Bicycles, Bicycles Everywhere

Thirty percent of the Dutch population travel by bicycle.  This is astounding since only 45 percent travel by car.  There are supposedly 1.11 bicycles per person in the Netherlands. That means there are around 18 million bikes lying around somewhere in the country.  Clearly, this is a preferred mode a transportation.  It’s been raining the past couple of days but it doesn’t seem to matter.  People still get around town on the bikes, some carrying an umbrella but most just peddle along as if it were a sunny day.  During ‘rush hour’ you can see 20-30 people on their bikes stopped at lights waiting for a signal change.

We’ve been thinking about getting a couple of bikes to get around town.  There are plenty of places to park your bike and it’s easier (and cheaper) than parking your car.  But we fear it’s the equivalent of biking on the interstate in bumper to bumper traffic at 70 mph!  I’m sure we’ll get used to it but its amazing to watch.