A reaction video w/ Jordan Clark

On November 8th, 2022, Jordan Clark and I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful historic city of Haarlem during my recent Active Towns Tour to The Netherlands. This is a near real-time reaction video capturing our observations and analysis of our bike ride around the city.
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Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2022

[@RAWDernison1]

Haarlem (my hometown) was the inspiration for Jason Slaughter to start NotJustBikes.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh, wow. Cool! I’ll have to ask him about that the next time I talk to him.

[@RAWDernison1]

@@ActiveTowns The thumbnail of his very first video shows the church on Grote Markt. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGXOnneumMuFapo

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Not Just Bikes is such a great channel!

[@dimrrider9133]

@@rmyikzelf5604 uuuhm this channel to eejh

[@bartvschuylenburg]

Have you ever cycled in and around the town of Vaals? Many foreigners comment on KZbin that our cycling life and good cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands only works because there are no hills. But I think the hills-zone in the south of Limburg proofs them wrong. Also: Vaals is near both the Belgian and the German border so you can see the contrasts there very well. Could be an interesting place for when you tour the Netherlands again.

[@bartvschuylenburg]

Other towns in the hills zone are Valkenburg, Heerlen, Kerkrade. And there are a lot of villages as well

[@ActiveTowns]

I have not made it to the "Dutch hill country" towns yet, but I am not surprised. Perhaps I will be able to during my next Active Town Tour to the region. Thanks so much for watching and for your contributions to the conversation. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@JC-vq2cs]

Good point. We hope to visit that area on our next trip. My spouse & I made our first trip to the Netherlands (I am a Francophile & most Europe trips previously were to France). He loves hill climbing & that was one of his concerns, too little terrain for that - note a very US 'recreactional cyclist' mindset. I am so tired of car centric unfreedom & the slow pace of change & frustrations of advocacy in the US. Nevermind all the other problems like gun violence & homelessness. I dream of retiring to a civilized country like the Netherlands. Thanks for the comment.

[@bartvschuylenburg]

@@JC-vq2cs well, Dutch Limburg is an absolute paradise for recreational cycling. Take your bike with you on the train to Maastricht (imho together with Amsterdam the most beautiful city of the Netherlands) and ride to the east for the hills. The German city of Aachen is on the other side of the hills and worth a visit as well.

[@markb6978]

You expressed surprise at seeing so many teens around and wondered if they had an early day because it was around noon - probably many of them are just high school students with a free period around lunch. That got me thinking about some freedoms that Dutch kids enjoy that I image kids in totally car dependent places lack entirely. In the Netherlands, when you turn 12 and go to high school, you gain a lot of freedom. Unlike in primary school, in high school you only have to be there when you actually have classes - if you have first period off, you can stay in bed for extra hour. If your final period gets cancelled, you can go home early. If you have a free period around lunch time, you can find a classroom and do homework like you’re supposed to, or you can hop on your bike and head into town for a bit with your friends. I’m guessing for many American kids it isn’t possible in a practical sense to leave school when they want to until they’re 16 and own a car, or in many cases not until college?

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. Precisely. And we had been in The Netherlands for two weeks by this point, and it wasn't "a normal" time when you'd expect them to be heading to school or to after-school activities. And, yeah, it's just so refreshing to see "free-range" kids not having to be chauffeured around everywhere by their parents, which are the conditions children face in car-dependent cities around the globe. Thanks so much for watching and for your contribution to the conversation. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the channel. Cheers! John

[@rmyikzelf5604]

​@ActiveTowns kids from the age of 8 or 10 freely cycling around the town also develops their understanding of the place. And how traffic works. They get to know their towns and cities from an early age. Not Just Bikes illustrated this really effectively by showing what (young) kids see of their surroundings in a car. Basically treetops and sky.

[@ce17ec]

Being in the centre of our old Dutch cities always makes me aware how special that is. Walking or biking on streets that are used in this way by so many people in the centuries before us. It gives me the feeling of connection with all the generations before us. It is humbling in a way .....

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. So well said. Thanks so much for joining in on the ride. I hope you enjoy the Active Towns channel. Cheers! John

[@urbandiscount]

I do a lot of city to city cycling around Rotterdam, Delft, Leiden, The Hague and one of the wonderful things is the sudden transition from "countryside" to "town". E.g entering Delft from the direction of Schipluiden, it's magical.

