Come hail or high winds…

The Dutch ride on.  And so do we. I’ve never been so grateful to my dad for teaching me to ride a bike as a kid.  The first snow of the season fell today, after a couple of days of solid hail and winds that blew my bike sideways as I crossed any street that did not have the classic four+ story Amsterdam buildings.  Thank goodness for tall, skinny buildings.  A few times, the hail fell so hard that all the car alarms on our street alarmed in harmony, similar to the neighborhood churchbells that ring on the hour.

The first time I came to Amsterdam, I was impressed watching the stylish Dutch women riding bikes in high heels and stockings, pushing a bakfiets (wagon, a.k.a. family car) attached to the front of their bikes, with a small child seat on the bike handle and another medium one in the back – all full of children.  At the same time, a color-coordinated bag was on the shoulder of the hand they used to hold a mobile to their ear or a bag of groceries on the side.  I think I am slowly becoming one of these women, without the bakfiets and child seats yet.   I bought a used Dutch bike, a Gazelle, beat up enough for two reasons: so it would be less appealing for bike swippers, and so that I wouldn’t feel bad losing it to any potential falls into the canals.  My first test was to become comfortable enough with the single-gear, pedal brake bike, without throwing myself to the ground to stop each time.  I’ve talked to many people that grew up riding these, and have realized my parents were way too nice to me by letting me use the fancy hand breaks.  I didn’t have braking fully down before adding an old plastic beer crate to the front to carry groceries, because walking is so unappealing now that I have wheels.  I know, big challenge.  I realized I needed to start lifting weights when the front of the bike was too heavy to lift onto the sidewalk.  It was during this time that I broke my own record for the highest number of bruises on my legs at one time.  It reminded me of life as a 7 year old.  I’m happy to say that now I can handle riding a full grocery basket, texting and talking on the mobile, with the fancy bag on the shoulder, all at the same time.  Oh, and that’s without throwing myself to the ground to stop the bike.

So, back to the first snow of the season.  Everyone is still riding, as they do.  And so do we.  Next stop will be Thanksgiving shopping at the Albert Cuypmarkt, where I get all those groceries I put in the basket.  They sell everything from wd-40 oil for those pesky bike locks, to tulips, famous cheese wheels and fabrics, to freshly feathered pheasants, with plenty of feathers still left.  It’s open-air every day, except Sundays, come hail or high winds, and now snow.

~ by Silvana Bacigalupo-Wold on November 22, 2008.