[Ep. 993] A second ride in Leipzig. This time from the main train station to the Velo-City 2023 conference location. More information in the blog post: bicycledutch.w...
When I was 16 my front wheel got caught in the tram track. Catapulting me 10 meters forward. I performed a good imitation of superman. Then I landed with a summer salt. Pure luck.
@@Rabe1907jap, nehme als Beispiel Dortmund.. unfassbar hässliche Fahrradwege, teils nur seitenstreifen auf riesigen Hauptstraßen… aber für Autos natürlich 3 Spuren auf jeder Fahrtrichtung! Anderes Beispiel… Den haag: letztens dort länger Urlaub gemacht, war an einer relativ großen Straße (nähe europäischer Gerichtshof) , aber man konnte ÜBERALL so unfassbar gut mit dem Rad hin .. man man. Und es ist ja nicht nur dort so, sondern in eigentlich jeder Stadt in NL ! Das ist das Beeindruckende daran
@@VikingDeluxe not THAT bad and plain cobblestone might be even better than these fragments of asphalt - especially as the gaps stay filled, if they scrub it of…
It appears that the "cycling provision" is much like most of the UK, in that the authorities have put up signs directing you to ride on the footway and assumed that it is enough. It also starts and stop sand starts and stops, just like most cycle routes in the UK. If Leipzig is supposed to be somehow exemplary and leading, then I am given to believe that cycling provision in the rest of germany must be awful.
I'd say that Leipzig isn't really that good compared to the rest of Germany to be honest. Yes, there might be worse places to cycle, but Leipzig is certainly not above average in that regard. I've cycled alot in Frankfurt for example and can tell you it's alot better there
Everything, from the roads with potholes and cracks to the rundown buildings, looks poverty stricken. Lifeless and soul crushing. I found this a quite depressing video.
It depends. Leipzig is actually THE upcoming city and Germany pulling a lot of young people. It has charming quarters, lot of green parks and a vibrant night life. Though ofc it cannot hide 50 years of poor development under East German government and like all big cities, it has some ugly areas. I bet with a different route your impression would have been less depressing ;)
The city is recovering from decades of neglect, as a former East German city it doesn't have much resources to restructure fast. Almost all cities in former West Germany are in a better shape. Reunification did spread rights and freedom, not wealth.
@@dutchman7623 that is not completly correct. In Germany, hardly no investments have been made in rails, roads, bridges or the Internet in the last 20 years. That's why our cities look like this.
Here in Lüneburg we have a former major road with its full design preserved from the 1960s - including dedicated bike lanes. When I see these painted bike lanes in Leipzig they aren't there to replace an undersized lane on the sidewalk - they are to have just anything. 😮
What road is that? I guess I've never been much outside of the centre in Lüneburg, and have cycled there exactly once (coming from Lauenberg), but can't remember seeing any really good infra.
@@simpleton7 the Southern half of Lüner Weg - there was originally a train crossing, which as been replaced by only an underpass for bikes and pedestrians. This is currently even the recommend route towards Lauenburg, however I've seen a lot of outdated signage there. Currently they are working on updating that route however. If you followed the "Alte Salzstraße" signage, that sadly is completely outdated. The trick is to turn right in Erbstorf (after the bus stop) and then follow the signs set by the city. This leads over a de-facto bike road ("Grüner Jäger Weg", will become an official soon), through a forest ("Lüner Holz") and then just straight the Lüner Weg towards the train station.
Shall we start a giro 555 relief aid for these poor ppl😂Come on Germany spread the wealth, where is the Zusammengehörigkeit-solidarity? These images make Luik/Liege and Charleroi almost look beautiful.
Braunschweig is a lot better than the average (or Hamburg) in my brief experience. This is pretty average, a lot of towns in North-Rhein-Westphalia and of course the former east like this are pretty much like this.
This looks like somewhere undergoing a lot of development. It would be interesting to return in five or ten years. There is certainly a lot of potential for good cycling infrastructure on those wider streets if the local government has the will.
@@miles5600 This isn't entirely true, Leipzig actually plans on improving its cycling infrastructure significantly, at least much more so than most other german cities.
@@Hurricane2k8 the rest of germany has absolute terrible bike infrastructure if you can even call it bike infrastructure. Do they have street redesign concepts? Also the fietsstraat in germany sucks, it needs a whole different approach.
