The European Junior Cycling Tour, or Jeugdtour, ends today in Assen. It's an annual event, the largest youth cycling race in Europe. This year there are 679 competitors.
It's rather wonderful to see. Lots of very quick young people from all around the world, some of whom we'll see in the Tour de France and other major races in a few years time.
We went to watch for a bit today, and also took photos and made a short film.
The races cover a lot of ground. They take place partly on closed roads (it's easier to close a road for a racing event here than in the UK), on Assen's cycle-racing track (cycle sport is popular and the result is that even small towns like Assen have such a facility) and on some paths through the woods which you'll see in the video.
The Dutch Fietsersbond (Cyclists’ Union) has announced the five nominees that will compete to be chosen as Fietsstad (Cycling City) of the Netherlands for 2011. The jury chose the five cities out of a long list of 19 cities that had entered the competition.
’s-Hertogenbosch, the city I have been living in for 16 years now, is one of the five nominees.
Over the past 16 years I have seen a lot of development in the cycling infrastructure and climate of this city. Especially in recent years it went from mediocre to very good in my opinion so it will come as no surprise that I wholeheartedly support this nomination.
This election took place 3 times before. It is connected to a nationwide investigation into the cycling climate in the cities and villages of the Netherlands. Veenendaal, a small town in the centre of the Netherlands won in 2000. Groningen, 8th largest city of the Netherlands and home to a large university with many cycling students, was cycling city in 2002. In 2008 Houten was pronounced cycling city in the last competition. Interestingly enough both Houten and Groningen are nominees again this year. Together with Harderwijk (again a small town in the center of the country) and Pijnacker-Nootdorp which really is a commuter suburb of The Hague.
Tough competition, but I think ’s-Hertogenbosch does stand a good chance. From the nominees and previous winners it is the only city in the (originally catholic) South of the Netherlands. A region that strangely enough on average sees less cycling than the (originally protestant) North. The jury will put emphasis on the situation for school children. The theme for this year’s competition is ‘onderweg naar school’ which would loosely translate as ‘on our way to school’. In 30 years the average age of children starting to cycle to school on their own in the Netherlands has risen from 6 to 9 years old. Something which alarms the Cyclists’ Union. The city that best makes it possible for children to cycle to school on their own will have a good chance to win this year’s title.
’s-Hertogenbosch has put forward two examples of how they make cycling to school safer and more attractive. A primary school with a new side entrance and a new two way cycle path makes it possible for the school children to avoid contact with cars on the street altogether. A secondary school on the city’s busy circular road got a cycling bridge over that road so crossing it became much safer. The cycle paths around that school all became bi-directional. This makes crossing the road unnecessary for many children. Good examples of what a council can do to improve cycling conditions around schools.
I have put together a video to support the nomination of the city of ’s-Hertogenbosch.
Judy and I went out yesterday evening to plan a new cycle holiday route. It's a time consuming thing to do as we have to stop at every corner and note what is around so that unambiguous instructions can be written for our clients. Nevertheless, I also managed to get a bit of video of Judy as she rode.
We now have a new shortish family friendly route to one of the swimming beaches in Drenthe. On the way, it passes over another "stiltegebied" or "silent area" where there is little, if any, noise other than that from nature. There are ten of these areas in Drenthe, most of them not far away to cycle. This is possible because the noise from traffic has been dealt with remarkably well.
Anyway, we're still taking booking for holidays this year. If you're interested, get in touch with Judy.
This video had explanatory captions visible on screen but youtube removed that facility. While traffic noise exceeds 90 dBa from right next to the road inside the noise barrier, ambient noise from the motorway is 50-55 dBa on the cycle-path at the closest point to the motorway, which is quieter than children playing further away and also quieter than slow cars on the access road. It's unmeasurable by the time I am a hundred metres from the motorway.
Noise pollution contributes towards a great number of different health problems. Noise from roads is a very common source of noise pollution. In some places it dominates the outdoor landscape. However, this does not have to be the case.
Motorways in the Netherlands are quite remarkably quiet compared with those in other countries. It is often possible to stand just a few hundred metres away without being aware that you are near a major road.
This has been achieved by use of special quiet road surfaces and noise barriers. Also, speed limits can be lower on motorways where they are near residential areas. This reduces both noise and air pollution from motor vehicles close to where people live.
In the video I measure the noise levels on and near a motorway. Right at the side of the road, figures of 90 dB(A) and above were quite common. However on the other side of the noise barrier, just 20 m away, figures of 50-55 dB(A) are normal. That's within the range of normal conversation and quieter than the noise made by a child in the park a much greater distance away. A little further away again, about 100 m from the road, it is much quieter and my meter can no longer measure anything at all.
How does this relate to cycling ? Riding a bike on a noisy road, whether or not it includes on-road cycle lanes, is always going to be a relatively unpleasant experience. The noise of motor vehicles close by will always reduce the subjective safety of cyclists. Cycling thrives where cyclists are kept apart from all effects of motor vehicles, including their noise.
