a question for those that live there or have been lucky enough to visit, a conversation at work yesterday left me wondering. Why are there so many mountinbikes in holland? [img]graemlins/confused3.gif[/img] :D

To plough through the metre-thick mud we get after it rains, of course! And it rains all the time. And to cross over all the dykes. And to stunt-jump over all the ditches. Yeah.... ;)

That enough cliches for you? :D :D

We're just a bicycle-loving country, figures some of them are mountainbikes, I guess. Though the way you put it, I agree that it might be just a teensy bit silly to have mountainbikes in the flattest country of the world ;)

Better to be prepared for the mountain, than have the mountain take you by surprise. :D

It's not so much mountain bikes that dominate over there, it's mainly just regular kinds of (gouwe ouwe Batavus) bikes. It's just all about tradition I suppose. Cycling has always been the easiest and cheapest method of transport in the Netherlands, and what with cars and licenses being so incredibly expensive over there, many people have just decided to stick with that they know best. People over here think I sometimes sound like grampa Joe, just because it's true that I used to cycle five miles to school when I lived there. I suppose my saving grace is that I never walked fifteen miles in my bare feet just to get the paper every morning.

[ 02-17-2003, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: Arledrian ]

I wish that we were a bicycle-loving country. I wouldn't have to see all these obese children and young adults that I do. Lazy, lazy, lazy. :D

I guess it's obvious, it's a luxuary problem we have, I had one myself as well just for the nice looks of it, but didn't like it after a while so went back to a normal bike. I still have a normal bike as I didn't start on my driver's license yet....stupid me, because the governement keeps making it expensiver every year and more difficult to pass for it. :(

My brother has a mountainbike, but a kind of racing version. He uses it for sporting and used it a lot untill he went to the marines. So now he only uses it sometimes in the weekends.

you all haven't been to China have you? over there, there are bikes, bikes and more bikes all over the place.

There are more bikes in China? And it only has about eighty times the population of the Netherlands. Pretty good going really, for such a piddly little country :D [img]tongue.gif[/img]

And Irongrinder, really, if I can pass that test over there with a half hour of sleep and nothing but black coffee in my system, any old schmuck can.

Mine got stolen, my normal bike as well. I guess it's a tradition here, cycling i mean. It's healthy, and prevents you from becoming a fatass. :D

Thankyou Melusine [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img] I wonder sometimes if my thought proccesses or humour is soo obscure that I live in a world of my own. :D glad you understood what I was getting at.

and yes johnny. The first day out of my motel and in my new flat in dordrecht my bike got stolen, broad daylight, outside the bakers shop window. :mad: when I went into work at the fokker factory and told everyone, they just laughed and could not understand why I got so riled!

They told me a story of the local council buying a few hundred bikes and just leaving them out on the streets for free, hoping that if there was a bike for everyone then the likelyhood of someones own bike getting stolen would be reduced. Seemingly it did not work [img]smile.gif[/img]

Is this story true?

[ 02-17-2003, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: wellard ]

I doubt that's true, but you never know. I DO know that you don't have to bother going to the police, to report it stolen, cause they won't do anything about it. There's hundreds, if not thousands of em stolen every day here, it's almost like everyone is "borrowing" someone elses bike for a little while. Most people i know don't bother buying a new one, they simply steal one themselves, and that completes the circle i guess. :D

[ 02-17-2003, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: johnny ]

I don't know the actual reason, but having seen a small bit of the country, I'd say it's because they have such beautiful places to ride the bikes in and it's worth the effort to see the scenery! [img]smile.gif[/img]

See Cloudy, you've only seen a small piece. They only show you the beautifull places and conviently forget the other [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I thought that was a national pasttime, stealing bikes i mean :D . Isn't it so that if everybody steals them, that everybody ends up with a bike again ?

yes, but the problem is, they now have points drivers license (which makes you lose your license really quick in the first few years, which is actually not a bad idea for our safety. But they also want to have 4 exams instead of one, the way of answering questions has been made more difficult (not a simple yes or no anymore). But my biggest gripe about it is the price of it all, the lessons start to be more expensive, the exams also and soon perhaps more often so even more expensive. So I'll probably try to convince my mom to teach me in secrecy a little bit, so I have a good start and have to take les lessons

Heh, all my last bikes have been solen except for the mountainbike as I didn't maintenance it well enough to be interesting :D

A lot of those stolen bikes end up in the water, somewhere smashed into a wall and otherweise being used for parts. Heh, I sometimes even think organised crime steels our bikes now and then as sometimes really good secured mountainbikes are being stolen by people in vans. They drive by and take the secured bike with them to open its locks in peace somewhere else :(

I had a mountain bike when I was little, but now I own a crappy bike which is literally falling apart. [img]smile.gif[/img] Do you live in Holland now Wellard?