[@ActiveTowns]

@@urbandiscount Yes. Totally agree. We have some good footage of this that I will feature in an upcoming video. Thanks so much for watching and for contributing to the conversation. Cheers! John

[@RAWDernison1]

around 10:30 re: Taking a proper Dutch bicycle (not folding) into a bus/tram/metro is not done, trains have special compartments. (advice: don't annoy rush hour traffic). Bringing a Brompton from the US to NL is carrying water to the ocean. Why didn't you just rent-a-bike, lend-a-bike, steal-a-bike, better still a try-out e-bakfiets ???

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. Correct, bringing a full-size bike on Dutch trains during rush hour is not "allowed." I bring my trusty Brompton with me wherever I travel around the world for the simple convenience of being able to immediately ride from whatever airport or train station I arrive at. When traveling longer distances by train, I always fold the bike up, so it's no bigger than a carry-on bag. Cheers! John

[@The-Dutch-Way]

An additional explanation of the method of paving at 30:50 in the video: The baked bricks on the pallets have already been laid in the correct herringbone pattern in the factory. An excavator machine lifts 1 square meter of pavement at a time using vacuum lifting equipment and places it in the right place. This can be seen in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGjWpmiBqpt_bJY

[@ActiveTowns]

Cool! Yes, this makes complete sense. Thanks so much. Cheers! John

[@CyrrusNL]

I love these videos as they give such an interesting perspective on things we take for granted. I just wanted to comment on the painted bike lanes. They're increasingly uncommon but I assume they'll never go away entirely. The Dutch public area is restricted, especially in older cities that are densely constructed. These streets aren't really a major issue though. The vast majority of urban roads are designed to protect the most vulnerable users, so pedestrians and cyclists. Cycling and walking aren't activities for the sake of being active but actually lead to destinations people need to be at like stores, work, and school. That menas drivers are cyclists as well. They understand the situation and tend to take the safety of other users into account. It leads to a situation where pedestrians and cyclists feel safe. More people are encouraged to travel by foot or on bicycle. That in turn leads to fewer cars. Follow that line of reasoning and you end up with a much more livable environment that is cleaner, safer, more quiet and more healthy for the vast majority of people involved. That you for making videos like this. I realize I am probably not your target audience, but as a Dutch people it really brings into focus one thing we seem to be doing reasonably well.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! Delighted that you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching and for contributing to the conversation. I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy some of the other videos on the Channel. Cheers! John

[@tubularap]

As a Dutch boy growing up in Haarlem in the 1950s, I cycled the same routes as you did. (But of course the traffic was much less, and everything was more quiet). Every kid cycled to school when I was young, and I am glad that most still do. Haarlem is a lovely place, my hometown and I cycle here everyday.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yay! That’s awesome. Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your personal memories. Cheers! John

[@tubularap]

@@ActiveTowns - Thank you John. I have the video ready to watch it again and comment more in-depth with time codes to specific moments. It was quite an experience to see you two cycling through and commenting on the town and streets that I cycle daily, so I wanted first to watch the full video uninterrupted.. Forgetting at times that I was watching someone else's video instead of taking that corner myself in real life. Till soon.

[@willekevanderham5326]

Those tiny streets you navigated are fun and safe to walk, even at night, but you do not want to cross through there in peak hour. Even one car can block the streets completely and a few bikes at a time going in different directions are not much fun either. But it must be a great area to live, (as reflected by the price of housing.) Nice to see my nearest city through the eyes of people who do not know it well.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for watching and for contributing to the conversation. I really appreciate it and I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@ronaldvanderhorst4936]

You do a great job with this channel / podcast( and others on their channes with a similar perspective) to open peoples eyes. Bigger isn’t always better, human measures are key! And that luxury and convenience can imprison us if we go too far. Real wealth isn’t nessasaraly in possession . It’s in freedom of choice , variation and available options to choose from in life, on moments you feel like doing so. I hope you reach your goals and that channels like yours might let people think in solutions in stead of taking stuff for granted. And yes that is easy said as a Dutch guy who had the luck of heaving this freedom all my life.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much for tuning in and for these insightful observations contributing to the conversation. Much appreciated! Cheers! John 😀

[@wouterboekholt9957]

Love the channel. But you do miss some background. In the beginning at the patch which you note is up for renovation, there us something interesting happening. The car parking is changed into bikeparking with the help of some green paint and planters. At the 18 min. You drive over a set of natural stone. And describe is as traffic calming. It is actually the footprint of the old city gate and a reminder of what was there. Onmyour channelmyou something talk about cost of the pavement. For a cost perspectief the klinkers are not bad compared to asfalt. This is because the equipment of the contractors is more geared to it, but also it can we reused. The concrete ones can be reused, but mostly lose their colors. The higher end clay klinkers will be reused multiple times and keep the color, these even can get resold for garden used if they have wear and tear for a better price (because ppl like the look). The natural stone ones are the most expensive and durable and their use is more historical and regional, that why you find them more in Belgium, because the quaries are there.

