Anyone for moving to the Netherlands?

[bikerz]

I LOVE those Smart Cars! (oh, and a great looking bike too!)

I lived in London for 6 months a few years ago, and those Smart Cars were everywhere - and everytime I'm driving around looking for parking in San Francisco, where there are millions of empty little spaces about 6 feet wide between driveways, I think about those cars!

[Trekhawk]

[QUOTE Roadie N Belgie]I hope this works, I am new to the picture/link side of things.

The pictures are great and I love the fact that your bike is nearly bigger than your car.

Wonderful snaps keep them coming.

[DirtDiva]

I did a Contiki trip earlier in the year and one of the funnest parts of the whole thing was doing a bike tour in Edam. Single-speed, back-pedal brakes, trying (and failing) to learn a little dutch from the guide. Pretty amazing to see the masses of old-school bikes all around Amsterdam to. As far as I could tell, the traffic pecking order there goes bike, tram, car, pedestrian. Would be nice if a few more places were like that!

[Roadie N Belgie]

Bikerz, the Smart car is supposed to hit the states either later this year or next year (always find different timeframes on the web)! They already have them in Canada...so they are getting closer.

We are going to be here for another 3 years and we've already decided that we are going to buy a new Smart when we get back to the states. We love, love, love this car. It IS easy to park and it's fun to drive.


Trekhawk, thanks! I will have to take some new pictures. I have a bike rack on the Smart now and it just makes me laugh whenever I have it loaded up. I get a lot of attention, with or without the bikes, but more-so with.



Tlkiwi, I have to say, it took some getting used to as a pedestrian to realize I was the bottom of the food chain. Your pecking order is dead-on. If you are walking down a sidewalk and do not move off the path when a biker comes up behind you they will start ringing their bell like crazy. It is now second nature to constantly look over my shoulder as I walk. There are areas with separate foot paths and bike paths flanking the roads. I, myself, can't bring myself to ding anyone...it just seems like a rude car honk to me...but to the Belgians/Dutch it is rude to impede the bikers.

Take care,
M

[Trekhawk]

Cant wait to see a picture of your car loaded up with bike it just looks too small for that.

Makes me laugh when I thought about cyclists doing the bell ringing thing, it would be nice over here because maybe you would get an unsuspecting car driver out for a stroll and return the favour for all that honking and rude gestures.

[emily_in_nc]

...and move across the pond. Being an avid cyclist is so depressing to me at times, living in the southeastern part of the US, where the SUV is king, and there aren't even shoulders on the roads. My husband and I biked to the farmer's market and then the natural foods market on Saturday for groceries (filled up his four panniers and both our rack packs), and we were such a minority. I'd love to be in the majority for a change and live in a place where cycling is just expected and doesn't label you as a freak. Where I live, biking to run errands is virtually unheard of. People drive down to their mailboxes in the rural south!

We don't have kids so aren't tied down that way, but we both have living parents, so I just couldn't imagine moving so far again as long as they are still with us. We want to see them as much as we can while there's still time.

I sure have fantasies, though! Maybe someday.... I hear great things about Davis, California too wrt cycling infrastructure and number of cyclists per square mile, but real estate is so expensive there, and we don't want to pay that much. I want to retire at 50 so we can have more fun and adventures... sigh!

Emily

[Blueberry]

...and move across the pond. Being an avid cyclist is so depressing to me at times, living in the southeastern part of the US, where the SUV is king, and there aren't even shoulders on the roads. My husband and I biked to the farmer's market and then the natural foods market on Saturday for groceries (filled up his four panniers and both our rack packs), and we were such a minority. I'd love to be in the majority for a change and live in a place where cycling is just expected and doesn't label you as a freak. Where I live, biking to run errands is virtually unheard of. People drive down to their mailboxes in the rural south! Emily

Emily-

I have to second this! my DH and I also biked to the farmers market and whole foods on Saturday and on the way home (with both of my panniers full to bursting of fruits and veggies, plus a b-day present for my grandmother) had another one of those annoyingly bad car experiences. The guy weighed about 350 pounds and was driving into bojangles in a huge car. He stopped, blocked our lane of the road, leaned out of his window and screamed at us to "ride somewhere else." Ahhh...the land of fast food and big cars/SUVs. Won't keep me off my bike for a half a second but these things happen with great frequency around here. *sigh* Time to start dreaming of the Netherlands too.

[wabisabi]

We have a "bike library" in town where for $20/yr a person can borrow a bike; if they promise to ride it as primary transportation they can keep it.

[susiej]

THIS is where I want to live next. Close to the family in Stuttgart (closer than Philly), bikes everywhere, easy trip distance to so many European cultures ... Anyone looking for a nice web/database programmer with a good command of American English?

To heck with Stuttgart and London, the Netherlands it is! (And Dutch is close enough to German that the language shouldn't be a problem.)

I'll just drool for a bit longer. And commit to biking to the local farmer's market this weekend. It's all of a mile but better than nothing, and maybe I can inspire someone else.

--SJ

[wabisabi]

Not to dash anyone's impressions, but it has been interesting to talk to Dutch people recently about what is going on there following the killing of Theo Van Gogh and some of the other things that have been happening. These events are really challenging their sense of safety and freedom, and the friend I talked to this summer said that they are still not sure how this will affect their society, and their attitude toward immigrants, especially from Muslim countries. I have to think (and hope) that they will find a way through this crisis in their intelligent, creative Dutch way, maybe in ways that don't limit freedom, as seems too often to be happening here. Just my .02.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily-
I have to second this! my DH and I also biked to the farmers market and whole foods on Saturday and on the way home (with both of my panniers full to bursting of fruits and veggies, plus a b-day present for my grandmother) had another one of those annoyingly bad car experiences. The guy weighed about 350 pounds and was driving into bojangles in a huge car. He stopped, blocked our lane of the road, leaned out of his window and screamed at us to "ride somewhere else." Ahhh...the land of fast food and big cars/SUVs. Won't keep me off my bike for a half a second but these things happen with great frequency around here. *sigh* Time to start dreaming of the Netherlands too.

CA ~ So sorry you had that experience! We were very lucky not to have any bad car encounters on our trip to Carrboro on Saturday. Carrboro is busy, but at least quite bicycle friendly, as southern towns go. That's great that you and your DH also did the farmers market/whole foods ride, though! It sure was hot....

Emily

[MomOnBike]

I just took a better look at the Smart Car picture. I want one.

And then I thought about my bike - you know, the looonng recumbent. My bike is, indeed, quite a bit longer - and maybe just bigger - than the car. Hauling the bike would be beyond funny.

One other thing, those panniers look neat. Do you like them?

[CorsairMac]

ROFL Mom: if you strapped your bent on the smartcar just right it would look like the bent was carrying the car!
Thanks for that visual!!!!

[Lynne]

OMG, Roadie, that's beautiful! I wish I lived there. I love the US, but dang, I'd love to move there. Sounds like utopia....

[ChainsOflove]

Plus there are loads of good lookin blond Dutch boys!