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| Ride on! Amsterdam has 880,000 of them. |
From the airline magazine: "Flying over Holland for the first time, I remember thinking how organised this land looks. So geometric. Strips of grassland divided by narrow waterways, with farmhouses neatly placed at the end of each field. No waste of space. No urban sprawl. It was hard to believe this country was so densely populated. Everything planned." I think I have discovered where I want to retire for the rest of my life.
Amsterdam is my kind of place. There are 880,000 bikes in Amsterdam and 220,000 cars, about 210k too many. At work at home, they were excited about our trip, with all the sex and drugs. Me, I've got a one track mind for things 2 wheeled. By weird coincidence, a buddy from Oz and his wife are there, also cyclists. Their $200 folders from Aldi in Sydney have been stolen here already, so we give them a lift, one person each on the rack, bumping along the gob smackingly beautiful canals, and have dinner before heading to the hotel in Hoofddorp.
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| Cyclist, buddy, coworker and real French person Philippe. |
We rode from Haarlem-Hoofddorp-Haarlem daily, which is easier done than said. The latest company guidelines specifically state that riding a bike is forbidden for business trips. So we do it, and ask later. In the morning, people cycling are all around. Some even indicate to turn. It's astonishing to think that there are enough bikes to warrant indicating your intentions on a path, let alone have company at all. It occurs to me that, in the same way, during the school holidays, Sydney is easy to drive, so too in the Netherlands, it would be easier with so few parents driving their children around.
The Haarlem suburbs are simple beautiful standalone appartment blocks. We ride through fields of cows, postcard perfect canals lined with cheerful boats, and lovely homes, all in great condition. The Dutch don't like curtains. At night you can see the home owners watching TV or reading the paper. Often you can see through to the fields on the other side.
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| The way from the hotel in Haarlem to Hoofddorp. |
This place is amazing to ride. We roll over a large bike specific bridge spanning a main road, and under several underpasses. This means along the entire 10km route, we stop maybe 2 or 3 times for the lights.
The organiser asks if we rode, and asks how it was. Do these people have no idea of their reputation? How can you summarise a religious life transforming event like this? It's good! I say. I'm used to semi trailers, and fast cars passing too closely.
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| Where work is in Hoofddorp. |
Dinner on night 2 is in Hoofddorp with work, and night 3 is in Haarlem, a beautiful historic town.
On the last day, leaving Hoofddorp to drop the bike off in Amsterdam, the rain jacket and rainlegs are not enough after 2 hours solid. There are two little 10cm patches of dryness on top of my thighs. The water still beads up nicely on my shoes, but the jeans have fed enough in via the heels, that they squelch.
It's been fantastically awesome. You know the problem with the world is that nobody thinks like I do. Then suddenly, there's a whole nation out there with bike paths going everywhere.
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