[@ActiveTowns]

Cool! Thanks for the information. Cheers! John

[@Hensepens64]

At 19:00 you were at a traffic light controlled crossing. You said you didn't see bike traffic lights. That's possible ofcourse. I. This kind of situations not that uncommon. In that situation you have to observe the traffic lights used for cars. Not those for pedestrians. Looking from were you stood, the traffic light should be say 2-5 meters behind you. @25:30 . This is indeed newly build. Partly build on grounds of a previous prison (the build with the round roof at the right). But most of this was a small industrial area.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks for watching and for this clarification. I really appreciate it and I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@StartPlayFinish]

29:00 Bricks are used mainly in housing areas and community areas like shopping streets. Its specifically chosen in order to slow you down. Its a little bit bumpy and your tires make noise going over it so subconsciously you slow down automatically. It is by design to use brick there. In general whenever you see asfalt you know you are on a main road, meant to go faster and pass trough the city quicker.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes! Precisely. A pretty effective traffic calming measure for motor vehicle drivers. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@sweetheart436]

Can also wall or moss p some of the exteriors facades are balconies. They can also encourage Urban gardening by vertical space or balcony.

[@ActiveTowns]

These are cool

[@scb2scb2]

Might have been posted before but Haarlem Amsterdam was the first dutch rail line opened on p 20 september 1839. Given that the oldest lines in the world started about 1825 its was still early days.

[@ActiveTowns]

Ah, that's fabulous! What a delightful station. Thank you. Cheers! John

[@marjakeizer9580]

I feel so ashamed right now for taking all of this for granted as all Dutch cities are designed this way.

[@ActiveTowns]

Don't be... it is completely natural. However, now that you know... yeah, feel proud and grateful. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@sweetheart436]

I love the brickways with the intricate lay design come on we have a little bit here but I like entire roads like that for biking and bikeways.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. I like this too. Such a nice touch and promotes water filtration.

[@lolololol7573]

What might also be good to look at is for example things that seem kind of random or just to be pretty, but actually do serve a purpose. The bushes at 22:45, look where they are placed in the space. Just like the large plant pots at 26:05 at the corners of the street, they serve a purpose. They made the corners sharp as well to force drivers to not cut corners. There's so much going on you may not notice the first time.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes! Great points. Thanks so much for watching and for pointing these factors out. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@lolololol7573]

@@ActiveTowns I am definitely enjoying it :) I am happy to see what is normal for us for decades now, can hopefully improve the lives of Americans. Walkable cities for everybody!

[@ActiveTowns]

@@lolololol7573 Yeah, many people in car-dependent communities globally don't have a clue the Dutch people had to fight hard in the 1970s for the built environment y'all enjoy today. I'm. so happy you are finding value in the content. That means a lot to me. 😀

[@RAWDernison1]

from 30:10 re: (Dutch) children are told the story of the three little pigs, one build a house of straw (still in use), one of wood (US suburbs), one preferred stone (euro piglet). In my youth, Russia was supposed to be the Big Bad Wolf ... now I know the US is the biggest criminal (that dome is the former prison). In the Netherlands natural building stone are rare, but bricks are cheap, plentyfull to produce and damage is easy to repair. The red colour is more or less natural.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. Love the red bricks on these neighborhood access streets (erftoegangswegen) Cheers! John

[@colleenharrison2942]

Really enjoyed this format of your tour. Beautiful city.

[@ActiveTowns]

Glad you enjoyed it! 😀

[@JC-vq2cs]

We rode from Amsterdam to Haarlem on our 2nd day in the Netherlands last summer - it was a transformative experience, from urban & park cycling through the countryside & rural paths & roads via the excellent routefinding signage (love the Fietsknoop app!) to the lovely & bustling city of Haarlem. We had lunch & toured a small museum then took a slightly different route home. We were not used to riding in such congested streets so we parked our bicycles and walked in the historic center of town. We did get slightly lost leaving town but even that was not scary the way it would be in the US on a busier road w car traffic. I haven't rewatched our riding vids so looking forward to watching yours - & then ours again. Then upgrading my equipment lol. Ty for all you do in showing how great truly integrated multimodal active mobility design is for freedom & health. And fun & joy!

