Three years of blogging - top posts

The first post on this blog was made three years ago on the 16th of August 2008. At that time, I marvelled that "No-one has tooted a horn aggressively at me, no-one has driven their car at me, no-one has shouted at me in the street in an aggressive way."

We've now lived here for four years, and this remains very nearly true. Unfortunately, I had one very minor tooting incident earlier this year - just enough to remind me that The Netherlands isn't perfect. However, that such incidents are so rare as only one in the four years we've lived here remains a very good part of why it is that the Dutch find cycling to be a pleasant experience, and why people here cycle as much as they do.

Anyway, here are the top twenty most read posts on the blog:

1. Anatomy of reliable everyday bicycle - A practical bicycle is needed if you rely on it every day. What makes a "Dutch bicycle" so practical ?
2. Three types of safety - Subjective and Social safety are more important than actual safety if people are to be encouraged to cycle. However, these things come together, and the Netherlands is also the safest place in the world to cycle.
3. Directness - highlighting the importance of cyclists being able to make convenient journeys. If cycling is inconvenient it won't be popular.
4. The most dangerous cycle crossing in the UK
5. The truth about Copenhagen - some people didn't like this. Sorry, but I don't like exaggeration and hype.
6. Sinner Mango - a lot of people seem to like this bike. So do I.
7. Stairs are dangerous - wear a helmet - Many things are more dangerous than cycling. Climbing stairs is just one of them. Scaremongering does not help to encourage people to cycle.
8. Bikes for older people - just one of several posts with the same subject
9. Stopping ban by schools - It's simply not necessary for cars to be able to stop by schools, especially at times of day when they put children at risk. There are lots of stories about school travel.
10. Oh London you really need to try harder than this - one of several on London.
11. World's safest roads - Dutch and British roads vie for the position of the safest in the world, but the way the safety levels have been achieved couldn't be more different, and for cyclists and pedestrians this is a very important difference.
12. State of the Art bikeway design, or is it? - Criticism of American infrastructure design, self described as "state of the art".
13. When Cyclists Matter - Car crash and public response in 's-Hertogenbosch - it's a bit different here from many other places.
14. All those myths and excuses in one post - things that people think are the reasons while cycling is popular in the Netherlands but not in their own countries.
15. How Groningen grew to be the world's number one cycling city - one of many posts about Groningen.
16. Reality vs. Myth: The "dangers" of Dutch cycle paths - Despite the statistics showing them to be very safe, some people try very hard to make our that there are greater dangers than really exist.
17. Pit Canaries - how what your cyclists looks like is an indication of the level of subjective safety
18. 4001 - a utility cycling odyssey - how small journeys add up
19. Excuses - various excuses that people make for why cycling happens more here than where they live
20. Inter-city bicycle superhighways for long distance commuters - one of several posts on this subject.

Surprisingly to me, none of the posts about the enormous amount of railway station parking made the list. None of the Before and After series made the list, the posts about segregation without cycle paths aren't there, and nor are the ones about cycle paths. Stop the Child Murder didn't make the list, and nor, perhaps most surprisingly of all, did Mark's Cycle Rush Hour in Utrecht, even though one of the videos from that post "went viral" and has now been seen by nearly a million people on youtube as well as millions more on TV around the world

The web pages showing differences between otherwise similar British and Dutch streets and how Assen has changed over the years had enough hits to made the list, but they weren't blog post.

Mark didn't get a penny from any of the TV companies who used his video. I get about €20 per year from the advertising on the blog. This is the result of many thousands of hours of work by both of us, free for you to read. Those who in the past have complained about the advertising, and those who've asked me for hundreds of Euros to use a photo they've taken of me when racing (an offer which, naturally, I turned down), might like to consider this. Writing this stuff is hardly a license to print money. Please don't be too surprised that we use the blog occasionally to advertise our businesses, Dutch Bike Bits and Hembrow Cycling Holidays. While writing the blog is enjoyable, we do have to make a living.