On Saturday (my birthday), the weather was a record high tempurature of 27°C (that's 81°F), so Brad and I decided to go on a bike ride around a nearby lake. In the Netherlands, there are always convenient bike paths to nearly every scenic location, so what started as an enjoyable and easy afternoon ride ended up covering over 15 kilometers! It was great, but a little hard one's backside after a while.

In the past I've shared a few stories about my biking experiences. I have to admit that biking has actually become my preferred method of traveling. I often ask myself "why would I walk when I could bike?" Now that I've got some photos to post, I'll explain a bit more about the bikes in the Netherlands.

First of all, note the style of bike. You are probably thinking "it looks like the bike my grandma has". Actually, it is pretty unusual to see a racing bike or mountain bike here in the Netherlands. That's partially because those types of bikes tend to be expensive and therefore more likely to get stolen. The other reason is that the bike paths and roads aren't made for racing nor are there any mountains to bike down.

So my bike is pretty typical for the Netherlands except that mine is nice and new. Usually the bikes are quite old and rusty. It is not uncommon to hear a person biking before actually seeing them. It is amazing, the creaking and clanging noises that some of these bikes make! Sometimes people like to paint their bike in all kinds of bright colors to make them "unique" but I think this usually only succeeds in making them look even worse.

Secondly, note the pink saddlebags on the back. You'd be surprised at how much stuff a person can fit in those bags. I know from experience that pretty much anything I can stuff into one of IKEA's yellow shopping bags can be fit in my bike bags! Approximately half of all bikes will have bags although usually the owners are women because they tend to have more stuff to cart around. Most people do not have pink bags however, but these were the only color I could find in the price range that I was looking at. Plus it makes it really easy to find my bike in the bike parking lots.

Finally, my bike is really easy to ride and quite comfortable. The high handlebars prevent me from getting a a sore back when biking longer distances. You often see people with one or more child seats on the bike (one in front and one in back) to carry around their kids. The bike trailers we have in N. America are seen here, but not with kids in them. The trailers here are used to carry around stuff!

And biking has successfully prevented me from gaining excess weight (in fact, I've lost weight since I've moved here). Here is a photo of my bike and my typical biking attire. Note the high heeled boots I'm wearing while riding my bike - the boots are courtesy of my Aunt Julie!

This past winter season required a wool coat, hat, scarf and gloves when biking, but now that spring is here, I'm starting to adjust my biking wardrobe a little. However, I still regularly wear a scarf and gloves to prevent getting chilled as it always seems to be a little windy here. And I usually wear comfortable boots for walking around the city, but high heeled boots are fine to wear on the bike too.

Just for interest's sake, here is a photo of the bike parking in from of the University building. This is a good illustration of the bike parking lots and how full they usually are. Some day I'll post of photo of the huge multi-level parkade at the train station.