Holland, locking your bike?

[d87heaven]

Are bikes safe locked up in Holland? All hotels bar one have somewhere secure to put the bikes. Is it safe to leave them locked up in a town (Gouda) overnight? The hotel has a fire escape at the back which we can lock to them to but Im a bit worried about security, or am I being paranoid? We both have £350 hybrid type bikes so not massively attractive to nick but better than some of the old clunkers you see in Holland.

 

[frank9755]

Are bikes safe locked up in Holland? All hotels bar one have somewhere secure to put the bikes. Is it safe to leave them locked up in a town (Gouda) overnight? The hotel has a fire escape at the back which we can lock to them to but Im a bit worried about security, or am I being paranoid? We both have £350 hybrid type bikes so not massively attractive to nick but better than some of the old clunkers you see in Holland.

I think I know the hotel you area staying at!

I had the same concerns when I was there a couple of years ago. It is in a quiet side street and I expect they don't have any problems. Nevertheless I was nervous about leaving our bikes there. It's not massively secure and the rings on the wall that you chain to could be unscrewed by anyone who wanted to.

I thought that the fact that this clearly hadn't happened supported the view that it was a pretty safe street to leave the bikes in. But I felt the hotel owners didn't appreciate why having your bike stolen if you were a touring cyclist was so much more of a disaster than if you were a leisure rider.

However there aren't many alternatives in Gouda, and it is a lovely city - as are all the others in that part of the world!

(just read the bit about the fire escape - may be a new arrangement - or a new hotel!)

 

[d87heaven]

Im an idiot, it's Leiden that doesn't have the secure area for the bikes. Same principal though. I hope the hotel I am at in gouda has more than rings to chain to!!!

 

[rich p]

Im an idiot, it's Leiden that doesn't have the secure area for the bikes. Same principal though. I hope the hotel I am at in gouda has more than rings to chain to!!!

The hotel in Gouda has a separate annexe with a locked garden for bikes. I assume it's the cheap hotel beginning wit K...........!

I'd not fancy leaving it in the street but if it's round the back of a small hotel I'd sleep easy.

 

[d87heaven]

It sounds like the same one Rich!

Think I might go for a d lock around the frames, and a cable on frontwheel/frame and rear wheel/frame.

 

[frank9755]

The hotel in Gouda has a separate annexe with a locked garden for bikes. I assume it's the cheap hotel beginning wit K...........!

I'd not fancy leaving it in the street but if it's round the back of a small hotel I'd sleep easy.

That's the one I stayed at. Here
We had to leave our bikes in the street.

There are a lot more hotels in Leiden. I am sure we left the bikes in a room inside when we were there.

(BTW our route was Hoek, Leiden, Haarlem, Weesp, Zeist, Gouda Delft and Hoek. It was beautiful, especially the old cities. Hope you enjoy your trip!)

 

[slowmotion]

You could always ask if they would stash the bikes in a store room or somewhere. Judging by most bikes I have seen in Holland, yours is probably quite exotic to the (very friendly) locals. It does no harm to ask.

Good luck.

 

[d87heaven]

That's the one I stayed at. Here
We had to leave our bikes in the street.

There are a lot more hotels in Leiden. I am sure we left the bikes in a room inside when we were there.

(BTW our route was Hoek, Leiden, Haarlem, Weesp, Zeist, Gouda Delft and Hoek. It was beautiful, especially the old cities. Hope you enjoy your trip!)

Im going Hoek, Leiden, 2 nights in Beverwijk visiting relatives and maybe a trip on the hydrofoil to Amsterdam, Gouda, Delft then back to the Hoek. Plus stops wherever we fancy on the way during the day. One pannier is reserved for drops, the other for cheese!

 

[bof]

I've lived there. Petty Crime is as prevelant in the Netherlands as it is in the UK. Bikes do get stolen quite a lot and you don't really want to leave one out overnight. Any decent hotel will I am sure find somewhere safe for you to leave it.

 

[snowy10]

HiWhen I cycled to Germany last year I went through Holland. I noticed on some of the cycle routes that locals would leave decent bikes around the bus stop, then catch the bus and quite a few of these bikes were not even locked, but this was out in the sticks though. I stayed in Arnhem and at the B&B the people who owned it said that I should put my bike in their garage.
Cheers

 

[User169]

Im an idiot, it's Leiden that doesn't have the secure area for the bikes. Same principal though. I hope the hotel I am at in gouda has more than rings to chain to!!!

The train station has secure parking I think. Probably wouldn't cost much to leave a couple of bikes overnight.

 

[willem]

That is the thing: all major train stations have secure bicycle storage for a small fee. Even there you need a lock, however. I have never worried about my bike on camp sites, but I would not feel happy outside a hotel in student cities like Leiden, Delft or Amsterdam.

Willem

 

[d87heaven]

Thanks guys. Nice to know there is always the train station for back up if needed.

 

[Fandango]

I have never toured in Holland but been there several times, and the people have always been wonderful, so I find it hard to believe that the Dutch are a nation of bike thieves, always alert to the bike that is only secured by a mere combination lock: they are taught to crack these at an early age. There was a thread here a while ago that showed bikes in Amsterdam locked up with chains that would anchor a large super tanker, can't these people afford their own bikes?

Are the Dutch really so attracted to other people's bikes? surely not?

 

[d87heaven]

Snippet from this article ............ Bike theft Holland

Even the head of the Delft police recently found that his bike had been stolen – while he was attending a public debate on the problem of bike theft.