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Friday, June 08, 2012

Dutch bikes

Some tourists in the Netherlands take pictures of canals or old buildings. I take pictures of bikes.
a typical street, full of parked bikes
bikes parked in front of a theater building

old street & canal in Amsterdam, with bikes parked all over of course
lots of people doubled/tripled up on bikes (usually a parent with 2 kids, but occasionally adults would ride too!)
 Now my favorite part...all of the cool bikes & bike seats. I loved these front-end cargo bikes.
 Inside there is a seat with 2 seatbelts.
 I also saw some serious cargo bikes! You'll never get wet inside these.
Tandem bike, plus a child seat on the back

A family with 3 children lives here! You can see the parent's bike with 2 child's seats and saddlebags, and a kid's bike chained up behind it. I love the little windscreen in front of the baby seat. 
 
"No biking" signs
Okay, I did take one houseboat picture!



5 comments:

  1. I love it! I lived in Japan for 3 years and saw similar scenes (hundreds of bikes parked at the train station, etc). I got almost everywhere by bike, train and/or bus. Now I'm back in Chicago and doing the same thing :)

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  2. I have a lot of pregnant women they come for a consultation to my clinic by bike (in Germany), it is much easier as to walk with heavy legs

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  3. Very cool pics and very interesting.My mom had a behind the sear baby carrier on her bike when I was little and she stopped to talk to someone and the bike fell over with me in it! I got hurt kinda bad and now I hate bikes! I let my kids ride with helmets, but I would never have a baby carrier on a bike! But I am glad people do because its good for health and environment.

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  4. You know that you can get these bikes in the states too, right? They are actually becoming very common in west coast cities here. The front end cargo bike above is a bakfiet... There are several companies in Portland, OR, that make them (such as the Metrofiets, oh so pretty!), and also import Dutch models. They are pricey, but ride like a dream!! There are also a whole plethora of longtails (the Yubamundo, the Surly Big Dummy) that are much cheaper, easily fit 2 or three kids (plus groceries and cargo), and are very common. Certainly (sadly) not as common as in the Netherlands, but still something you see often out here.

    You should buy yourself a Bakfiet and start making it commonplace in your city. They are delightful!

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  5. I love the variety of bicycles! The most fun way to get around, I would say. Great pics.

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