[@ActiveTowns]

So glad you enjoyed it. 😀

[@urbandiscount]

It's great, isn't it? I love touring in the Netherlands especially because of this.

[@dikkiedik53]

30:43 The old prison building in the middle of the screen in the city. Quite near the train station for visitors. A little bit later the brick laying. It's done with the help of a special attachment on the crane. They first form the profiled bed of the street and then they pick up the bricks, layer by layer from the pallet and lay them down on the sand. You can see the open end spaces, that are the only bricks that need to layed by hand.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, I’ve seen those attachments at work in the past. Kind of bummed we just missed it this time.

[@captainchaos3667]

20:40 - you ran a red light. Remember, there is no right on red in the Netherlands, not even for bicycles. 😉

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, clearly a very car-oriented. Surprised by this poor design. It was completely safe to scan and proceed right when safe, which it was.

[@ce17ec]

Maybe not allowed by law, but then we have "gedogen" in our country. So no police will write a ticket for that.

[@ic5889]

haarlem station is so pretty. many train stations in the netherlands used to be just as pretty and were torn down :'( i really dislike the modern no-decorations-allowed look. i know its cheaper but...

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, I agree. I will note that most of the Haarlem station has been modernized to some extent, but it was so nice that they worked hard to preserve some elements of the historical architecture. It was really quite refreshing to see. Cheers! John

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Den Bosch is another example of 19th century railway stations. Amsterdam Central is nice too. For modern design Rotterdam Centraal.

[@nlx78]

@08:45 the main reason it felt like that is because, when possible, they try to make the car make the turn and have a way better view of cyclists coming from behind them. I remember watching a presentation from Seattle some years back and looked it up. In case links arent allowed, will post it as a 2nd comment. The title is: "What can Seattle learn from Dutch street design" and it's at the 20 minute mark. I believe further into the video as well, but this was this first one I caught him discussing that specific thing. Oh yeah, not sure if he mentions it, but aside from the pavement a big thing that helps are the speedbumps you see on at least on the residential streetside most of the times.

[@nlx78]

VIdeo: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omGqcmxmZtR6m5Y

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much! Appreciate it. Cheers! John

[@owenchase4017]

Nice video, but I was a bit surprised to see all the bikes left outdoors, apparently in all weather, with no shelter.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yep, they are all-weather bikes. Hehe 😂 Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@anrmlumlwundlistr7620]

So, the vast majority of those bikes are of the basic, workhorse omafiets, types. Built to last, sitting upright and used for the daily stuff. Give them some chain greasing once in a while, is all they need.

[@markcramer14]

Love the still images in these two videos with Jordan Clark. My visual takeaway, beyond the shared streets & protected bikeways, is how cities look so much more alluring/humane when the built structures are right next to the street/sidewalk, with no parking lots in between. I'd love to see the contrast with some images of Jordan's bike commutes in Dallas. It's important for those of us who do not have ideal bicycle conditions to not get discouraged ("Oh, we'll never become a Dutch city") and instead be inspired to stay where we are and fight the good fight.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Mark! I'll have to encourage Jordan to film his or snap some photos along his route to work one day. Thanks! John

[@webchimp]

7:00 Just buy a van.

[@ActiveTowns]

I hear ya... or even better, a robust, e-assist commercial-grade cargo-bike. Thanks for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@captainchaos3667]

18:08 - I commented about this earlier, but it's gone. Maybe KZbin didn't like the Google Maps link I included. You were at the corner of Jansweg and Parklaan. You can't see the approach in the video because there is a jump cut, but if you take a look on Google Street View you can see there is actually a double set of traffic lights as well as a bike box that you would have passed. If there are no separate bicycle traffic lights then the main traffic lights also apply to bicycles. The expected thing to do would have been to wait in the bike box for the light to turn green. I wonder if it's possible that because you are accustomed to the traffic lights being on the far side of the intersection you might sometimes miss them since they are on the near side here.

[@ActiveTowns]

Copy that. Yeah, I didn’t see the previous one with the link.

[@kailahmann1823]

I also recommend @buildthelanes, who has two videos on that intersection and it's flaws.