Update later in the day
This is the location where I made the video:
Such barriers are not at all unusual. There are others around the city.
You may also be interested in the works of the Noise Innovation Programme, who have produced reports on such things as "State of the Art Acoustic optimisation" of roads. They also concern themselves with noise from trains and marshalling yards. I once worked in an office situated close to a very noisy marshalling yard in the UK, so it was interesting to read that piercing curve noise actually can be reduced, though we were assured at the time that it could not.
There are several other blog posts about noise, covering different aspects, and giving other examples of treatments as well as links to more information. Also there are blog posts showing Stiltegebieden or "Silent Areas" near Assen. These are places just a short distance away where you usually can hear nothing but birds and insects, and the sound of other cyclists passing. It wouldn't be possible if road noise had not been tamed.
Source of the noise
Note that the noise from cars shown in this video is almost entirely due to tyres wearing on the road. It's not produced from the exhaust pipes of cars. This is why quiet asphalt is effective. It's also why electric cars are not a solution to the noise from cars. Engine noise was already insignificant for any moving car. Reducing it does not reduce total noise pollution from moving cars, and stationary cars make no noise anyway.
Comparisons of typical noise levels of different things are here. I don't get to use my decibel meter often. The last time it came out of the cupboard was to test bells.
When I took this photo a few months back I thought it illustrated quite well the type of segregation from normal roads which the CTC in Britain has always supported - the motorway on the left behind the barrier giving motorists a way of travelling faster off normal roads - vs. the type of segregation which they generally are not so supportive of - the cyclepath on which my bike and trailer and the child heading in the opposite direction are using to ride in greater safer than by sharing the road with the van.
Anyway, this is really just an introduction to something I think it well worth reading elsewhere. David Arditti has written a very good piece called "1934 - The moment it all went wrong for cycling in the UK" on the history of campaigning around cyclepaths in the UK.
I took the photo a few months back on the return run of one of my frequent rides to get bicycle racks from a bicycle manufacturer in Hoogeveen.
This is another before and after view in 's-Hertogenbosch. And it is an interesting street because in the before situation there was no cycling infrastructure at all, which is rare for a more important street in the Netherlands. But also in the after situation the city of 's-Hertogenbosch choose to build cycle lanes and not cycle paths. There are far less cycle lanes than cycle paths in the Netherlands but here they were deliberately chosen.
This will have to do with the fact that the number of cars using this street is relatively low. Because although it is a main route for cyclists, it is not a main arterial route for cars. For motorised traffic this is just a 'neighbourhood connector road'. Meaning it serves as the access road for a particular part of the city but it does not provide a fast through route for cars that need to be in a different part of the city.
The remaining car lanes are narrower than the cycle lanes.
What is also interesting to see, is that the minimal width of the cycle paths was maintained even if that meant that the remaining space for the car lanes was too narrow to even fit a car. (As can be seen in the picture above.) This means that motorists will sometimes have to drive over the sides of the cycle lane. But because of the colour they know they are invading the space of cyclists while they are driving at that narrow spot. Most if not all drivers will sub-consiously reduce their speed and look out for cyclists. The red of the cycle lane is not paint, it is a coloured asphalt so it the colour will not wear off. Which is especially important now that cars drive over it in part.
The street (in black with arrow) is just a tiny fragment of the city's main cycling network.
The city of 's-Hertogenbosch is updating its entire cycle network under a 2009 cycling plan. This street is just a tiny fragment of the network.
We're now part way through the Drentse fietsvierdaagse. It's one of the largest cycling events in the Netherlands. Approximately 11000 people sign up to cycle four days in a row. It's not a race. Most people choose the shorter distances (40 km is the most popular distance) and it's about having a nice time, not about speed or covering huge distances.
The local TV station covers each day as it occurs. Here's their coverage of today's 40 km ride, which went North-West from Assen. You'll see the varied demographic of the riders, from very young to no longer quite so young but certainly still active, people with disabilities as well as the able bodied, sporty types (they tend to wear helmets and ride the 80 km, 100 km or the mountain bike route) as well as those who are just out to have a nice time. The footage includes people involved with the excellent organisation of the fietsvierdaagse. There are many, of course, and they work very hard. I know it's in Dutch and difficult to understand, but I think it's still worth watching:
The riders pass many villages, farms, churches, galleries and other places. Many of these places have something going on for the riders. Some of the places in the second video may look familiar to people who've been on our cycling holidays as we send people to some of the same destinations.
About one in 1450 Dutch people take part in the Drentse fietsvierdaagse. However, it is just one of over 60 such three or four day events around the country each summer. The rate at which people take part in mass cycling events in this country is one of the things that still amazes me.
Here's a film showing the opening yesterday. This includes the band which cycled around the centre of Assen to open the event:
