Ik Ben Nederlander (I am a Dutchman)

Every Dutch person owns a bike, or two or three. Yesterday a colleague at work told me they have a nice one that they keep at home for pleasure rides, a cheap one that that they use to commute to the train station (a 3 minute ride), and another cheap one that they use to commute from the train station to the office (also a 3 minute ride). Bikes can’t go on trains during rush hour, and nice bikes are often stolen.

Anyway, you’re not really Dutch unless you own at least one bike. Well, check that box off! We bought bikes today!

The bikes didn’t fit in the car, so Linda drove home while Timmy and I biked the 18km (11.2 miles). I believe that is the farthest I have ever biked in one sitting, and possubly farther than I have biked in total since I was a teenager.

Luckily, it’s the Netherlands, so it was perfectly flat the entire way and we had dedicated bike lanes almost the entire way. Most of the way the bike lanes even had a median separating them from the main road.

My son, Timmy, was an avid bike rider back in Massachusetts, so about a half mile into the ride he gently remarked “We can speed up if you want dad.” Luckily he’s a pretty observant kid and quickly observed that we were already going at about my maximum speed.