Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Urban Bikes

Over at Urban Sketchers there is a recent posting on bicycling in Denmark. The author writes, "Danes bike everywhere - school, job, shopping, picking up kids. Bike lanes figure prominently in major towns, not just in the centre….” Check out his sketch at the link. It reminds me of the multitudes of bikes in Western Europe. I got a chance to ride in the Netherlands in 2009 and then in the UK in 2011. Both trips made my hands very cold, as we traveled to Europe in the winter when it’s cheaper and not crowded. In the Netherlands we rode on dikes and in a national park (where bikes are left unlocked at public stands for free usage) and in the UK, I pedaled around the famed walled city of York.
Nijmegen, Netherlands, December 2008


I’m not sure if I’ve ranted about technology before on this blog, but one barely developed theory I have about technology is that the more we use it the more we are separated from natural experience. Thus we’ve read on so many blogs that “cagers” just miss so much as they press the gas and move through town without noticing the air, the surroundings, the sounds of pedestrians talking, or a better view that comes from a slower pace. Bikes, being relatively low tech, are so much less a foreign appendage of human beings; certainly in comparison to cars. As such, my daughter and our friends (above photo) talked to each other and shared the experience of a ride along a riverside at a human pace and scale.

4 comments:

She Rides a Bike said...

I have never heard the term "cagers" before but it makes a lot of sense. One of the things I've really grown to appreciate while on my bike is the interaction I get with the natural world and the people that I pass along the way. Usually, it's nothing more than a "hello" and a smile but it lifts my spirits every time. When my husband and I do our bike dates going out for dinner and drinks really becomes more of an experience. I love watching him on his bike from behind and paying attention to the things I see him noticing.

Ben said...

Thanks! I take it you have more bike friendly routes? Unfortuantely, where I live one must joust through suburban traffic before finding a pleasant area to ride in tandem...

She Rides a Bike said...

We have multiuse trails and bike lanes but the development here is very suburban so it means crossing big roads w/ fast traffic.

She Rides a Bike said...

We have multiuse trails and bike lanes but the development here is very suburban so it means crossing big roads w/ fast traffic.