The Netherlands

Yeah, because there will be a nether portal and lava everywhere.

That's the Netherworld. Common mistake.
- Don’t mistake the Netherlands for the Nether Regions either.
- Nether World is in Orlando. Europe has only Nether Land

In Germany the streets are far too often a fight for survival. I miss the Netherlands, driving there, bike or car, was so much more relaxing.

But, you know, Germans and their cars...

In my experience the bike infrastructure was great, but riding the bike in the city was more stressful than in Germany.
- Cause they don't want you driving in the city
as a car driver, i have no problems with bike drivers themselves. i hate whoever thought 1 lane and a thin sidewalk was enough road.
- Gets you to slow down and pay attention to your surroundings, doesn't it? That's the point, if you build roads that feel cramped to drivers they'll naturally drive slower (i.e. actually the speed limit). Building all streets like they're highways is a good way to get people going 50-60 mph on roads with houses directly on them.
- ("The best country in the world for drivers")
https://sh.itjust.works/comment/5114507 caughs
Oh is that a German thing? I thought it was just my Opa
- My gramps used to think even looking at his cars was asking permission to drive or touch them. "Nein!"
  He was gregarious at all other times, but "don't go in my fucking garage"

In Europe you don't need countries for this. The smallest federal country will have a clear difference on the road at the border of two federated entities. Worst, it can happen between municipalities in some countries.

Worst, it can happen between municipalities in some countries.
There are other countries as stupid as Germany? I thought we were alone!
- Belgium checking in
- Switzerland, Austria, ... It's more common than we think.
  My favorite case is the resurfacing of the road in the first municipal territory and less than a year later, the second municipality does it on its side.

Looks like a protected chunk in Minecraft.

I know that place. The borders between the Ellestraat (Hulst, NL) and the Hellestraat (Stekene, BE).

The right side of the street on the Belgian part is actually Dutch for a few 100 meters. If you look around on street view the part with a bicycle lane is Belgian, the part without it is Dutch.

I knew that was a Belgian road, you can tell by all the cracks.
- Caption should have been that you will always know when a Belgian road begins
Ah, Stekene. Where are the days I just went to Crammerock to smoke weed on the camping. I saw Gorki there the year Luc De Vos died.
the part without
The red lanes are the bicycle lanes.

Yes, the country where you see on Monday who is going to visit you on Tuesday and where the highest hills are the dikes

I don't see who any of this is a bad thing.
- It isn't, the only bad thing of the Netherland are the drivers with caravans on the motorways and roads in the rest of the EU, ah, well, maybe their beer 🤢

i don't want SEX i want USABLE BIKE LANES that have enough SPACE to ride my bike SAFELY alongside other TRANSPORT MODES

Por qué no los dos? 🤷
I want sex. That other stuff is cool too

It is not even a joke. Every time we cross the border between the Netherlands and Belgium in a car, we laugh about how distinct it is.

If is not joke, why laugh??
- Its the law. Visitors to the Netherlands are required to demonstrate contempt of everyone not currently in the Netherlands.

It's so eerily flat there, it's unsettling. I don't understand how people can stand it.

Simple, they stand up on flat ground
I grew up in a very flat part of England, flatness to me is the default and I get genuinely excited by hills.
- I get excited by hills but it's because they remind me of home. Out of my window was a deep valley with a huge hill and just watching the seasons pass each year was a joy. The spring lambing season when the sheep covered the hills to the winter with snow covering them and you'd know it was time to fetch the sledge!
  Moved to Lincolnshire in my mid teens and it bored the absolute fuck out of me. Fields of rapeseed in all directions as far as the eye could see. Relentless wind that had no hills to block it so it never changed direction.
  I found it easier biking with a BMX on hills than I did using a mountain bike in windy flat conditions.
As someone who grew up somewhere super flat it really doesn't get to you because it's all you've ever known. However, now that I live somewhere with hills it drives me crazy when I visit home.
- It's even worse when the hills are alive and have eyes
- I can relate. I never imagined I would see someone complain or not understand what living on a flat area is like- it's super easy! It's the mountains and hills what's difficult!
- The Netherlands doesn't have good bicycle infrastructure because of the fact that the country is relatively flat - they have it because they prioritized safe streets in the 70s following the stop de kindermoord-campaign.
- Accidents happen in the Netherlands just like anywhere else. I’m half Dutch and my grandfather was hit by a car and killed there.
  “The bicycle was the most dangerous mode of transportation in 2022, with a total of 291 fatalities. The car came in second place, with 225 victims. By comparison, that year 57 pedestrians and 20 truck drivers were also killed in traffic accidents in the Netherlands.”
You shoulda seen my ex-wife!
HEYOOOO 😎🪩🍾
wat
- You heard what I said.

The border-free zone is called the Schengen area. There are still some EU member states that aren't included. Euronews article

"Austria has blocked the accession of Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen, the passport-free area that has abolished border checks between the vast majority of EU member states."

Even some non-EU places are part of Schengen. Notably Norway and Switzerland.

NON-CYCLIST DETECTED, EXTERMINATE

Why can't we have this with Canada and Mexico?

Because America is in-between
/s
Actually if you leave Quebec towards Vermont, the pavement changes significantly and becomes pink-ish.
- When you leave Quebec towards Ontario, the road is significantly less bumpy.
To be fair both the US and EU are a federation of states (the latter sharing aspects of a confederation as well 1. In the US all state borders do look like this, so in a way free travel among the 'independent' states is allowed the same as in the posters picture.

Imagine half your backyard being in another country. Do you think they still mow it?

Wait til you find out about Baarle
- Ayo wtf? Crossing like 6 borders just to get to work and back home.

Notice the markings on the road make sure you don't cross the border any faster than 09 kmph

This horse is beaten to death, but still jumping?

ding ol dang ol mufuggin swamp germans, man

Just tagging @notjustbikes@notjustbikes.com

Car in the bike lane

Dutchie here to explain why that's not ironic:
If its a dotted line cars are allowed to use it, but only if it doesn't impede on cyclists. So while they didn't have to be there, it's not unlawful as there's no cyclists.
If it was a single line, it's a different story.
That isn't a bike lane, it is a bike suggestion strip (translated literally).
- It's a bike strip, since there is a bike icon.
  A bike suggestion strip has no bike icon and has no legal status, it's merely a suggestion.
  They are different things.
It’s a shared road. Not separated lanes. Hence the dotted lines.

I mean you could look at the architecture but all you really needed is a level

Pssh, we have that all over the US, big deal

Knowing where the Netherlands begins?
Might want to add the /s lol
- I mean… we have interstate travel and the US is massive. There are no real borders between states.
Dutch bicycle lanes? And here I thought the US was car junkie hell.
- He probably meant borders.
- The US is giant. Some places have better bike infrastructure than others but it’s surely not the standard
The US probably has some rural bike paths, but I sure as shit haven't seen any.
(guys they mean the sudden changes in road quality)
Thanks for contributing information about your underrepresented country
- You are most welcome.