Peddling around!

Today we set off to visit cousins Teene and Antoon again. Antoon promised to take us to see a potential car to rent so off we went on our bikes for a visit. Of course, as a tourist, I had thought we would simply rent a car at the airport or some such thing, but as the daughter of a dutchman, I should have known without being told that we had to shop around as there might be a deal to be had. So off we set this morning in search of said deal. A 'guy' Antoon knows, 'sometimes' rents his car. Worth investigating for sure. Well, as it turns out, the car was not available but Dad and Antoon were somewhat vague with me as to why. I did not actually go to the meeting about the car, so the impression I am left with is that these 3 dutchman could not even come close to agreeing on a 'fair' price. I do wonder if they at least got some entertainment value from attempting to reach a deal? I stayed at the house while they went to see about the car so I missed the excahnge. I had the chance to meet one of their daughters and a young teenage granddaughter who was happy to practice her English.  Anyway, after failing with the car from the "guy", off we went cycling around Boxtel (which was an adventure onto itself) following leads on other cars and we soon discovered there is nothing to rent here as it is a small town but we had fun trying. No worries, tomorrow we have plans wth Hettie. She is driving us to see something BEAUTIFUL although I am not sure what! lol!  :-)  We are not worried about the lack of car for now as we have our bikes and Hettie has plans to take us some places. In a couple of days we will be biking to Nijmegan (about 60 km) and stay with family there for a few days. Nijmegan is a larger city and we will have lots of opportunity to rent a car while there for some day trips.

So, on the topic of cycling, let me share the rest of our day.  After a lovely lunch, we cycled back into town and went looking for the bank. This time we were more successful in withdrawing Euro than we were last night.  I must say I love how Holland is so geared for cyclers. Other than China, I have never seen so many bicycles and the ability fit entire families on a bike! Lol! They say the population is around 17 million people and 18 million bicycles!  I am trying to figure out the rules of the road and slowly getting there. Esther, one of my cousins who would be my children's generation on the family tree, told me today her 11 year old just passed her cycling test. Say what?? Yup, they test the kids here on the rules of the road and the cycling paths. The bikes are all equipped with a lock and a key to operate said lock. Even given that, the standard joke is that if you stand in a busy intersection in Amsterdam and shout "hey! That's my bike!!", at least three people will promptly drop the bike they are on and run away! The takeaway here is use the lock and lock the bike!

So today I spent a great deal of time following my father through the myriad  of cycling paths all around town and throughout the country-side. This was an interesting adventure for a few reasons. Firstly, I am riding a borrowed bike that is in good shape, but is also decades old. Let me translate that for you... No gears. No hand brakes.  And it has has been decades since I rode a bike with foot brakes me thinks! And let me tell you something, when you want to stop you can squeeze the handlebars all you want and it simply is not going to happen. Of course, if my father had brake lights, it would be helpful because I would at least be a little more prepared to stop! lol! He is however learning to signal so I am getting at least some warning. And he does keep an eye on me because he is aware my sense of direction is ... well ... about as good as my dutch!  :-)


So, the things I learned today:
I miss my bicycle helmet. I should have packed it.
I miss my handbrakes more and might need the helmet as a result before this trip is over.
I pedal backwards when I coast more than I knew.
A borrowed bicycle parked in Holland is harder to find than a rented car parked in a mall parking lot in Washington. (Mainly because the car comes supplied with an alarm and a panic button!)

Have a great day and keep smiling! Hugs!