My boyfriend lives there so I go often to Amsterdam, and even though biking is becoming "fashionable" where I live (Barcelona, Spain), the difference in the amount of bikes between both cities is abysmal, they are way way ahead.
The Netherlands is a super flat country though, so biking there is really easy compared to my city. I use our public bike system and there are some parts of the city that are way too steep if you are not used to it.
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.
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.
It is so difficult to avoid people when they keep jumping.
(The second most critical bit is to not walk on a handicapped sidewalk ramp if a biker is coming)
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".
Bikes are often very practical in cities but not when it's raining and not when the gradients are significant. Despite the rain and minor inclines I have a Brompton http://www.brompton.co.uk/ here in London and adore it.
Rain is not really a factor, Copenhagen is rainy all the fucking time. Steep roads definitely is. But it isn't all. In Buenos Aires, which is relatively flat, I saw maybe 3-4 bikes in as many weeks. The major factor, IMO, is presence of bicycle paths and the fact that bicycles are actually a part of the design of the 'traffic flow', which means that bikers are first class citizen in Danish cities, while I would never even fuckin' dare to ride a bike in Buenos Aires - it's simply not safe.
Ok, there is a 180% tax on cars. 15k Honda fit = 42,000$ (ouch), but that just makes the used car market more valuable. I had a working old Volvo that was worth ~1k and needed 1-2k of work done per year to keep on the road. So buying one of those would have cost 2.8k with 1.8k of that in tax so it's not exactly making car's illegal and keeping it on the road cost is only 200$ / month. You just need to find the loophole.
Gasoline in Denmark costs around $9 per U.S. gallon. http://www.swivel.com/data_columns/show/8682935
In the Netherlands, gasoline is around $10 per U.S. gallon. http://www.swivel.com/data_columns/spreadsheet/8682923
Oh and, you should have seen my dutchie friends biking on ice this winter, absolutely impressive.
A nice follow-up to this article would be to photograph /film Dutch cyclists in heavy rain.
When I was in Seattle, though, plenty of people biked to work. Yeah, we didn't have bikes all over the streets, but it was a refreshingly good start.