Dutch cycling hits the brakes as bicycle numbers pile up

Problems familiar to car drivers the world over, from traffic jams to road-rage and lack of parking, are now also threatening to turn the Dutch dream of bicycling bliss into a daily hell.

In a small country where bicycles outnumber people by 1.2 million, the Dutch have simply run out of space to accommodate the 5 million cyclists who take to the road every day, turning commuting in major cities into a nightmare.

In Amsterdam alone, 490,000 cyclists take to the road to travel a staggering 2 million kilometers every day, according to statistics released by the city council this week.