Wanted: Lessons from Mary Poppins/Lance Armstrong

As I biked through the rain today, I tried to pretend like all the other Rotterdammers on the road that it was not in fact raining and that I was warm and dry instead of freezing and wet. Actually, I wasn't really freezing until I stopped to take pictures of my destination since when I bike I work up a sweat (I was trying to get my errand done as quickly as possible and get back home to dry clothes)!

As I've guessed, and read about, been told, and now experienced, riding a bike is second nature for many city dwellers here in Rotterdam. I've seen riders cycle along nonchalently with no hands on the handlebars, while texting friends, and weaving in and out of traffic with an astute knowledge of the bike/car/pedestrian laws on the roads here. There are of course no helmets worn here and no safety gear besides blinking lights that are mandatory after dark (and heavily enforced by local police officers). Not everyone might know this but the Dutch are forced (well maybe forced is too strong a word) anyway, they take a bicycling test at the age of 12 years old to ensure that they are safely able to traverse the roadways (at least this is what I've read). However, this special knowledge evades me and as little 8 year-olds ride circles around me (not literally of course) I'm often envious of their bicycling wisdom that appears to be doled out at birth in Dutch delivery rooms.

Of course, riding on a bike with no hands, while talking on your cell phone, balancing your parcels on the back of your bike, and baking a cherry pie, all at the same time is no match for the Dutch here in Rotterdam. Yet, it is truly humbling to see them cycle when it's raining. In addition to the death defying acts mentioned above, the cyclists here will also ride while holding an umbrella... while talking on the phone, weaving around parked and swirving cars, etc. etc. etc. So it is no wonder that I've put out an ad for riding lessons from Mary Poppins/Lance Armstrong. I could go for the less classy option of riding in the front of a 'Babboe Bakfiets', which is a bike sold here in the Netherlands with a large wooden bucket/seat contraption on the front for children to sit in. The only problem then would be how to convince Pdot to agree to ride around on this bike with me in the front basket. Here is the link so that envisioning me in this contraption will be easier: http://www.babboe.nl/

The next time it rains, I think I'll wait by the phone for Julie or Lance to call or leave the cycling up to the professionals and take the tram :)