not only dogs can be transported by bike, also entire families.... :) nowadays its very hip to move your kids in a "bakfiets", as you can see above. i guess in english you would call it a "cargobike". basically its a giant wooden box at the front of the bike. during the early part of the 20th century these bikes were used by tradesmen to deliver bread, milk, mail, etc.... (as wikipedia tells me). then they were used to transport furniture etc within larger cities like amsterdam where the streets are too narrow and parking is horrible. but in recent years, they became very popular with hipster families to transport their kids in and nowadays you see them everywhere! some are bigger than the one above, so that next to the kids, you can transport your groceries (or even more kids!). some are covered, so that they can be transported in whatever kind of weather. but mostly, they are huge, and they take up a lot of space... they are not easy to maneuver either... (not that i know from experience, i never tried! but you can see it... when hipster mom is trying to turn a corner...). and... to get to speed takes a bit longer as they are so heavy (especially with several kids in it, haha); they are not motorized, so it all depends on your legs.... :) (here you can read a blog about the experiences with the bakfiets from a family in portland, usa (!!)).
tim couldnt keep his eyes off this perfectly manicured family. the little boy with the hat placed semi-nonchalant on his long hair, the parents with their fancy pants and sneakers, and of course the bakfiets to make the picture complete...
and me and tim? sunday night we realized we miss the american lazy convenience of jumping in your car to go to the local cinema, where parking is free and never a problem.... the thought of having to get on our bikes to go see a movie was not appealing with the weather cooled down, and luckily it wasnt as suddenly heavy rain started and lasted throughout the night (and i cannot even think of a dutch cinema where you can go by car without parking troubles or not having to pay....!)
3 comments:
Since everyone in Amsterdam gets around in bicycles and not cars, I can see why young families need something like this to transport their young children. They are a handsome family.
There is always a tram, bus or metro to go to the movies when it rains yet? That is just so easy in a big city, there is always public transport.
So do people still use (uncovered) bikes a lot in bad weather? Do more cars come out, or is public transportation good enough to rely on then?
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