Originally Posted by metro2005

My commute is also about 15 miles each way and the route has some nasty bridges and tunnels so i try to take my time (roughly an hour) to avoid excessive sweat and just ride relaxed. I wouldn't even think of doing the commute in a suit though. Just change at the office.



I live in the Netherlands and while we do have a very good bike infrastructure we do have a LOT of traffic lights on bike paths and even worse, more and more speedhumps on bike paths (to slow down mopeds but also slows down cyclists).
20 degrees celcius on average may be true but there are a lot of days where we reach 28-30 degrees celcius. Combine that with a high humidity and sweat is guaranteed.

Its flat in most of the country, however, in the flat areas there are a lot of bridges, tunnels viaducts and other 'hills' to climb. And in the provinces of Limburg for example there are hills all over the place.

Another problem is the extremely crowded bike paths which makes you slow down constantly because you cant overtake.

So while cycling in the Netherlands sure isn't bad, its not as magical as its made out to be.


Those typical 'dutch' bikes suck for longer distances. Great for around town but way too heavy and without gears so absolutely not suited for anything longer than 3 mile trips.