Native Dutchman here, living in Leipzig at the moment. Got a bike after I moved here, but sold it after a couple of months. Cycling in Leipzig is dreadful. The city draws a line on a tarmac, 50 centimeters away from parked cars, draws a bicycle on it and says 'We created bike infrastructure! Yay!'
Always amuses me to see the law-abiding Germans standing at the side of a road waiting for the green man when there's no traffic coming in either direction - wouldn't happen in the UK: no traffic? go!
From American eyes, this doesn't look like the greatest bike paths. The narrower streets make it okay enough to cycle here, but not very comfortably. The beginning section in the tram area would have me stopping every block to check google maps...
As a fellow American, you're 100% correct, but I'd still love to have even a quarter of what they have here :(. Most of our smaller cities are woefully behind. It's a long battle to get this sort of thing, so I applaud them for having what they have, especially when it looks like they're trying to improve. But yeah, that tram section... what were they thinking?
Ai, that stretch with the tram rails is, eh, life threatening... not an experience to look forward to.
When I was 16 my front wheel got caught in the tram track. Catapulting me 10 meters forward. I performed a good imitation of superman. Then I landed with a summer salt. Pure luck.
@@Rabe1907 SUPER um zu hören. Ich liebe es.
@@Rabe1907jap, nehme als Beispiel Dortmund.. unfassbar hässliche Fahrradwege, teils nur seitenstreifen auf riesigen Hauptstraßen… aber für Autos natürlich 3 Spuren auf jeder Fahrtrichtung! Anderes Beispiel… Den haag: letztens dort länger Urlaub gemacht, war an einer relativ großen Straße (nähe europäischer Gerichtshof) , aber man konnte ÜBERALL so unfassbar gut mit dem Rad hin .. man man. Und es ist ja nicht nur dort so, sondern in eigentlich jeder Stadt in NL ! Das ist das Beeindruckende daran
my bum hurts from all those potholes. holy moly that is some Belgian road quality
You would enjoy biking on American roads even more!
Others have speed bumps, Leipzig has potholes 😂
That's German average. Trust me and my bum.
@@VikingDeluxe not THAT bad and plain cobblestone might be even better than these fragments of asphalt - especially as the gaps stay filled, if they scrub it of…
Thats why so many Germans cycle a mountainbike.
It appears that the "cycling provision" is much like most of the UK, in that the authorities have put up signs directing you to ride on the footway and assumed that it is enough. It also starts and stop sand starts and stops, just like most cycle routes in the UK. If Leipzig is supposed to be somehow exemplary and leading, then I am given to believe that cycling provision in the rest of germany must be awful.
I'd say that Leipzig isn't really that good compared to the rest of Germany to be honest. Yes, there might be worse places to cycle, but Leipzig is certainly not above average in that regard. I've cycled alot in Frankfurt for example and can tell you it's alot better there
What a confusing city to cycle
That's normal german city design.
When a 60cm bike path shared with pedestrians is better than your segregated infrastructure in your country 💀
very bad compared to dutch.
Everything, from the roads with potholes and cracks to the rundown buildings, looks poverty stricken. Lifeless and soul crushing. I found this a quite depressing video.
After 10 minutes in the video, I wondered if Leipzig is a former DDR town. And it was.
@@jannetteberends8730 Time for a second revolution, one with color and joy.
It depends. Leipzig is actually THE upcoming city and Germany pulling a lot of young people. It has charming quarters, lot of green parks and a vibrant night life. Though ofc it cannot hide 50 years of poor development under East German government and like all big cities, it has some ugly areas. I bet with a different route your impression would have been less depressing ;)
hmmm, not very good. narrow bike lanes, poor signage, poor inconsistent pavement surface , poor lines.
TBH i expected better from a German city.
The city is recovering from decades of neglect, as a former East German city it doesn't have much resources to restructure fast. Almost all cities in former West Germany are in a better shape. Reunification did spread rights and freedom, not wealth.
@@dutchman7623 totally on point
It's actually one of the better cities to cycle in Germany. Expectations should be lowered.
@@dutchman7623 that is not completly correct. In Germany, hardly no investments have been made in rails, roads, bridges or the Internet in the last 20 years. That's why our cities look like this.
