Cycling in Shrewsbury’s twin town Zutphen (Netherlands) April 2010

By Miriam Walton, community musician and cycle trainer

elderly-women-cycling Every time we were in company a substantial number of people arrived and left by bike. It is amazing how many older women cycle - some very old - and the coolest mid and late-teen 'dudes' of both sexes all ride city bikes. The cool way to ride is one-handed with your i-pod on; or no-hands of course! We even saw a bit of pavement cycling and people zooming round the pedestrianised bits where you're supposed to get off (and just like at home, people looked a bit cross but said nothing.)

station2 The cycle store at the station is superb. There's a ramp going down under the front with 4 channels for wheels and enough space to store 1000s of bikes, free and totally safely. There's a shop, a workshop and bike hire as well. We hired bikes for €7.50 a day. People were coming and going the whole time. I have never seen anything like it.

station1 station3

muslim-lady-on-trike We couldn't get over the sheer number of people cycling. Although there seem to be many more roads than here (it's a very crowded country), there just didn't seem to be the cyclist/driver divide you get here - most people seem to do both and it's not an issue. Only the few 'roadies' wear helmets and, of course 'lurid lycra' just like here. Everybody else wears normal clothes and of course there are chain-cases to stop you getting oil on your jeans. The city bikes were so heavy though, ok for a flat country but impossible in Shrewsbury.

Several Zutphen-ites have been to Shrewsbury and they all go on about the hills!

We did see some would-be mountain-bikers on the one-and-only hilly bit in Holland; probably the most over-cycled bit of country on the planet; there were road and mountain bikers all over it!

cycle-parking market-day

The cycling infrastructure is superb. Cyclists have priority at most cross-roads with a strip of red tarmac going right across the junction joining cycle track to cycle track. Car drivers slow down even if they see you approaching: Amazing! (It's much better even than Monkmoor Road although having cycled along there again today, I'd say the red tracks across the road mouths are a good start. What a pity the 'cycle track' runs out at the roundabout...). Only at major junctions do you have to stop and then you get special bicycle traffic lights. It would be great if we could do something similar on Whitchurch road e.g. at the Morrisons junction. If you showed the Dutch some photos of our 'cycle tracks' they would just fall about laughing, I think.

cycle-priority elderly-women-cycling