[@marcvanMaanen]

People are so used to bicycles & are mostly cyclists themselves at times that people will look before opening their car doors for bikes coming

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. That is true, however, designing a "bike lane" in the door zone when it can be avoided is lazy. I did see several near-miss doorings by impatient drivers during my nearly three weeks in The Netherlands, so it is clear to me the risk is not worth it. I prefer stay out of the door zone whenever possible. Thanks so much for watching, Marc. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@rmyikzelf5604]

39:44 ooh ran a little red light there! Immediate car honk to follow, haha. Love these videos, guys! Ah you did it twice! Naughty Naughty! 😂

[@ActiveTowns]

Whew! Good thing we weren't driving. hehe 😂 Thanks so much for watching. Cheers! John

[@captainchaos3667]

Loved the video. Always nice to watch people visit my country. 👍😀

[@ActiveTowns]

Cool! Always great having you tune in. Cheers! John

[@twowheelsgoodbrum1077]

So pleased you included Haarlem as one of your rides. The city (along with Bloemendaal) was my first experience of riding in the Nederland back in the early 1990s. It was a transformative moment for me to see what could be provided to enable cycling.

[@twowheelsgoodbrum1077]

If you get the chance to go to Haarlem again, I’d recommend getting out to the 1960s neighbourhoods. Especially in the direction of Bloemendaal. It’s a very different environment for cycling, and gives you a better understanding of how the bike networks are integrated. That integration includes linked planning for bikes and trains.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, we really enjoyed our very short stay there.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh wow! There's more. Hehe, yeah, we had to cut our time short there as we were riding to Leiden next. I will definitely return to explore more. Cheers! John

[@Nelis77]

The bridge control house at 24.33 we call the suppository

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks! 😀

[@Pelerincha]

I'm surprised you all didn't ask why the brick road not asphalt. From what I've been told is that the roads are too soft for asphalt for it would crack. I've have a friend who did brick laying in Holland and his knees are totally shot.....

[@ActiveTowns]

Hmmm... I haven't heard that. I find a local to chime in on that. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@buildthelanes]

Asphalt is a material chosen for its ability to have a smooth ride with high speeds. In short; its the material of choice when you have a travel surface for fast through movements, where there are not many other factors preventing this. The “bricks” or as the Dutch call them “gebakken klinkers” are usually made of baked clay, and as you may have guessed are not conducive for quick through movements. They are conducive for slower access movements like pulling into a parking spot or residential functions. Asphalt is a really ugly material in the city and playing in the streets or having a business is much better when the street material has an aesthetic quality that will make people remember it and want to spend time there. So since Haarlem does not want to see car movements in its residential neighborhoods and downtown, klinkers are the paving material of choice. And that’s why almost all streets in the municipal areas are made with klinkers and not asphalt

[@Pelerincha]

@@buildthelanes I"m from Holland myself and I lived there before cars that began in the late 60's. Bricked streets have been around long before cars were even an issue in Holland...

[@buildthelanes]

thats completely right, but as someone who works in the Netherlands as an engineer I can tell you this is how the approach is now@@Pelerincha

[@Pelerincha]

@@buildthelanes OK, if that is now the current approach. But I wonder which major roads are bricked because of the ground being to soft...Laying bricks on streets is a tough job, that's like roofing in mid-July.

[@sweetheart436]

Or copper silver whatever that adds actually nutrients the soil and inhibits the EMF to any ground or soil contamination.

[@ActiveTowns]

👍

[@sweetheart436]

As the balancing factor I think they should reinvest not in communist billing and architecture which is very bland and monotone or monoculture but traditional styles native to the area. Including putting walkways or bikeways on top of larger buildings around larger shopping centers which are also greened by Greenway, or offering entire ecosystems on top of a large building or medium size building even pond wetlands or natural naturalized contained simulated wetland pools. From nothing else they can put prairie grasses on top of the building and walkway. Not on all of them but some are probably large enough to do so especially shopping areas and then the rest it should probably be clay top or something to absorb the Sun or solar paneling.

[@ActiveTowns]

👍

[@sweetheart436]

See I would do you one further, I don't think this ride is isolated with Green landscaping or greenwilding enough, especially along major roadways, I think it would be safer and more aesthetically pleasing and green to wild or landscape green with grasses and mulching or just wild greening with sustainable and native plants or trees to make it almost like a wilderness walkway for sidewalks as well, I wouldn't just do it for bypass but I would do bike paths walk past slash Greenway. You could do it now with sidewalks, they're low maintenance and they protect cyclists as well as create privacy and habitat. I don't think you should make it part of a plan globally I think that every neighborhood should consider it based on the regional landscaping wilding and contents. Depending on the region you're going to have a different aesthetic but you're also going to have a different micro region different waterways different types of grass or prairie grasses or wetlands and different conservation needs, I think you should blend this welding with conservation and bikeways, you also need to consider directly connecting green pass then or greenways to direct shopping in downtown and then you need a secondary set for hiking in the wilderness that can connect easily to Green spaces within the city or just outside of a city or town rural or Urban. You know everyone waste a lot of time on their ideologies and these globalist programs that are not on one size fit all, and it's a lot of energy directed at the ideology which dumbs down people and does not focus on problem solving or adaptivity or adoption it's very frustrating to see people act so moronically.

