!
4) Do you own more than one bike now? Have you ever owned more than one bike? (for example, a road bike for sport, or a folding bike, or a bakfiets)
I have one bike that I have somehow managed to keep for more than 15 years! I have never owned more than one. When my daughter was small, we had a bike trailer that she loved riding in.
5) How do you think your behaviour has changed since you moved to NL? (for example, the way you do your grocery shopping, how you transport yourself or your kids, do you cycle for fun?)
I think my work wardrobe has changed because I cycle to work most days! I usually wear trousers and rarely blow dry my hair. I enjoy going out in the evening on our bikes, and I have roomy panniers so that I can carry shopping. My daughter never regularly rode a bike before we moved here: cycling was a recreational activity on bike paths in good weather, and now she cycles to school and is really enthusiastic about going everyone on our bikes.
6) Have you noticed any changes in your health?
I feel better on days when I don't get to the gym, if I have at least cycled to and from work! I find that it really clears my head at the end of the day to spend 30 minutes on my bike before I reach home.
7) How often (if at all) do you drive or travel by car in NL compared to where you lived before?
In Canada and in Trinidad, where we lived for a couple of years, we drove almost everywhere. In NL, we are really happy not to own a car and we seldom travel by car.
8) Does air quality or the impact of cars concern you? if so more or less than before you moved here?
I think I have always been concerned about these issues: when I visit other countries now, I realize how many cities are built for cars and how lucky we are to have such great cycling infrastructure.
9) What's the best thing you've discovered about cycling here? or what would you say has been the biggest advantage? (financial? health? fun? time not wasted? etc)
I enjoy that cycling is accessible to almost everyone, and people aren't too precious about having high-end bikes or special cycling gear. I've also realized that in the city, it is faster and easier to get places on a bike than it is to drive a car around narrow one-way streets and try to find parking. I also enjoy that our daughter is growing up in an environment where cycling is a normal everyday way of getting around.

Katy
1) How long have you been in the Netherlands?
16.5 years
2) How would you describe yourself as a cyclist before you arrived in NL?
As a kid growing up in NYC we used bikes to get around the neighbourhood and to stores. We were also very used to riding people on the back or on the handlebars. As an adult I enjoyed biking as a leisure activity through parks and along boardwalks (San Diego, Virginia Beach)
3) Do you remember the first time you rode anywhere in NL by bike, describe what it was like? Was it your own bike? Did you borrow a bike at first? Were you with others or on your own?
Not the destination, probably into the centrum. I was nervous because I didn't really know where I was going or all the rules. My own bike, got it within a week of moving here. Was with Roberto.
4) Do you own more than one bike now? Have you ever owned more than one bike (for example, a road bike for sport, or a folding bike, or a bakfiets)
Own one bike. Retired the first one after 11 years. Have had this is since 2012.
5) How do you think your behaviour has changed since you moved to NL? (for example, the way you do your grocery shopping, how you transport yourself or your kids, do you cycle for fun?)
Always loved biking. But now it is main means of transportation. I love my saddlebags and being able to shop by bike. I'm rarely in a car any more. I also bike for fun and for sport.
6) Have you noticed any changes in your health?
I have more energy. I think biking also helps my joints. At 55 I still have no knee or hip creaking or aches.
7) How often (if at all) do you drive or travel by car in NL compared to where you lived before?
I don't drive here. I am rarely in a car, maybe a few times a month. As compared to Va Beach, where I was for the 8 years before moving here, that's a complete car culture with almost no public transport.
8) Does air quality or the impact of cars concern you? if so more or less than before you moved here?
I find the air quality good okay here. And impacting with cars always concerns me. ;) But seriously, it concerns me that the trend in cars is getting larger. I have watched over the years people are driving larger and larger vehicles.
9) What's the best thing you've discovered about cycling here? or what would you say has been the biggest advantage? (financial? health? fun? time not wasted? etc)
I love my bike. I couldn't imagine being back in a car culture. The infrastructure for bikes here is great. Helps the country is as flat as an ironing board too. Financially...biking is free. Health...What's not healthy about it! It's still fun to take a long bike ride with a picnic packed in our saddlebags. Always still makes me feel like a kid to bike through crispy autumn leaves. Around town it's always faster by bike. I think the biking culture here contributes to better health for longer (along with diet) and also for family quality time. I love when I see families biking together to the lake, into town, or just for a ride together. I think it also keeps people active socially. I often see groups of seniors (men only, women only, and couples) riding along for an outing.
The NL has truly made biking an important part of their culture. Even for leisure or sport, there are well marked bike paths and trails for all different levels.

Cindy
1) How long have you been in the Netherlands?
Since Sept 2015
2) How would you describe yourself as a cyclist before you arrived in NL?
Horrible cyclist.
3) Do you remember the first time you rode anywhere in NL by bike, describe what it was like? Was it your own bike? Did you borrow a bike at first? Were you with others or on your own? 
Yes I will never forget that day. First time on the bike I almost knocked a stationary car. The next day, I cycled again and got a shock at incoming cyclists near Stadsschouwburg, got wobbly and went straight towards a big ice cream cone display, banged it and I fell on the ground hugging the cone.
4) Do you own more than one bike now? Have you ever owned more than one bike (for example, a road bike for sport, or a folding bike, or a bakfiets)
Yes I have 2. One city bike and one folding bike.
5) How do you think your behaviour has changed since you moved to NL? (for example, the way you do your grocery shopping, how you transport yourself or your kids, do you cycle for fun?)
I love cycling now! Although I am small in size and my bicycle seems bigger than me, I absolutely love commuting by bicycle. I dont have to worry about searching for parking lots too.
6) Have you noticed any changes in your health?
No.
7) How often (if at all) do you drive or travel by car in NL compared to where you lived before?
I never cycled before coming over to the NL. My car was the only way I commute back in Kuala Lumpur.
8) What's the best thing you've discovered about cycling here? or what would you say has been the biggest advantage? (financial? health? fun? time not wasted? Etc)
No need to worry about parking space!

