Amsterdam: Scenes from a cycle city

Returning to England from Slovakia, I had a final layover in Amsterdam between overnight bus and Eurostar. I spent a very happy five hours in the chilly sunshine exploring the centre easily and efficiently, thanks to the city’s cycle path system.

With all those cyclists intent on getting somewhere, things can be hectic in the busy city centre: it inspired me to write another guitar piece, which you can hear below.

*In Britain this would be a Cycle Superhighway showpiece. In Amsterdam it’s just another cycle path*.

*Gender bias: More women than men cycle in Amsterdam. Wonder why…*

Here in York we often get told that cycle facilities like this wouldn’t work, because we’re not Amsterdam. And that we’re not Amsterdam because, well, we don’t have cycle facilities like this.

*Welcome to Amsterdam city centre: Vondelpark in the sun*

*Solidarity: Canalside bike in the colours of Ukraine*

Of course, as campaigners know, Amsterdam wasn’t Amsterdam either until the 1970s: only then, following pressure from parents wanting safe routes to schools, did the bike-friendly networks we know today get installed. Before then, the city had been just as bad as, well, York.

*Who needs a canal tour when you can do it by bike for free? Very Dutch, that.*

*Cycle street, cars are guests: In Britain, they’re of the uninvited sort*

It was all a glimpse of how things could be… *sigh*…

*The art of encouraging cyclists: The famous bike path right through the middle of the Rijksmuseum*

Music for guitar: Amsterdam Centraal

Listen to my piece for classical guitar, written in 2022. It was inspired by the memories of this day’s ride. (MP3, 6min 45sec).

→ List of all guitar pieces inspired by my rides