Tales from the (Dutch) Bikeside

I ride my bike everyday just about and almost everywhere.  I wish that I could say that I am independently eco-conscious and green enough to have thought of doing this on my own.  However, the honest truth is – I’m not.  I took a predominant part of Dutch (Amsterdam especially) culture and transplanted it into my own life here in the United States.  I’m just one person but hopefully the inspiration I abundantly found while in Amsterdam can inspire at least one person to substitute a short-distance car trip with a bicycle trip instead.  And then expand the bicycling from that point on.

Below is a clip about cycling in Amsterdam.  These clips probably come a dime a dozen.  If I had a dime for each video about bicycling in Amsterdam I’ve seen, I could afford to move there once and for all.  However, this one is different because it showed me something I never saw or even knew.  There used to be a lot of cars and traffic jams in Amsterdam!!  As much time as I’ve spent there, I never knew that there used to be a car/traffic problem.  I was flabbergasted.  However, this piece of news inspires me to know that car culture can be changed.  With enough political will and policy updates, change can happen fairly quickly.