BB Biking

 I've really enjoyed the experience to bike in both countries on this trip. I can't decide which has been my favorite to bike. Both places have had their pros and cons in infrastructure and biking culture. Each country seems to be relaxed on the rules but the Dutch embrace that more. The Danes seems more methodical and follow rules even though they aren’t there. The Dutch seem to operate a bit more loose and free-for-all style. Biking is more hectic in Amsterdam than Copenhagen even though they both have a comparable population size. My guess is that it is because there are more tourists in Amsterdam than Copenhagen. I think the biking culture can also be traced to the city culture at large. Weed isn't legal in Copenhagen and I can't imagine them having the Red Light District. Those things don't match with Copenhagen. Copenhagen felt more sophisticated while Amsterdam felt more everyday. Although it's not very wordy, that's the best way I can verbalize my op...

One thing I was surprised to learn was the amount of pushback that planners still receive here about bicycle lanes. With such an extensive network, one would think that it would be easier to gain support for new or improved infrastructure. Similar to the U.S., there will always be people in opposition who don't support or envision a bicycle network. I think it's hard to talk with someone in opposition because there is a difference between the Netherlands and the U.S. We are very similar but there are still cultural differences. As with many difficult conversations, I think I would first start off with sharing the history of both the U.S. and Netherlands. During this trip, it has been very helpful to see before and after pictures of intersections. I assumed that these cities had some sort of biking infrastructure in place to put them so far ahead of us but they valued cars just as much as we do. They took away parking and lanes for cars and have found success. Below is a before ...

Today we met with the Dutch Cycling Embassy in Utrecht. We recieved a presentation and biking tour. The highlights for me from the presentation was that 1/2 of all train trips in The Netherlands start with a bike ride, there are 23 million bikes for 17 million residents, and the WHO says that the Netherlands is the one European Union country not headed for an obesity crisis. On the tour we went to see the underground bicycle parking that holds 12,000 bikes. It was so cool! You bike through the garage and each row has a sign that shows how many spots are taken or available. Our guide said that they predict this garage will be filled between 2025-2030 - which is not very far away! The bike garage is located underneath the train station so all the bike-to-train commuters use it. With so many people owning bicycles and using public transit, The Netherlands is going to have to start building more parking ASAP! The U.S. could also learn a lesson on public health and biking in lower our obesi...

Something many of us noticed starting in Copenhagen was the presence of mopeds on the bike lanes. I assumed they were illegal because they have motors and can get up to high speeds, but they are allowed on bike lanes in Denmark. The Netherlands has had recent legislation around mopeds in bicycle lanes. In 1974, a light moped was introduced that had a maximum speed of 12 mph and dint require helmet usage. Over the years, the light moped evolved to have increased engine power and did not have to have pedals. This meant that people could just sit on the scooter and ride at fast speeds while still avoiding cars. I've been curious to read more about this topic as I don't think it is safe to allow mopeds on bike lanes. To me, they operate more like cars - they go fast, weaving in and out of bikes, they're loud, and they smell like gasoline. Bike lanes are meant to be a refuge from vehicles like that. I always get scared when a moped drives by me on the bike lane. I have the same ...

I spent most of my time in Odense recovering from the biking and socializing of the previous week. For that reason, I did not ride my bike. My first impressions of the city was that it was very quiet and not a lot of bicycle traffic. It seemed like they had similar infrastructure to Copenhagen, just on a lesser scale. Although they had similar population, it was hard for me to compare Odense to Eugene. Since I didn't bike, I didn't leave the downtown core, but Odense seemed much more dense. It didn't feel like something that could be translated to Eugene because of the number of single family homes we have. Additionally, I think that Eugene lacks a strong downtown core. When I have family or friends visit Eugene, I don't know where to take them to "see" the town. We have the downtown area, but there is no consolidated section for shopping, dining, and gathering. I've taken visitors to the 5th Street Market but it's small and we can cover the whole area...

One small thing I noticed in the Denmark cities is the lack of street trees. There were a lot of parks in Copenhagen, which I enjoyed, that helped boost the sense of green space. But, there were a lot of streets I went on that seemed without any shade or trees. I thought this was interesting because it seemed like enough of an issue to make me notice it. I had similar feelings in Odense as well. The grass-lined light rail tracks helped improve the sense of green space and connection to nature. Street trees can help reduce the urban heat island effect and reduce stormwater run-off. One of the professionals mentioned that they think the U.S. does better than Denmark in our implementation of stormwater management and nature/biodiversity protection. Reading a bit online, I learned that Scandinavia have a limited array of resistant native plants to choose from, limiting their options. There is also limited rooting space in the ground for street trees.  Update: After looking through my p...