Caramba !!! O asfalto aí é horrível , parece até o asfalto aqui do Brasil !!! Claro .... em alguns lugares
De fato, você pode ver do asfalto que a Alemanha Oriental é a parte pobre da Alemanha.
Here in Lüneburg we have a former major road with its full design preserved from the 1960s - including dedicated bike lanes. When I see these painted bike lanes in Leipzig they aren't there to replace an undersized lane on the sidewalk - they are to have just anything. 😮
What road is that? I guess I've never been much outside of the centre in Lüneburg, and have cycled there exactly once (coming from Lauenberg), but can't remember seeing any really good infra.
@@simpleton7 the Southern half of Lüner Weg - there was originally a train crossing, which as been replaced by only an underpass for bikes and pedestrians. This is currently even the recommend route towards Lauenburg, however I've seen a lot of outdated signage there. Currently they are working on updating that route however.
If you followed the "Alte Salzstraße" signage, that sadly is completely outdated. The trick is to turn right in Erbstorf (after the bus stop) and then follow the signs set by the city. This leads over a de-facto bike road ("Grüner Jäger Weg", will become an official soon), through a forest ("Lüner Holz") and then just straight the Lüner Weg towards the train station.
These roads need to be resurfaced
Ironically, until you get out of the city here, the 30km/h stretches on the residential streets are probably the most 'mentally' comfortable sections.
Shall we start a giro 555 relief aid for these poor ppl😂Come on Germany spread the wealth, where is the Zusammengehörigkeit-solidarity? These images make Luik/Liege and Charleroi almost look beautiful.
damn i live in a different german city and its a lot better than this
Hamburg? 😂
@@LikeToDrive braunschweig
Braunschweig is a lot better than the average (or Hamburg) in my brief experience. This is pretty average, a lot of towns in North-Rhein-Westphalia and of course the former east like this are pretty much like this.
@@simpleton7 yeah always disagreed w ppl saying germany has bad bike infrastructure but maybe i just got lucky
This looks like somewhere undergoing a lot of development. It would be interesting to return in five or ten years. There is certainly a lot of potential for good cycling infrastructure on those wider streets if the local government has the will.
the streets aren't getting redone anytime soon, it's just the buildings getting redone mostly
@@miles5600 This isn't entirely true, Leipzig actually plans on improving its cycling infrastructure significantly, at least much more so than most other german cities.
@@Hurricane2k8 the rest of germany has absolute terrible bike infrastructure if you can even call it bike infrastructure. Do they have street redesign concepts? Also the fietsstraat in germany sucks, it needs a whole different approach.
Native Dutchman here, living in Leipzig at the moment. Got a bike after I moved here, but sold it after a couple of months. Cycling in Leipzig is dreadful. The city draws a line on a tarmac, 50 centimeters away from parked cars, draws a bicycle on it and says 'We created bike infrastructure! Yay!'
How many pedestrians end up in hospital every day? 😅
Having to ride your bike right near the tram tacks looks wonderful...
ThomasHöhle Leipziger ❤😂
@16:56 a right on red arrow ?! Wow
Common in Eastern Germany, however Leipzig is currently once again reducing them.
well the fact that you dont speak or play music and that you just ride and ride, i have no choice but to subscribe to your channel !!
Radfahren in Leipzig ist verhältnismäßig sicher und entspannt.
Very nice tour, this city is amazing! 💚✨
Always amuses me to see the law-abiding Germans standing at the side of a road waiting for the green man when there's no traffic coming in either direction - wouldn't happen in the UK: no traffic? go!
The quality of the road surface is similar to what we have in the UK. Lots of frost damage including potholes, patched rather than re-surfaced
Georg Schumann Straße nicht Kurt....
Paint is not infrastructure
From American eyes, this doesn't look like the greatest bike paths. The narrower streets make it okay enough to cycle here, but not very comfortably. The beginning section in the tram area would have me stopping every block to check google maps...
As a fellow American, you're 100% correct, but I'd still love to have even a quarter of what they have here :(. Most of our smaller cities are woefully behind. It's a long battle to get this sort of thing, so I applaud them for having what they have, especially when it looks like they're trying to improve.
But yeah, that tram section... what were they thinking?