How the Dutch created a casual biking culture

Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by dstick on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @04:39PM (#17862649)

Don’t believe the lies! All the pictures in this article show a sunny city with happy cyclists. Apart from the last 2 months this is demonstrably false since everyone who lives in the Netherlands knows that if starts to rain the second you get outside to grab your bike and a strong headwind will follow you relentlessly, even when you make a 180 turn.

Those are the facts. Don’t believe this propaganda.

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Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by rocgf on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @05:20PM (#17862999)

No offence, but you're strawmaning heavily here.

I mean sure, you're right, the weather in the Netherlands is as nice as those picture only for a couple of months per year, but that's not the point of the article, nor does it prove/disprove anything.

The Dutch cycle year round, and while it is true that traffic in the summer is like double, cycling is still the main form of transportation for a significant portion of the population.

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Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by Vinnl on Wednesday August 29, 2018 @03:35AM (#17866415)

I'm quite sure the post was tongue-in-cheek. The point was basically that Dutch weather isn't great, disguised as a complain of propaganda.

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Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by wink on Friday August 31, 2018 @05:57AM (#17884258)

Having been to Amsterdam just last week I was really surprised by a) the weather (it rained intermittedly every 1-2h) and b) that only a small percentage of the cyclists seemed to be prepared for the rain.

I cycle to work most days in Munich, so the climate is roughly the same, and I have rain gear and I'm used to cycling in the rain... I couldn't imagine cycling with an umbrella, but that's a different story... Maybe I was just getting a cold, but I was freezing while being soaked just walking around in the city (with my rain jacket, didn't bring the rain pants).

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Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by KozmoNau7 on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @05:38PM (#17863130)

There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes :-)

It is very possible to bike year round.

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Re:How the Dutch created a casual biking culture by jhcl on Tuesday August 28, 2018 @05:31PM (#17863091)

Nowhere in this article is any mention of the weather so how can this be lies about the weather?

Anyway, firstly I've been cycling the half hour distance to work for about 20 years now and the number of times it rained is just a small percentage. Secondly, you if possible you can time your usage of the bike according to the weather forecast. Thirdly, we (the Dutch) always complain about everything. The weather included. Still I wouldn't want to live anywhere else (for a long time).

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