I am getting nostalgic if I see these bikes. Sooo many years ago I used to take the girls to school on my bike: one girl in the front seat and one in the back seat. Although I did have a car I only used it if the weather was bad. For the rest I biked, twice a day, since lunch break is spent at home with mom or dad.
The Dutch bike everywhere. Citizens old enough to bike count for 1.3 bikes per person. Biking is relatively safe. There is a network of cycle paths in cities and in the country side; they are well maintained, clearly signposted and well lit. They extend into Germany and Belgium and . . . no helmet is required.
I have spent many a vacation biking in the Netherlands, Belgium and even England. My parents, having no money to take us on trips, took us biking into the countryside around the city of Enschede. As soon as you could bike you got a bike( it was always too big so the pedals got wooden blocks) and off we went, very often we had a smaller sibling on the back seat or you were loaded with pick-nick stuff. Secondary school kids often bike over 7 miles to school. No wonder biking is in our "genes".
I intend to buy a bike as well now that I am back, but I will allow myself the luxury of an electric bike, it will make biking easier when going against the wind... and there is a lot of wind here, every day, all the time.
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