Amsterdam by Bike

My first impression upon arriving in Amsterdam was that this was a city of the twenty-first century. Along all major streets in Amsterdam, there is a wide bike lane, filled with cyclists and people on motorized scooters as well. I soon learned that this dynamic required an increased awareness of my surroundings, when I was nearly crushed on a pair of occassions by oncoming cyclists (Amsterdam cyclists have a bit of an aggressive streak as well, perhaps the natural consequence of their having obtained a critical mass that cyclists in most US cities could only dream of).

When I rented a bike, I was able to appreciate things from a more direct perspective. Suddenly, I was gliding across Amsterdam at ten miles per hour. Fellow cyclists smiled at me as I rode by. Instead of being a lowly pedestrian dodging bikes, pedestrians where dodging me (I had to slam on the brakes a couple of time when tourists wandered into my path). Additionally, because Amsterdam is quite flat (the words Netherlands means "low countries")it is eminently bikeable. The weather in Amsterdam is also conducive to cycling: although it rains on mosts days, the rain is usually only a soft patter, and it rarely gets extremely cold here.