Newbie from Holland

Janneka
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Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:50 am

Newbie from Holland

Postby Janneka » Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:09 am

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie from Holland. Biking has been part of me and it's awesome to join other bikers in a forum like this, hope to have fun here :)

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albertgaleano
Posts: 199
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2011 9:12 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby albertgaleano » Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:45 pm

Hello and Welcome!!! Hope you enjoy :D
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BigPete
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Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:49 pm

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby BigPete » Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:44 pm

Janneka:
Welcome. I would like to hear your thoughts on and experiences with riding a bike in Australia as compared to that of Holland. I have read what Australians have said after riding there but not the other way around.

jasonc
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Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:40 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby jasonc » Thu Jun 27, 2013 9:06 pm

+1 to BigPete's request.

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g-boaf
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Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby g-boaf » Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:41 pm

+2 to the requests above.

Janneka
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:50 am

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Janneka » Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:56 pm

Hi guys, biking has become a way of life in Holland. It's not only seen as a sport but a major means of transportation. Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I haven't really seen anyone around who doesn't own a bike. We start riding very early in life and retire from it very late (until the bones are very weak). Some other European neighbors would say '' it's only in Holland that you would see Professors and students ride bikes to class, bosses and other workers come to work on bikes''. :) Do we care about this joke? No no, because it's really nice to see people of every class get on their bikes and get going. For me, it's a sport as well as transportation means. I have been in some biking competitions and would love to go for more.
I registered to this forum because I will be in Australia in couple of weeks with my boyfriend; we will be visiting places like Sydney, Queensland and Melbourne and we hope that there are city bike rentals in these cities (as we plan to use a navigator to tour the cities on bikes - it was a great experience doing this in Toronto last summer). I don’t know if this is the right place to inquire about accommodation but we have little difficulty getting a budget accommodation for the entire stay ( we will be switching cities). My brother checked on trivago but I told him to wait, maybe we can use more options. My boy friend and I are looking at Australian sites to source for info that'd help us make this an interesting trip and your tips will kindly be appreciated.

rjk
Posts: 409
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:11 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby rjk » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:34 am

i am in melb and yes we have city bike rentals here and i know they have city bike rentals in brisbane, one thing here helmets are mandatory, but not to worry in melb they have free helmets on some bikes or you can purchaes perfectly legal helmets for $5 that are blue and have the word melbourne all over them :)

I think they have something similar up in brisbane.

I am sure one of the loczls in Sydney will point you to a shop that will do daily rentals to you

enjoy
Boardman CX pro now the commuter, Salsa Casseroll, Trek Domane

rjk
Posts: 409
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:11 pm
Location: Melbourne

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby rjk » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:38 am

if you let us know when you are in town , i will point you to some of the places us cyclist frequent in melb, and introduce you to the pleasure of the micro brewery scene :)
Boardman CX pro now the commuter, Salsa Casseroll, Trek Domane

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Riggsbie
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Location: Geelong, Vic

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Riggsbie » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:39 am

That is a great video...all those cyclists without helmets and no one fell off and died of head injuries........

No one running the red lights....

No road rage......

The buses didn't have a go at knocking off the cyclists.....

Truly an enlightened cycling culture, cycling is not just a sport but a way of life !


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Orion
Posts: 169
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:39 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, QLD

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Orion » Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:14 am

Here is a link to the Brisbane City Cycle bike scheme:

http://www.citycycle.com.au/

There are also plenty of shops that hire out bikes.

Enjoy :D
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Janneka
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Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:50 am

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Janneka » Sat Jun 29, 2013 7:00 pm

Thanks a lot guys. All the information will be highly useful. I will let you know when the time draws very near rjk :)

Nobody
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Location: Sydney

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Nobody » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:55 pm

Riggsbie wrote:That is a great video...all those cyclists without helmets and no one fell off and died of head injuries........

No one running the red lights....

No road rage......

The buses didn't have a go at knocking off the cyclists.....

Truly an enlightened cycling culture, cycling is not just a sport but a way of life !
From this she'll be able to derive what they may expect in Australia. At least in Sydney anyway. Some study recently showed Sydney was/is one of the most dangerous places to ride in the western world.
http://www.sydneycyclist.com/forum/topi ... ity-sydney" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Janneka
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Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:50 am

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Janneka » Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:40 pm

@Nobody: Really? I went through the data, never knew it was that dangerous cycling in Sydney. We'll apply the safety strategies. Thanks a lot

Nobody
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Location: Sydney

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Nobody » Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:32 am

Janneka wrote:@Nobody: Really? ...
Yes really. It is a combination of a cultural problem and a lack of cycling infrastructure. Although the cultural problem can be found everywhere in AU, it is most often found in the cheaper areas. The media in AU run anti-cycling articles or subjects from time to time. You won't have to search too intensively in either the these forums or Sydney Cyclist to find threads on this.

While living on the Central Coast many years ago just north of Sydney, I was deliberately run off the road by a 4WD. I knew it was deliberate because he yelled out of the window "Get over!" just before I was struck on the handlebar by his door.

My advice would be to keep to fairly unused back roads and/or shared cycle paths.

Janneka
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:50 am

Re: Newbie from Holland

Postby Janneka » Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:15 pm

Thanks again Nobody

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