Wednesday, 4 February 2009
A long commute revisited
A few days ago I posted a story about Mark Wagenbuur's 50 km long intermodal commute between 's-Hertogenbosch and Utrecht.
I've just been sent a link to a further video of Mark's. This one presents a set of stills which document his journey on a day in 2005 when the Dutch railways were on strike and he cycled the 100 km round trip to work. He says: "I found it a very nice route. But it was a one time thing. I rode back the same day and if you are used to under 5km trips only that 100km on one day was a bit much!"
The cycle facilities here support any speed that you like to ride. It's a network which covers the entire country. The paths vary in intent and there is always a choice. The direct route may be in a relatively unpleasant place such as next to a motorway, but you'll never be on the motorway and in any case that is never the only option.
Mark revisited the first half of this route on the 31st of January at just above freezing point. Every metre of the 25 km covered on this video is on a cycle facility of one kind or another. There also wasn't any part of it where he didn't feel happy about holding a camera in his hand while cycling:
A little while ago we also featured a similar length route between Amsterdam and Utrecht.
I was surprised to see the motor scooter on the bike path at the fueling station. Are they permitted on bike paths?
ReplyDeleteHi Lynn, very low power scooters are permitted on rural bike paths. They are supposed to be limited to some low speed, I think 40 km/h (25 mph), so there would be more of a difference in speed between them and cars on the road than between them and bikes on the bike path.
ReplyDeleteGreat films, showing what can be done if there's the political will.
ReplyDeleteI did a 120km round trip for work last summer. Not because there was a strike, or I couldn't drive, but because it was such a lovely day. Almost killed me though, as it was across the wilds of County Durham - not exactly flat!