"Cross Town Traffic: So Hard to Get Through to You"

Bicyclists out-number cars, it seems, an hundred-fold in Amsterdam. This transportation phenomenon does not descriminate the unathletic. At any time, one can see ladies in skirts with high heels eating ice cream riding a bicycle, or mothers carrying up to three children on a bicycle (babies have special attachments to sit on the handlebars). Occasionally one can see a certain bicycle model where the front forks are elongated down and forward, by two and a half feet, to accomodate a large wooden barrow, equipped to handle groceries, supplies or children. I've not seen a helmet at all here.

Each direction of auto traffic is flanked to the right by a bicycle lane and then a sidewalk, and each bicycle lane supplies two way traffic; so that, if, as a pedestrian, you wanted to cross a two way street, your order of directions would be as follows:

Look left, look right, cross, look left, look right, cross, look left, look right, cross.

Now consider the above ground trains which circuit the main streets, in either direction. To cross one of those the order is:

Look left, look right, cross, look left, cross, look left, look right, cross, look right, cross, look left, look right, cross.

For most people, this looking-out-for-one's-life is too stressful, so that, at main intersections, there are traffic lights accorded to cars, pedestrians, trains AND bicycles. I wondered at first why no one J-walks here. Now I know.

An added fear to walking about is bicyclists' manner. No matter the behaviour you'd estime from any individual, you can safely assume that as soon as they enter bicycle circulation, they become an effective, Mr./Mrs Hyde; unconscious of pedestrians right to space or passage. Most peddlers assert their status with an unyielding and constant speed, forcing potential street crossers to jump out of the way at the last second. Others yell. Perhaps ten percent of the time, bicyclists use their bell to warn others of their "ploughing through." That's relatively considerate, I suppose.

As it has been described to me, the bicyclist's lust for speed and self-assertion is the freedom they are granted. Ostensibly, because of the effeciency of the paths, one may ride in any direction for miles without stopping and it also seems to be the best way to get around. Jay Hunter Morris, one of the singers in the cast, just bought a bicycle and he says it's the best feeling to just ride around and see much more of the city than he would just walking. I'm tempted.