[@ActiveTowns]

Interesting! Thanks for watching and for these suggestions. Cheers! John

[@gdemorest7942]

I lived in Haarlem from 1999 to 2014. Awesome place. I'm a Canadian born and raised. I now speak fluent Dutch and have a Dutch passport. Feel free to ask me stuff.

[@ActiveTowns]

Oh, cool! Are you living in The Netherlands now, or are you back in North America?

[@gdemorest7942]

@@ActiveTowns Canada since 2015 and from 1966 to 1992.

[@bertkassing8541]

Nice bike ride through Haarlem. I live near the Amsterdam Expo center where you were recently John. That is indeed near Haarlem. My oldest daughter lives in Haarlem. Very nice city to live. Of course I saw all the familiar images. I worked in the center of Haarlem for 10 years.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Bert. Yeah, when we were attending the Cargo Bike Festival at the Expo center, when had wanted to visit Haarlem then, but there were pretty major track repairs underway, so we rode our bikes to and from the Expo via the Schiphol station. We actually found some delightful paths to ride. Cheers! John

[@DYNASPORTS66]

Note:It.s easy to take your bike on the train and doeshappen very often excually,.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yeah, we did it frequently. But did fold our Bromptons up so they would not take up too much space, just in case the trains were crowded, which they were most days when we were traveling. Cheers! John

[@RAWDernison1]

35:45 ... Bakkenessegracht, trek je poeplap (pull out your wallet).

[@ActiveTowns]

😀

[@ageoflove1980]

Yeah you guys are so right about kids. To create safe streets for them was the whole point to begin with back in the 70's. My son is now 15 but he is biking by himself and his friends through Amsterdam for at least 5 years now and thats completely normal. For both parents and kids is such a benefit to be able to independently and safely move through the enviroment.

[@ActiveTowns]

It is so encouraging to see... hoping to inspire the creation of more kid-friendly environments in other cities around the globe. Thanks so much for watching and for this comment. I hope you are enjoying the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John

[@ageoflove1980]

@@ActiveTowns Good luck with your mission! Kids do deserve to see more than the backseat of a car untill they are 16 (And so do parents, hihi ;-) )

[@Snowshowslow]

Hey, you went to Leiden? :) What did you think? There hasn't been so much improvement in the bike infrastructure in the last years, but the Singelpark (ring park around the centre) is a great achievement for active mobility, I think :)

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, we did... that will probably be a future profile video soon. It was fun. A very charming city.

[@Snowshowslow]

@@ActiveTowns I'll watch out for that :)

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Now imagine this place but with a lot of fast e-bikes instead of bicycles. It seems like in America e-bikes are seen as something that makes cycling accessable to regular people, but I don't think it would work very well in this place.

[@krob9145]

They do have e-bikes. Theirs have the speed capped at 15 mph. With their e-bikes the focus isn't about how fast you can go but just getting around generally.

[@zoransteinmann2503]

We do actually have a lot of e-bikes. If I remember correctly e-bike sales outnumber sales of regular bikes. But in/around city centers you do (still) tend to see lots of omafietsen and the people that are on e-bikes usually adjust their speed. The maximum speed at which you still get electrical assistance is 25 km/h, but inside cities people usually go somewhat slower than that.

[@ActiveTowns]

I hear what you are saying. Regardless of the type of bike (electric assist or purely human-powered), the relaxed, not-in-any-particular hurry manner of riding is one of the joys that I experienced while exploring The Netherlands by bike. It was a noticeable difference when I traveled to Paris for three days in the middle of my trip. In Paris, you felt compelled to ride much more aggressively just to keep up with the flow and deal with the anxiety of the main streets. Thanks so much for watching; I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@dougwedel9484]

Angels of Haarlem...

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes indeed!

[@dimrrider9133]

This i the real Haarlem ;p

[@matthijs73]

Great video, as always! There's a reason why the movie Ocean's 12 used this train station to go from Amsterdam to Paris because it's much more beautiful than the real one in Amsterdam.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks so much! Yeah, no kidding. We were quite delighted to experience this gem. Cheers! John