I lived in Amsterdam for 3 months last year and one of the lesson I learned was this: Watch out for the trams. More important than that: watch out for the native bicyclers.
The folks in Amsterdam are pros on bikes. They've been riding on a daily basis since they were just wee lads. I couldn't believe the things I saw them do on bikes. (Talking on a cell, carrying an umbrella, multiple people on one bike, dresses, suits.)
So if you are heading to Amsterdam, remember this: if you see a bicycle rapidly approaching, do not alter your motion in any way. Ever. Don't dodge left or right, don't slow down or run ahead. Don't be creative. They see you and don't want to hit you.
Several times early on, I nearly got creamed. Eventually, you'll resist the urge to "get the hell out of the way" and realize they will always work around you.
I'll second that - France is another place where people seem to be born with bicycle attached. I spent two months last year cycling around France and was constantly amazed at the skills employed by cyclists I saw.
You see groups of cyclists whizzing along chatting as they go, effortlessly maneuvering around traffic (including you or me). It was incredible.
One time I was tiring near the summit of a mountain in the pyrenees and an old man reached into the back pocket of his cycle top and handed me a sugar cube whilst overtaking me on the way around a bend. The gradient we were on was about 10-15% I think. I nearly went over the edge trying to take the cube from him.
(Talking on a cell, carrying an umbrella, multiple people on one bike, dresses, suits.)
Sign #458 you have been in Japan to long: you had to read this sentence six times to realize it was not ironically listing "things regular people do on bikes every day".
Actually the takeway for me from this is nothing to do with Amsterdam, but rather that even in San Francisco, home of all things green, car-centered city design makes a real human-centered city seem alien.
The folks in Amsterdam are pros on bikes. They've been riding on a daily basis since they were just wee lads. I couldn't believe the things I saw them do on bikes. (Talking on a cell, carrying an umbrella, multiple people on one bike, dresses, suits.)
So if you are heading to Amsterdam, remember this: if you see a bicycle rapidly approaching, do not alter your motion in any way. Ever. Don't dodge left or right, don't slow down or run ahead. Don't be creative. They see you and don't want to hit you.
Several times early on, I nearly got creamed. Eventually, you'll resist the urge to "get the hell out of the way" and realize they will always work around you.