Bike Path on a School? | NL by Bike – Day 3

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0:00 Netherlands Bike Tour, Day 3
0:35 Utrecht, Netherlands
1:00 Dafne Schippersbrug
1:23 Bike path on a school
2:27 Dayton SMART Elementary
2:52 Utrecht Centraal
3:26 Busiest bike junction in the world
3:42 Does Dutch food exist?
4:55 Rietveld Schröder House
6:00 Utrecht Science Park
6:10 Rainbow Fietspad
6:47 Emergency Road
7:39 Going to Houten
9:10 Houten Fietsnet
10:42 Houten Castellum
11:22 Bolwoningen (Ball houses)
12:04 s’Hertogenbosch
12:32 Bike Parking

This is a bike path and this is a school. Put them 
together and you get this. A bike path on top of a school. Just one of the things I got to see on 
day three of my bike trip across the Netherlands. Today I am traveling to Den Bosch. But my day begins 
in Utrecht, a city that has become a global leader for urban living. With the busiest bike junction 
in the world, the world’s largest bike garage, and even erasing motorways in favor of canals, 
it shows how cities can prioritize livability, sustainability, and active transportation, all 
while preserving their charm. I visited during last year’s bike trip. And while I might have 
said it was my favorite, it seems I’ve left a few things uncovered. The first of which is on the 
west side of the city. This is the Dafne Schippers Bridge. A fascinating piece of urban engineering 
named after the Olympic sprinter who grew up in the city and opened in 2017. The bicycle and 
pedestrian suspension bridge connects Utre’s historic city center to a brand new one with over 
7,000 cyclists using it every day. It’s more than just a crossing. It integrates a school, a bicycle 
and pedestrian path, and a public park all into one striking structure. The approach ramp is built 
as a loop to create a smooth incline for riders. And that curve cleverly wraps around a small park 
with a basketball net in the middle before it ends up on top of the school. You can probably hear the 
kids playing now. I don’t speak Dutch, so I’ve got no idea what they’re saying, but they’re clearly 
having a good time. As you ride across its peak, the bridge hangs 9 m above water. Just like the 
Nescio Bridge I crossed on the first day of my trip. It spans the Amsterdam Rhine Canal, covering 
a distance of about 110 m. And since it opened, the neighborhood on the west side of the canal 
has seen rapid growth. The bridge didn’t just connect two parts of the city. It helped shape 
how one of them would evolve, ensuring the bicycle was the most convenient mode to reach the city 
center. But why is it so interesting? I mean, it’s unique, beautiful, and quite frankly, 
inspiring. But perhaps for me, it’s because, like many pieces of Dutch infrastructure, the 
juxtaposition between it and the stuff you tend to see in the rest of the world is quite jarring. 
I’m pretty sure this is a school surrounded by a highway exit somewhere. North America, that’s 
the difference. Yep. In Dayton, Ohio, there is an elementary school surrounded by a ramp loop of US 
Route 35. Quite the juxtaposition indeed and the kind of comparison we need to hold up at community 
meetings and ask which school do you want your child attending. The other main thing I wanted to 
see in Utrecht was on the opposite edge of the city. This gives me the chance to see places previously 
unknown and make a few minor stops along the way. Outside Utrecht centraal, I noticed some changes. I’m 
pretty sure there used to be a giant outdoor bike parking lot right there. I think so. And inside 
there was a chance at redemption. I got one of these here last time and it fell out of my pocket 
like a day later and I lost it. So got I’m happy to say that my OV chip card survived this time. 
I passed back through Vredenburg, the busiest bike intersection in the world with the rainbow 
crosswalk, the Miffy lights, and the people. I still can’t get over the people traffic here. 
This is what it looks like when you prioritize the movement of people over cars. Feeling a bit 
peckish, I was reminded of something my host said the night before. There is no such thing as 
good Dutch food. What we do is we mix potato with with certain vegetables and then we say this 
is very special and so but you know everybody has their own food. The Germans do, the English not 
very good but they have their own food. Um, the Dutch basically don’t. So, if you want to enjoy 
your meal, you can go to the Korean restaurant on on the outer gracht. I mean, we’ve got all sorts… Despite 
that, I did want to share this with the people who have never seen it. I’m going to grab a snack at 
a Dutch institution. Now, no, it’s not. It’s It’s Febo. And, uh, the reason why I think this place 
is interesting is because we don’t have anything like this in North America. At least not anymore. 
It’s It’s an autobat. You can just walk up, pay, grab some food just out of like a hot vending 
machine basically. I think that’s pretty neat. The name Febo comes from a street in Amsterdam where 
the first shop was opened, Ferdinand Bolstraat. I prefer the snack bars, but in a pinch, not a bad 
choice for a salty bite. When I was on my way into the city, I passed by this rather interesting 
looking house. I might even call it ostentatious or goddy if it weren’t for its importance because 
this is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been wise to it if it 
weren’t for my host. That’s the house because do you know how old it is? More than 100 years. 
Really? Yeah. He was one of the first. He was unique. I mean, this is um a gem. It’s it’s on 
the world heritage list. It’s very important. Um I don’t like it much myself. This is the first 
building designed entirely using the principles of neoplasticism, an early 20th century art movement 
focused on simplicity, abstraction, and the use of primary colors with straight lines and right 
angles. Finished in 1924, the upper floor is especially unique with a modular layout that uses 
sliding panels to reconfigure the space throughout the day. Mrs. Schroder lived here for over 60 
years, right up until her death in 1985. Today, the house is preserved as a museum, offering a 
rare glimpse into a radical vision of modernist living. Just a few hundred meters away, I made it 
to the Utrecht Science Park, the largest campus of Utrecht University, which is where I would find the 
last point of interest before leaving the city. This is the Rainbow FietsPad. Still believed 
to be the longest of its kind in the world, this vibrant stretch of cycling infrastructure 
runs over 570 m. The idea originally came from a student and in just a couple of days in October 
of 2021, the existing path was transformed into a bold and colorful statement using nothing but 
paint and a message. While it makes for a great Instagram backdrop, the purpose goes deeper. 
