#splendidcycles

Roll With It - him

Who knew Amsterdam would have so many bikes!  Just kidding, we knew going into this journey that Amsterdam was the Mecca for getting around on two, and sometimes three wheels.  We needed to fit in.

We are a family of four, and yes we have seven bicycles.

When it was time to move, we ditched our ‘America’ mountain bikes for those of the upright variety.  Our American bikes just would not have survived the outdoor elements.  The wheels did not have fenders, so we'd be muddied up in the rain; the chains were not sealed, so they'd be rusting almost immediately; and they, the bikes would probably be stolen.

It took a couple of months to figure out what bikes we’d buy, but I was settled on not buying a Bakfiet.  They are expensive and are stolen frequently.  They are too big to bring inside, so this $2500 investment would call the front of our apartment home.  Plus the fact they are ugly, heavy…I did not want to be seen riding it.

That is until something changed.  We learned of a horrific accident in which a seven-year-old girl was hit and killed by a garbage truck.  Though we did not know this family, their story was similar to ours. That is, they moved to Amsterdam from a foreign land to share new experiences as a unit.  For them, they had to go through the grief of having a child taken away from them too soon.

So we started thinking.  Were we going to let the cost of a Bakfiet stop us from transporting our children around town safely?  Up to this point, the girl (also seven) would ride, while the boy (though he doesn't need training wheels) would we carried in a standard bike seat behind Jordie, because no way was he going to ride with me.  When the girl rode, it was stressful.  She'd roll through stop signs, she'd weave into traffic, she just wasn’t always paying attention.  So the decision was made….

A good friend of ours here had a different kind a Bakfiet.  This was one was sportier, lighter, fast – more of what I was looking for.  This bike was Danish-designed and had a cool model name – the Milk Plus (a reference from a Clockwork Orange)… even the brand was cool – Larry vs. Harry.

We purchased this bike in January and could not be happier.  The kids love riding in it and I love pedaling this thing through the city.  It is smaller than the other Bakfiets you see, so it’s not for every family, but it is small enough to fit in the house (with three other bikes). We even used the bike once for date night, when the wifey got her own personal driver for the evening, while she relaxed in the front box.

Now that spring is upon us, I am looking forward to taking it out more (still don't like getting it wet though) and exploring the city with the kids.  Also, if I should happen to find something big, I can just throw it in and pedal home, while not having to figure out if they deliver or use the car, blah blah, blah.