Wednesday, December 15, 2010

It's a bikers country

Netherlands is a 'fietsers' /bikers country.   The roads are often very small and often the city centres are closed off to motorized vehicles.   You will see mothers biking daily with a child on the back of their bike, a child on the front of the bike (more than one child if they have a bakfiets ) and a child biking beside them.  Even when it snows and the roads are slippery than an ice rink, it doesn't slow them down.  I am hoping it is something in just being Dutch that keeps them safely on the bike while going over these black iced ridden roads with out wiping out. Now that I have my Dutch citizenship I am looking forward to staying on my bike when hitting a patch of ice or being hit by a gust of wind, for some reason I am blaming my cursed clumsiness for a life of many more falls to come.  I am still having bad side effects from a bad fall in September from being knocked over by the wind... yes the wind. You would think I knew how to bike.  I had my youngest daughter on my bike and luckily she was unharmed, I unfortunately suffered a concussion.    Yesterday I hit a patch of ice that has luckily only left me with a black and blue knee.  I am seriously starting to consider trading my bike in for some snow shoes! How these Dutchies do it with out a helmet nor a care in the world is beyond me. 

There is said to be more bikes in the Netherlands then there are people and there are more than 750,000 bikes stolen a year.  The Dutch learn at a very young age the importance of keeping their bike safely locked up. 

2 comments:

Invader_Stu said...

I am conviced that the Dutch have super bike powers because not only are they fine with the ice but they can carry huge awkward objects while cycling like (in one case I witnessed) a bed matras.

Unknown said...

I think that the Dutch actually learn to bike before they even learn to talk or to walk! I hear [Dutch] people complaining all the time about how it's difficult to bike in the present weather conditions, and I am thinking all the time: "get off the damn bike and take a bus or walk!" :D It's beyond their thinking powers... :D