Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Bleep, bleep, bleep- SkillTV host almost taken out by Bike Riders in Amsterdam

Joel Leonard reports that he has lot to learn while in Amsterdam. He just learned the special markings on the sidewalks dedicated for bike traffic, the hard way.

While taking in the sites of the canals, buildings several hundred years old, modern buildings and watching ducks fish in the canals, a group of bike riders almost mowed Joel down. And he couldn't get out of the way without getting hit by the other lane of traffic that appeared out of nowhere, so he wisely just stayed put and let them move around him.

He said it was kind of wierd to get cussed out in Dutch-- as he had no idea what they said but knew what they meant.

Well, he hopes the collisions he causes at tomorrow's Enterprise Asset Management conference is the crash of new ideas against status quo and outdated business processes. And Leonard hopes not to cause too many international incidents.

2 comments:

Amsterdamize said...

looking forward to that video :)

PS, it's not about 'special markings on the sidewalks', there are either dedicated bike lanes, seperate from the sidewalk and the main road, or there's (from right to left) a sidewalk, the curb, car parking, a bike lane, the road.
Just to be clear there's no such thing as bike lanes ON sidewalks.

cheers, Marc
amsterdamize.com

SkillTV.net said...

Thanks for the clarity- and glad there was not a video and not going to ask security to find out.

There are so many lanes, silent trams, and other modes of transportation that it kept this American on his toes.

Still fascinated by all of the structures and culture of Amsterdam.