A New Set of Wheels

Well, after over two months of being a total chicken, I've finally done it - I bought a bike! For those of you that haven't seen Amsterdam yet, let me paint a little picture for you - the statistic is something like this: for a city of 670,000, there are 700,000 bikes. Which means basically this: bikes are everywhere! People ride their bikes to work in 3 piece suits with a briefcase, people ride their bikes to play tennis with their big tennis bags on their backs, people even ride their bikes to fancy dinners in dresses and heels. Yes, it's a huge part of the culture here, and I've been missing out. So, when a friend suggested we do a bike ride this weekend, I could avoid the inevitable no longer... Because I'm a big wimp and I'm afraid of riding with traffic, I set my alarm for early this morning, so I could get to the bike shop right when it opens at 9:00 am, before most people are even awake. I went in, bought my lovely (purple) bike, and made my way out. I was pretty terrified to take my first few pedals, but after a while, I realized that it was pretty cool. I took mostly back roads home, because cars still scare me a little bit, but, bottom line - I MADE IT!! Now, more important than the bike are your locks. Here in Holland, most people use two locks to ensure that their bike doesn't get stolen - one lock is for the back wheel, and the other goes around the body of the bike, the front wheel, and something that won't move (like a tree or a pole). Bike stealing is pretty common here, as there is obviously a demand for them. Fingers crossed that my locks do their job for me. :)

Here she is: