Biking

20130821_154220The Netherlands is a very bicycle friendly country and it is a convenient form of transportation. Growing up, one of my dreams was to bike to work because it would be more environmentally friendly. However, I lived in New York City and it is only recently that the implemented bike lanes and bike sharing programs. Prior to that, it was dangerous for bikers to share the roads with cars.

I’m a petite woman by American standards and by Dutch standards, I’m practically a midget. Dutch people are actually the second tallest people in the world (only beat out by the Swedish) so it isn’t surprising that I had a hard time finding a bicycle that fit me. After 2 months of searching, I ended up finding a meisjefiets (little girl bike) that fit me! HOORAY! Okay, it was pink and came with a Barbie purse, whatever… at least my toes touched the ground.

Biking is awesome. There is such an amazing sense of freedom to go wherever you want and to be able to use it as a free method of transportation. How far you can travel is only limited by how long you can bike for (my current time is 20 minutes).

Today, two Dutch things crossed paths – rain and biking. Not so pleasant for me as I biked through the rain trying to find shelter, but now I have a seat cover and rain poncho for the next time that happens.

PS – my bicycle looks a lot better now with washi tape and after getting rid of that purse

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *