THIS COUNTRY HAS MORE BIKES THAN INHABITANTS!! - HOLLAND / NETHERLANDS / MOST BIKE-FRIENDLY COUNTRY

Holland is best known for its coffee shops, its windmills, its water channels, its flowers, its tulips, its cheese and for its soccer team, the famous Mechanical Orange. Nevertheless, there is an aspect that most of the people ignore about this country despite being a remarkable key of its cultural behavior, as well as a proof of the level of commitment that their citizens have regarding the preservation of the natural resources, and the life quality as well. According with the European Cyclists Federation Cycling Barometer, based on daily cycling levels, bike sales, safety, cycle tourism and advocacy activity, Netherlands heads the list (along with Denmark) of the Most Bike-Friendly Countries in Europe. In addition, two of their main cities (Groningen and Amsterdam) are at the top of the list of the european cities investing more in cycling transport, per person per year, as stated by GIZ, a German consultancy specialized in economic development. To earn this merit they made not only a huge network of cycle paths, wide enough to allow side-by-side and overtaking, with its proper signs, smooth surfaces, roundabouts, bike parking facilities and strict regulations, but also they assured the training of their inhabitants from their very childhood by making the Cycling Proficiency Lessons a mandatory subject of their curriculum at school. All these state's policies are a consequence of a heavy movement started after World War II, as a popular reaction against the tremendous boom of the car industry, the rise of the amount of motorized vehicles in the country which triggered the number of deaths on the roads. On the other hand, in 1973 the oil producing countries stopped exports to the US and Western Europe, which was known as the Middle East oil crises. This shook again the Dutch trust in the sustainability and reliability of the motor vehicle.