Amsterdam bike paths the slowest; Utrecht paths the busiest

Amsterdam has the slowest bike paths in the Netherlands - cyclists travel at an average speed of 14.4 kilometers per hour in the Dutch captial. The three busiest bike paths in the Netheralnds are all in Utrecht, according to the results of annual cycling study Nationale Fietselweek, Het Parool reports.

In Amsterdam a total of 37,913 bike rides were counted, amounting to nearly 150 thousand kilometers covered by cyclists in the city. The average speed of Amsterdam cyclists increases when it rains. The study attributes the slow cycling speed in the Dutch capital partly to the fact that the often narrow bike paths in the city are often crowded and cyclists have to brake more for crossing traffic.

Though the study also showes that crowded bike paths does not automatically mean a slower cycling speed. The three busiest cycling paths in the Netherlands can all be found in Uttrecht - Smakkelaarsveld with 3,152 cyclists per day, Vredenburg with 3,017 and Jaarbberusplein with 2,595. The Weesperzijde bike path in Amsterdam came in fourth place.

The fastest cyclists in the Netherlands can be found in Arnhem, where the average speed is 16.9 kilometers per hour.