Impressed by the Dutch cycling culture, my husband was determined to make cycling a usual habit when we came here, a year and a half ago. He already had a cycle, which he used for the first couple of months, until it had a problem with its pedal. "I think its time I buy a new bike." So, out he went on a bike search and came back shocked at the high prices of cycles in Netherlands. Even though cycles are the most common household items here, they are not cheap at all.
Hence, my husband bought a second hand mountain bike from one of his colleagues. It looked super cool, but we soon realised why his colleague wanted to get rid of it. If you want to ride a bike in the city, you don't want a mountain bike. What you want is a typical dutch bike with a large frame and large wheels, which doesn't look trendy or modern, but is just right.
My husband sold the mountain bike on marktplaats (another very important discovery we made, the local ebay), and ordered another one from there. This time again he was conned into buying something that was not worth it. That bike got returned and the search for the perfect bike continued.
When the perfect bike was found and bought, all he needed was the perfect weather to start cycling to work. But every morning as he referred to my technique of looking at the bedroom window to judge the weather outside, he would be disappointed. Netherlands would always be windy and rainy, and only true Dutch people can cycle in this kind of weather, the rest of us will just keep waiting for the perfect day.
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