The institutions behind it say they want the path to stand for inclusion and diversity in the 
broadest possible sense. It’s a symbol of welcome, of pride, and of the kind of place Utrecht wants 
to be. Also, it’s just really fun to ride. If that weren’t enough for the city, there 
is one final thing I stumbled across while on my way out of the science park. And 
this here is a bicycle path, but it also doubles as a road for emergency services. Now, 
I think this is brilliant because it addresses one of the main concerns people have with bike 
lanes, believing that they will take up space, create traffic, and make response times worse 
for emergency services. But in this case, you can see this is a brilliant example of where 
you can use this space so that ambulances can get through. Not only here, earlier in the day, 
on the busy streets along one of the canals, a police car easily made its way through the 
crowds of people who were enjoying the space. The opposite of what disastrous outcomes some folks 
predict. Okay, that is actually all for Utrecht, at least for this visit. So, thank you to those 
who gave me suggestions. But it was time to take off. From here, I would need to go south towards 
Hton. The really nice part about going back to Utrecht was that I was familiar with it. I knew 
where I was going, and that’s kind of nice, not having to like use Google to navigate around. 
And I feel like I’m doing the same right now. I’m headed back to Houten. I think mostly I know where 
I’m going. I think so far so good. I think where I’ve arrived at now is a is a place that was I 
I suppose it’s infamous dirty clothes to me now. But uh this is where I originally was going 
to stay the night I stayed in or nearby Utrecht. There’s something about Houten. I don’t know 
what it is. It’s just like an urbanist’s wet dream. I think it’s maybe that desire to create 
and control, you know? It’s like starting a new city in city skylines. It’s just so exciting. And 
that’s that’s what they did here. It’s fantastic. There’s a whole video on Houten you can watch I made 
last year, but the spark notes is that it might be the world’s most successful car light development. 
It was built from scratch around bikes, not cars, and designed so well it’s almost boring 
in the best possible way. But one thing I didn’t mention in the video is how you actually 
find your way around. Houten is made up of several neighborhoods and not everyone instinctively 
knows how to navigate them. And to fix that, the town council along with the local chapter 
of the Dutch Cyclist Union created a unique wayfinding system. And it works kind of 
like a transit map. Simple, color-coded, and intuitive. Perfect for a place where the 
bike is the default way to get around. To make use of it, all you need to do is find your 
destination and remember the number and or color of the routes that will guide you there. 
You can even consult the legend at the bottom that lists which routes serve each neighborhood 
of the city. So, I believe I’m here just along this two and I want to get down to Castellum. So, 
I’m going to try I think I know how to get there, but I think I’m going to try to use this. So, 
if I take the green, which is the one line, take the four all the way to the seven. Finding 
your way is very simple. You’ll be reminded of which route you’re on by the markers on most 
lamposts. Much more noticeable in person, but I’m sure even here you can see them as I 
went by. And on top of that, there’s signage displayed at most junctions. All right, we’ve 
entered Castellum. So, this is the south part of Houten. Just looking for that seven. Like, I 
know we’re here, but I still want to find it. There it is. 777. All seven. This is Houten
Castellum, the younger city center in the south whose name I incorrectly attributed 
to the nearby medieval tower. It’s actually named after Castella, the small forts that 
once lined the northern border of the Roman Empire. The neighborhood’s layout mirrors 
that of a Roman fort with Latin street names, though not always grammatically correct. And from 
here is the day’s terminus, Den Bosch. To get there, I would need to ride 45 km and pass through 
a portion of Gelderland. But using the power of deciding to leave that province for a later 
video, we are now crossing the Princess Irene Bridge and entering the fourth province of 
this trip, North Brabant, and its capital, Den Bosch. I could have gone straight to the city 
center, but I just had to make a detour to a fascinating piece of history. This is Bolwoningen, or 
Ball Dwellings, spherical homes built in the early 1980s as part of a Dutch experimental housing 
program. Made from fiberglass reinforced concrete, these 5.5 meter wide pods look more like 
sci-fi props than suburban housing. Designed by Dries Kreikamp, the concept was simple. Spheres are 
efficient and natural. Each sits on a cylindrical base with a spiral staircase connecting a 
bedroom, bathroom, and a light-filled living area at the top. But in practice, they are 
less than ideal. Though never widely adopted, they remain lived in and are now protected 
as architectural monuments. Ready to call it for the day, I made my way into the heart of 
Den Bosch along some moist bike paths. It is late, but I did make it to s’Hertogenbosch. Maybe Mark 
could tell me how to actually pronounce the name of this city. I don’t know. s’Hertogenbosch. 
Anyway, I’m looking forward to check out the city. It’s clearly got some history. Clearly. 
Yeah, it’s going to be fun. Probably one of my favorite things in the Netherlands is the parking. 
One of the most cited reasons for folks deciding not to ride a bike is not having a safe place to 
park it. So, municipalities encourage bicycle use by offering free or at least very cheap, secure 
bicycle parking, like this one here in the city center of Den Bosch, which is where my steed would 
rest tonight before exploring the city tomorrow.