I know I shouldn't be saying this, but so far my bike's never been stolen (it's a regular one, and quite shiny). Despite having lived in the Netherlands my entire life.
I'd almost say the national bikeswapping contests were a myth, if I hadn't lived in the Netherlands my entire life...

Maybe you're bike has never been stolen because you live in Urk, Legolas ;) [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I thought that was a national pasttime, stealing bikes i mean :D . Isn't it so that if everybody steals them, that everybody ends up with a bike again ?</font>[/QUOTE]True, but after a night of heavy drinking on the town, and they ran out of cash for a cab, they always wind up looking for bikes,and when they are home, they just leave the bike outside, waiting for the next thief to come along. :D

I guess that could be the answer. I live near Rotterdam so that's probably why I never got to keep my bike for long

Urk? Why would I want to live there? It's too crowded [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Besides, it's rumoured to smell of fish and people are speeding there all the time. No, the city theory is all wrong. And I have proof.
First off, the main place I take my bike is Groningen, a city. And it hasn't been stolen yet, although I've got this nagging suspicion it will be when I look out the window...
Second, Rotterdam has just recently been awarded the title 'fattest town in the Netherlands'. Appearantly, people don't ride that many bikes there.
Enschede was the 'fittest town', so unless you can prove there are more bikes stolen there, I won't buy the theory.

Although... fit people can recover their bikes whereas those less fit will have more difficulty doing so.

*goes off pondering*

LOL I've read about that, and that Rotterdam was elected "fattest" city. People have way too much time on their hands. :D

That is oh so very true... I believe these changes will start on the first of March; exams will suddenly become 1000 euro (!!!!!) more expensive, among other things. I don't have my driving license, never bothered with it either, but with prices like these? I suppose I can't even think about bothering with one until I've finished my studies and have a fulltime job, so I'll actually have enough money to be able to pay for it. 1000 euro extra is just criminal.

Sheesh, i remember the days that an exam cost a mere 250 guilders, why did they make it so expensive ? It's almost like they don't want us to drive cars.

LOL... just had this sudden mental image of a Dutch person riding a bike into a mountain then scratching their head going: "Where the bloody hell did that come from...".

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

Hey, I'm not fat
*goes to check his own weight*

The reason why Rotterdam is the fattest city could be perhaps because all of the bikes get stolen :D

I think that is partially the reason, but it won't help. Those stupid guys who call themselves the governement should be focusing on making public transportation cheaper, but no, they had to make that more expensive as well. A local trip (two zones) went from 1,40 to 1,60. And on top of that, they have made going by bus in the evening les convenient, by pulling back some busses. At first I could take 6 buses in an hour to go to the city center of Vlaardingen, 4 times bus 56, 2 times bus 52. Now the've pulled out 52 and halved the trips of the 56. So if I miss a bus I have to wait much longer then before :(

[ 02-18-2003, 07:44 AM: Message edited by: Irongrinder ]

G'day Link
No I don't live in holland anymore, that was 13+ years ago! I had a wonderfull time. very friendly people, libral attitudes, well educated in languages.. thankfully most spoke English and were very patient while they listened to me butcher the few words of dutch I had learned considering the fact that I was an imigrant coming to thier country taking thier jobs.

Fond memories, but I was to immature to enjoy the *ahem* bountifull supply of *errmm* ingrediants that where available in moderation. I had to leave for the benifit of my health :(

By the way what happened to Fokker I know they do not make thier own planes anymore but do they still make bits for Airbus?

http://www.ndt.net/news/fokker_i.htm

Sad that it had to happen.

ROTFLLAO!!! Barry, that's just to precious! *pictures Dutchy scratching head overlooking a cliff ...* http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...ons/icon32.gif "What the f........?!? BWUHAHAHAHAHAH! [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]