Commute

(just thought long and hard for a witty title for this post and this was all I could muster, sorry).

Hello all, Todd here.  Sorry about post overload the past couple of days, but I felt this one was appropriate.  Why?  Because it's January 3, 2013, we're deep into the heart of the winter season, and I'm still riding my bicycle to work.  A mere four months ago, living in Grand Rapids, I always thought it would be fun to ride my bike to work someday, if I could just work out how I would arrange a way to stop sweating, shower at work, find a place to park the bike, stop sweating and manage traffic.  Now, it's become a routine for the days I'm working from the office.  What changed?  Cycling still requires some level of physical exertion, I'm still an above-average sweaty person and traffic in Eindhoven is worse than in Grand Rapids.  I've thought a lot about this (to be honest mostly on my ride home from work today) and I think it's due to having access to two very critical elements: 1) a good old fashioned city bicycle and 2) a transportation infrastructure built around cycling.  

First, starting with the good old fashioned city bike.  Below is my current get-around-town-er.

If you'll remember Megan's posts from our first month in Eindhoven, this is my replacement bike for the unfortunate (however not completely unexpected) pinch of my original bike.  Turns out it was a blessing in disguise because my "new" Batavus is a great bicycle and a classic Dutch brand.  Something along the lines of a Schwinn (from back in the day when they were actually made of steel in a Chicago factory).  The advantage of the Dutch-style city bike is that it allows for a much more upright riding position.  Unlike the previous road/mtn bikes I've owned, paired with the springy saddle (Jon I hope you're reading this), I virtually float through the streets of Eindhoven.  For the select few that have also ridden my bike and didn't necessarily have the "floating" sensation, just know that you've got to give it some time, build a relationship, etc.  She'll treat you well in the end.



Second, is the cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands and specifically Eindhoven.  From what I have seen so far, Eindhoven has a distinct advantage over a lot of Dutch cities in this respect.  Since it was bombed heavily during WWII, and the city was given the opportunity to "start over", it seems they took the opportunity to widen the roads, add ample space for pedestrian traffic and bountiful cycling paths (or clearly sectioned off portions of the roadway).  To the right is a picture of one of the roads near our house, which I pass on my commute where the two cycling lanes (when combined) are given about the same amount of space as the car traffic.  Keep in mind this is a two-way road for cars.

Below is another pretty good example of road sharing on my ride to work.  On the very right is the bike lane (you'll notice all of the bike lanes have a maroon-ish hue), the lane next to that is north-bound car traffic, the two lanes left of that are two-way bus traffic, then the south-bound car and bike lanes mirror the other side.

As you can imagine, it's a bit tough to manage all of the types of traffic, which is why there are traffic signals for each type of transportation (in the US we're familiar with red light, green light and the little white walking stick figure guy).  Here there are signs for walking, cycling, cars and buses.  Below is a woman using one of the bike traffic lights on my commute (the buttons you push to cross an intersection are actually functional here).

Ok, anyone still reading?  Just realized the last couple of sections were boring, but personally I think it's interesting to share what day-to-day stuff looks like here.  Just a couple more pictures to support my cycling infrastructure point.  Below is one of the underground bike paths near the train station in Eindhoven.  That's right, no cars allowed, these tunnels and streets were built solely for cycling through town.  Take note of the girl riding on that gentleman's rear rack - very common site amongst the college kids who either can't afford a bike of their own or are in love and use this as a form of some kind of weird PDA.

Last point on the cycling infrastructure...the Hovenring!  The images below are of the 230 ft. tall suspended bicycle path roundabout near our house in Eindhoven.  This circular suspension bridge is shockingly large when you find that it's only purpose is to elevate bike traffic above this intersection.  For the republicans out there, I know you're looking at this and thinking "Oh really, some good Dutch tax dollars at work?".  I actually agree - this is overkill, but I still like it for two reasons: 1) I'm tax equalized and 2) it does serve as a nice, operational monument to cycling in the Netherlands.  Megan and I usually find ourselves on the ring on Sunday nights after our bike rides outside of town.

I took most of the pictures from this post (with the exception of the Hovenring aerial shot) while on my commute to work in the morning.  To give you a taste for the rest of my commute, see below.

View of Philips Stadion in the center/right as I prepare to pass on my way to the office.

The rear bike parking lot at the main train station.  When I say rear lot, I am implying there is a front lot,  and by that I mean this is approximately half of the bikes parked at the station at any moment. 

View down our street on the way home. 

Thanks for reading!  I'll plan to post again after busy season...