Biking to the Train: The Secret to Dutch Freedom | NL by Bike – Day 7

11:33…each stairs has a rail where your bike tire fits in neatly.

I've heard some English speakers pronounce Overijssel as "over jizzle" so it's probably for the best you didn't try lol.

When taking a bike down those stairs it’s best to have both hands on the steering wheel and use the brakes to control the speed. It’s a lot easier to control the bike that way

At 14:37 you can see the town hall of Hardenberg, which was voted ugliest building in the Netherlands

1:59 Peanutbutter and hagelslag is the right combination for Dutch kids.
I never understood the combination with Jam.

As a resident of Almelo, I can say that the Dutch-Saxon language is less spoken, but our Low Saxon accent is still very much alive. There are still millions of speakers in the eastern Netherlands with a Low Saxon accent. In recent decades, even Twente drama series and movies have become popular in the Netherlands, albeit with Dutch subtitles. The daily drama series "Woeste Groand" even attracts a million viewers per episode. One problem with the Low Saxon language in the Netherlands is that there are different varieties; it's not a unified language, and we don't learn to write it. Back in primary school in the 1980s, we were never allowed to speak Low Saxon in class, only Dutch. Because then you'd be discriminated against, and I'd never get a good job. But for a few years now, Low Saxon has been an official regional language of the Netherlands.

on the topic of using animals as lawnmowers: In my city (Middelburg) we have a city herd of sheep, that gets relocated every few days to different plots of grass on dykes and borders to keep it low naturally. And yes they are transported on their own, straight through the city

I have another channel @thebikelaneproject where I post 'raw' footage from these trips. Including footage that doesn't make the cut in these videos. https://youtube.com/@thebikelaneproject?si=glaBJDDgiwoR94OY

It’s lovely being able to go from bike to train, but the bit you skipped here is possibly my favorite area for cycling in the country… too bad you missed it.

Nice, you visitied my place of birth: Dieren. Look forqard to the special about Gazelle our national best known brand of bicycles!

I'm loving this series Nic, I hope it never ends.

0:40 Just so you're aware, r/netherlands is not the subreddit that most Dutch people go to. That's a subreddit for expats where you're only allow to talk in English. If you ever want to talk to a much larger subreddit (1.5 million subscribers) with actual Dutch people, you might want to go to r/thenetherlands. You can still ask a question in English there if you want. (There is also another subreddit, but that one is filled with racists and the like, so I'm not going to name it, lol.)

In a Velomobile, those daily distances are "een eitje" 😉🖖
Sadly you can't take a Recumbent anymore, but took one to Zurich 🇨🇭(not at the Afsluitdijk) in 2023)
In Heemskerk, in the dunes at Gasterij Kruisberg, you can have a Highlander Burger Boswachter edition, with good fries and a local Egmond Abdij beer 🍻🖖😉
I only way one word to them when blocking my path: Hamburgers!

Over-IJssel, easy-peasy. You have crossed the river IJssel.
Your ‘sketchy’ approach in these video’s works extremely well to convey your ‘message’ – very well done!

You Canadians don’t know this but Vegemite and one of those dodgy plastic wrapped cheese slices between two slices of bread is also a golden combination just like peanut butter and jam 😉

This is shaping up to be a really enjoyable series. Question around using phones on bikes: Are you allowed to use them for navigation? What are the rules exactly on what is allowed and what isn't?

Great video series! Just wanted to say two things:

One comment from another video: I am actually a hockey player (one of the few) in the Netherlands and I own a cargo bike (bakfiets). Still take the car to the rink every time. The bag and stick are just to large even for the cargo bike. It's great for transporting your kids and groceries in the city though 🙂

A recommendation for a future NL trip by bike: Visit the "Loonse en Drunense Duinen". A small national park with a large patch of sand dunes in the middle of a forest. There are regular bike paths throughout the park. But if you like mountain biking, there is a great trail around the park. Small hills, so much more fun and easy because it's only a small climb each time. I grew up here and rode that trail a lot when I was young. (Also great themepark nearby called "Efteling". It is a bit like the Dutch Disneyland)

Hi Nic, I like your videos, but in this one you are WAAAY too generous to the NS railway company. Not being able to travel with your bike during the rush hours, having to run along the platform to the only compartment where bicycles are allowed, praying that there will be space in that compartment, non-level boarding with heavy baggage, using the stinking elevators… it all sucks. The NS could do SO much better but they're treating cyclists as an afterthought. The reason for this that the government forces them to behave like a profit driven company rather than as a public service.

Isn't this a bit of a naïve North American view? Combining bike and train is highly common in many European countries. Cf. the latest ad hoc study by the European Cyclists Federation: https://ecf.idloom.events/cyclists-love-trains The first and second prize went to respectively Switzerland and Belgium, two tiny nations with a very dense public transport network, just like the Netherlands.

I lived 9 years in the Netherlands, and getting around with public transport is great but the limitation in taking your bike with you were quite annoying.
Great to take folding bicycles with you without being charged, but it cannot be larger than 45 cm wide x 86 cm long x 80 cm while folded. The time restriction where the biggest issue for me, as it basically prevented me to get to work with my beloved bike, as the period bikes are allowed is only from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm and from 6.30 pm to 6.30 am, including folding bikes.
Additionally, the trains bike storing areas are often tiny and felt like a afterthought. I don't know if that improved since I left NL in 2020, but being back here in Germany showed me the regional trains here are better prepped for larger amount of bikes.

11:39, there's small gutters next to the stairs that are perfect for your bicycle wheels.

The only thing preventing this from reaching its full potential is the 12 day storage limit for bikes in the station. I go back and forth every 2 weeks for a weekend, causing me to lose a beater bike every time I make a slip up in my 2 week rhythm 🙁

As someone who went to highschool in Hardenberg i really wonder what you're visiting for haha. Not much to do around there. Also if you continue the journey to Groningen you could consider taking the route of the Pieterpad it takes you trew some beautifull nature however i am not sure if its fully accesable by bike

the 60km roads are VERY common in the east and north/ish part. so i suggest getting used to it cause they aren´t gonna change it up. And the cars wont run you over, just stay as far right as possible, whilst still being able to ride comfortably. People here aren+t stupid.

I get so envious every time I see a Dutch bicycle garage. Where I am, I’m lucky to find a bike rack just tossed somewhere around the store entrance, not even bolted down. Even the IKEA near me does this, so I lock my bike to the much sturdier poles that hold up the sign for their family parking area.