Pedaling - The Dutch Way of Life.....

PEDALING  -  THE WAY OF LIFE 

......  The Dutch Way

I moved to Amsterdam recently with my family. We set foot in the land of Amsterdam in late 2017. On my way home from Schipol Airport, I was glancing outside the window of the taxi. Beautiful sceneries with greeneries and farms were a feast to my eyes. Just when I was enjoying the landscape, something caught my attention. A person wearing a perfect formal wear was riding a bicycle, otherwise called BIKE here. From his attire, I assume he was a manager of some firm. The person was in his black trousers, white shirt with a tie and a coat. His laptop bag was hanging across his shoulder. I found it rare to watch someone of his profession riding a bicycle. Then I started to notice many such men and women cycling their way to work.

Within few days of landing in Amsterdam, I decided to start exploring the place. Taking a stroll was my choice as that is the only means of transport that gives me the pleasure of observing, experiencing, admiring and appreciating the ambience around me. So, I stepped out of my house for a walk. My eyes were wandering in all directions with excitement, curiosity and thirst for new views and sights. My body was feeling the chill breeze, the kind of weather it has never experienced before. Coming from Chennai, where the weather is hot to hottest for most part of the year, this was a shift.

When I was walking along the canals, I noticed the lanes on the road. There are two lanes, one for the four wheelers and the one for bicycles. Wow! A lane for bicycles. That is something, I thought!

Bicycle lanes are colored RED to distinguish them from the motor lanes. 

There are even separate signals for cycles. When I walked further I crossed a bicycle store. I peeped through the glass windows of the shop. Bikes of different sizes, colors and features were on display, there were innumerable number of accessories only for cycles - different types of locks, baskets to fix in the front of the bike, and grocery bags to fit at the back seat, toddler seats, kids seats, mobile holders and so on and so forth. 
These observations made me realize that bicycles are an important means of commute here. As the days passed by, I started touring more places within Amsterdam. I visited zoos, parks and Amsterdam Central Station by public transport - buses, trams and metro trains. But where-ever I went I could not stop wondering the extent to which the bikes are used in the city. Even the younger kids are not spared from traveling in bikes with their parents. There are twin seats to carry two kids in a bike. Dutch seem to have great fondness for bikes. 

Bikes are also allowed in metros and trains. Metros and trains are designed to allocate separate space for bikes in designated compartments to enable people to carry and park their bikes. ( Picture in the video). These compartments have the bike icon marked on the doors for commuter's convenience. When traveling long distances, bikers can choose to cover a part of the route by bike and the rest by metros or trains

We can’t find a single house without at-least two bikes. The statistics say that bicycles are four times more in number than the cars. Numerous bikes can be noticed at Amsterdam Central station. 

In just few months of stay here, I found the need to own a bike, rather tempted. Watching the adults ride to work, kids pedal to school, families bike together for fun on holidays, pumped up my adrenaline. 

When you know to ride, when there are separate lanes for bikes, when the weather is pleasant for a long ride, why wait !!! I immediately purchased one Zwarte fiets (Black bike) and pedaled my way along the beautiful canals, through the Amsterdam forest, on the roads covered with blanket of grasses on both sides and on the busy streets trying to race with the fellow bikers. 

That was undoubtedly a wonderful experience.  

In NETHERLANDS,

Pedaling is fun

Pedaling is pleasure

Pedaling is overwhelming

Pedaling is the way of life !!!!!!