Something I really love about The Netherlands is the cycling culture. I am still amazed by the amount of people who cycle here. I bought a bike when I first moved here and it finally arrived last week. It is currently at Mr Clog's parents house and I think that we might be going to pick it up today. I hope so as it's a very pleasant day. I didn't realise that bikes can be quite expensive here. The bike shop were having a sale and I got a snazzy blue number that I'm pleased enough with.
One thing I have noticed about female cyclists here is that (dubbele) fietstas, or pannier bags as they're known at home, are very popular. They come in a wide range of styles and I've spotted many people with very cool fietstas draped over their bike rack. I have been investigating bike accessories online and there are so many things available, I wasn't aware how popular this market was until recently! For those who don't use a fietstas it seems that the most popular options for transporting goods are to carry things in a basket or to cycle with one hand and carry shopping in the other. As bike crime is common here it is probably wise to purchase a basket with a lock or to use a fietstas/fietstas shopper that can be easily detached from the bike rack as mine didn't come with a rear-wheel lock like most seem to. I stumbled across this blog earlier and it has advertised some really fun bike items. I am seriously tempted by the vintage-style box bags.
