Have Fiets, Can Travel

Fiet is Dutch for bicycle, and since our less-than-completely-successful experience with a rental car, we've mainly been fietsers (bicyclists). Meaning that except for an occasional train trip, we've been biking (and less frequently walking) everywhere. We have yet to acquire a car.

Much has been written about how wonderful it is to be a cyclist in the Netherlands, and most of it falls short. Fietsers are "king of the road" here. Small streets are calmed (with bumps and narrowing) to make them safer for cyclists; medium streets have marked bike paths (red pavement denotes a bike lane);  arterials have separated bike paths. Even better, in many areas there is a completely separate bike route which is much prettier than the auto route. Better signed, too.

Fiets were very nearly our first purchases here. We went to a workshop for the disabled, which sells reconditioned bikes. Two of us chose Dutch-style three speed imports from Asia, one chose a very traditional Dutch single speed bike with coaster brake, and Tim purchased a 10 year old Dutch made bike from a colleague. The bikes came with lights and bells (which are required on all bikes here) and we added inexpensive (about $12) pannier bags for school books and shopping, .

What is a Dutch-style bike? They have heavy steel frames, enclosed drive trains, generator powered lights (no batteries required), upright riding position, fenders, skirt guards, and a back rack with bungee cords. Most have comfortable seats, wide handlebars, step through frame (girly bike) and often one or two child seats. Most are single or at the most, three speeds. These bikes are used for commuting and errands, as well as weekend joyrides. The one piece of equipment we almost never see is a helmet, which only sport cyclists seem to wear here.

Everyone here seems to ride a bike. Most families have only one car, so a mom or dad riding kids to school or childcare is a frequent sight. By middle school, kids are riding to school on their own, and a 10 km (6 mile) ride to school is common. Because of this, there are fewer schools here than in America, even though bus transportation to school is not provided. Middle aged folks and the elderly ride in large numbers. When they aren't able to ride any more, people switch to three- or four-wheeled electric scooters, which they ride in the bike lane or in the street, just as though they are still riding a tweewieler (two wheeler).