Anne
1) How long have you been in the Netherlands?
4 years
2) How would you describe yourself as a cyclist before you arrived in NL?
As an accomplished cyclist as any Dane is on her/his bike as from when she/he can walk. However, due to my staying in non-cyclist friendly UK for 4 years and mountainous Switzerland for 13 years (bad excuses?) I hadn't cycled for quite some time before I arrived in the Netherlands.
3) Do you remember the first time you rode anywhere in NL by bike, describe what it was like? Was it your own bike? Did you borrow a bike at first? Were you with others or on your own? 
I brought my own bike from Switzerland and biked with my husband to Amelisweerd a few days after we've arrived in NL, on a beautiful September day.
4) Do you own more than one bike now? Have you ever owned more than one bike (for example, a road bike for sport, or a folding bike, or a bakfiets)
I've had 2 bikes stolen in Utrecht so now I have an old, rusty, second-hand bike. Never had more than one bike at a time.

5) How do you think your behaviour has changed since you moved to NL? (for example, the way you do your grocery shopping, how you transport yourself or your kids, do you cycle for fun?) 
Due to the fact that I live in Binnenstad I walk everywhere. In Switzerland and the UK, I lived in the country side and had to use a car to do my shopping, catch the train etc.
6) Have you noticed any changes in your health? 
No.
7) How often (if at all) do you drive or travel by car in NL compared to where you lived before? 
I used to drive my car several times a day, now it is once every 2 weeks or less.
8) Does air quality or the impact of cars concern you? if so more or less than before you moved here? 
I'm not worried about air pollution due to cars here.
9) What's the best thing you've discovered about cycling here? or what would you say has been the biggest advantage? (financial? health? fun? time not wasted? etc)
Actually, I don't like cycling in Binnenstad - here are far too many bikes, they ride too fast, and according to rules only they know! I prefer walking, and if a bit further away, use public transport. I've had one bicycling accident but that was totally my fault (not paying attention to the road and the pavement) But generally, I am much in favour of cycling, it is a nice way of getting around, you get exercise, it does not pollute, and is a rather cheap way of transport.

Christine Jones (Me!)
1) How long have you been in the Netherlands?
It will be 4 years in the summer with kids, but I've back and forth since the early 80's
2) How would you describe yourself as a cyclist before you arrived in NL? 

I was brought up on the back of a tandem, I've ridden all my life, a lot. In London in the early 2000's 100 miles a week, mostly on a Brompton folding bike. When I had kids, it was a terrible shock to realise how much my lifestyle in the UK would have to change due to the lack of provision for cyclists.
3) Do you remember the first time you rode anywhere in NL by bike, describe what it was like? Was it your own bike? Did you borrow a bike at first? Were you with others or on your own? 
I don't remember the exact time, I would have been in my teens, it was probably my mum's bike and I would have ridden from her place in N'gein to Cityplaza.
4) Do you own more than one bike now? Have you ever owned more than one bike (for example, a road bike for sport, or a folding bike, or a bakfiets)
I have rarely for very long, only owned one bike. Now, I have three, I have my transport bike, a Brompton folding bike and a spare bike (a bright orange 70's Sparta with no gears and pedal back brakes I found 2nd hand and fell in love with). Oh, and one that sits in the garden I rescued, it goes, but I want to do it up. Plus hopefully soon I'll be getting my Dad's old Holdworth road bike.
5) How do you think your behaviour has changed since you moved to NL? (for example, the way you do your grocery shopping, how you transport yourself or your kids, do you cycle for fun?) 
I am in my element here! It's just how it should be.
6) Have you noticed any changes in your health? 
I've lost about 5kg since I moved back to NL without really trying.
7) How often (if at all) do you drive or travel by car in NL compared to where you lived before? 
We had a big Mazda 5 MPV in the UK, when we moved here, we sold it. I don't drive, but my husband does and we hire a car on Snappcar.nl to travel with the boat to the UK once a year and about once a month we might take a green wheels to make a journey that would otherwise be too difficult by bike or public transport.
8) Does air quality or the impact of cars concern you? if so more or less than before you moved

Queuing with my son to park our bikes in the centre of Utrecht

here? 
Utrecht has some of the worst air quality in the Netherlands thanks to it being completely surrounded by motorways – it's the intersection of the country for road, water and rail and the former two have been pretty much since Roman times. But generally if you are riding around, the air is pretty clean in the city, thanks to the trees and lack of cars. It does concern me, I support the Milieu Defensie, an organisation set up to challenge the Dutch government to take more steps to improve the situation.
9) What's the best thing you've discovered about cycling here? or what would you say has been the biggest advantage? (financial? health? fun? time not wasted? etc) 
I'm just so glad I got to live here, I have my mum to thank for that. NL might not be perfect by any means, but life in Utrecht suits me down to the ground. I'm happier, healthier and better off somewhere where the motorcar doesn't have to dictate where I go and how I go.