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Comment by aexaey | Hacker News Reader

Indeed, Dutch view this two ways to use bicycle very differently. There are even completely different verbs to describe that:

- fietsen i.e. literally "bicycling" would refer to riding an opafiets [1] bicycle, at moderate speed, without helmet or any sort of cycling attire;

- wielrennen, i.e. literally "wheel running" instead describes sort of cycling that you would see in Tour de France race - racing bike, helmet, lycra gear on, considerably faster.

Second is far less common, and doing so on busy city streets during rush hour is frowned upon, of course.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadster_(bicycle)

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While I get the difference, I can't quite imagine how it works in practice.

Here in Germany, it's all radeln, and when I commute along the ordinary bike lanes, I usually go as fast as I can, which is something like 20-30km/hour. That's nothing like racing, but it not moderate and so I am overtaking more casual cyclists all the time.

As far as I know, people who ride like me or faster are not frowned upon here. We are just expected to do our overtaking safely and politely.

I'm telling you, it's not the speed, it's the outfit and the bike. I don't suddenly ride faster just because I'm wearing a helmet and goggles, but other people's attitude is sudden;y totally different.

The cycles I've seen in Germany are pretty similar to the same style as the rest of the western world: typically flat bars or drop bars with somewhere between 3 and 15 gears. So a huge variety, everything from commuter to cruisers to speed to hybrids.

In the Netherlands, it's rare to find speed or even higher end street bikes parked in any of the massive bike stands. They're all mostly old-school cruisers (what some people might call scooners). They don't go very fast and it's not uncommon to see a 2nd person just sitting on the back cargo mount.

Also, I find it interesting Germans have the same word for drive and ride. That's one of those common language mistakes you'll hear Germans make when they say, "I drove the bus."

I had no idea the NL cycling culture was like that. The only cycling dutchman I know is a speed deamon -- but he lived in England then.

Also, yes the word fahren is a bit strange to my English-trained years. But if it lumps "drive" and "ride" together, it also make a distinction that isn't available in English: it is to travel on a vehicle (be it just a pair of roller skates), but not on your own power or on the back of an animal.

That might sound like a weird distinction to make, until you realise that fahren is the absolute favourite activity of the German race. That's why they are so keen on trains and bikes and why they invented motor cars, jet engines, freeways and (I suspect) the parent-powered sleigh.

Interesting, I never realized this. I know wielrennen (obviously) but haven't yet needed the word in English so I didn't notice the lack. I guess I'd call it bike racing.

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