Quite a Ride

It's been quite a while since I've ridden a bike much. Tuesday, I was encouraged to ride from Diemen (outskirts of Amsterdam) to town, aka Amsterdam. That called for bundling up as if I was going skiing! Here in Holland, it's in the high 20's to low 30's now. Often foggy and cloudy; very occasional sun. Riding is interesting especially along a long canal out in the open approaching downtown Amsterdam. By 3 p.m. it can get pretty chilly and bleak out.

Wednesday I rode 5 miles from Venserpolder, the Metro stop by the Catholic Worker House to the Concertgebouw. http://www.concertgebouw.nl/English with Fritz for a noon time concert. A young Cuban whom I'm tutoring English to passed us and we never caught sight of her!

After the concert, I was on my own to explore Amsterdam by bike. I have to admit it's fun and almost hard to believe that at almost 65, I'm riding amidst the trams, cars, and people. There are many, many cyclists. Roads have separate sections for bikes. There are even traffic lights for cycles. -Sitting on your bike, they stand about head tall. You often cannot proceed when people can. On major roads, there are separate divided lanes for bikes. Pedestrians watch out. You'll get run over. Bikes have the right of way in those lanes.

If you know Amsterdam at all, you'll now how picturesque it is to be able to ride along from the major museums through the Spui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spui_%28Amsterdam%29 and onto and on to Central Station.

http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ecswong/trip/centraalstation.jpg

Locking your bike to go into a store is often a challenge as you must find a spare spot at a rack, pole or a skinny tree!

http://law.case.edu/faculty/friedman/raw/images
/bicycles%20at%20central%20station,%20amsterdam5.JPG

Some other fun images:

Forget where you parked your bike?

http://www.thetravelpeach.com/europe-vacations/the-netherlands/amsterdam-bicycles.jpg

Need a lift?

http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/pp9b_amsterdam_bicycle_many.jpg

That's a GO !

http://torontoist.com/attachments/toronto_roxanneb/bikelight.jpg

Our own private roadway (lanes)

http://images.travelpod.com/users/zento/eandl2006.1188050280.24-bike-lanes.jpg

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

http://photos.jaysingh.nl/images/20081102203012_rijksmuseum%20amsterdam.jpg

http://www.codart.nl/images/VermeerMilkmaidCa1660AmsterdamRMA350.jpg

Motorbikes can use the bike path - mostly pedal bikes though.

http://www.velo-touren.ch/Deutschlandtour09/Bilder/HPIM1423SaarRika.jpg

Motorbike on path by wind turbine aka windmill

http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/North_Sea/Turbines_400.jpg