Sunday, September 21, 2008

Bikes

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.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Cool [!!!!] bike & also what a nice tuin!

Elle said...

Whoops, I should have pointed out that that's my fiance's mother's bike that she let me use and her garden!

I'll post a picture of our garden, and the new bike!!, soon!

Decora said...

Squee, now you can ride! Newer fiets have a locking mechanisim on the back wheel, just like mine. Kind of funny when I walk out of a store, the key that unlocks my bike looks just like it would belong to a car. I have a nice basket in the front too. THanks for the bike link.