A blonde and a brunette rent bikes…
And need some answers.
Whoever came up with the saying “it’s just like riding a bike” needs to contact us immediately. So we can tell them to try it in Amsterdam.
Step 1 to getting settled is to rent your bike, of course! (It is a well-known fact that there are more dutch bikes than dutch people in this city… extremely tall people.) Finding bikes to fit our (newly re-categorized as unusually petite) body types was our first challenge. The bike shop employee actually laughed out loud, after having to venture into the back room, to find bikes that were small enough. Luckily, he succeeded!
Once our mini dutch bikes were equiped with bells and baskets, we were ready to hit the bike path. Correction: road.
Here, bikes have their own place on the road. In between what most Americans would identify as a sidewalk and a road, you will find a sort of purgatory, where you and your bike will fend for your life. While you have the typical pedestrians and confusing intersections, you should expect to encounter wet paint, lost tourists, dog walkers without control, racing mopeds, and the occasional moving vans (accompanied by movers carrying matresses.) All of whom occupy a lane marked specifically for bikes, with casual disregard.
Perhaps whoever said “it’s just like riding a bike” lived in Amsterdam, knew how hard it was, and the meaning was lost in translation. But for now, we’ll just keep pedaling.
With love,
Em & Ava
You should’ve got stabilisers haha
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That’s a pretty accurate description on what happens on a Central Amsterdam day-to-day bike lane.
And watch out for the Shark Teeth (“haaientanden” in Dutch) markers on the road. They tell you when you have to give way on the crossing. But maybe you have them in the States, and I am just wasting my breath) Cheers!
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