Also on the list of things we are Not Going To Do is ride a bicycle. We simply don't have the coordination, the experience, or the insurance. A Dutch friend says that everyone is bike-scarred, that accidents are all just part of it, but still, it isn't for us. There are bicycles everywhere. We have seen only one couple wearing helmets. Nobody wears them - I am sure this pair were tyro tourists.
Bikes festoon every railing, every bridge, every footpath. They clump together, they fall over and block the path. They have their own ramps on sets of stairs and into apartments. They have their own garages, holding thousands of them.
They are a peril for the unwary pedestrian as they go at speed and seem to have complete right of way. I am sure they are fun, and useful. I am sure that Amsterdam could not function without them, it was definitely not built for cars. And I am sure I am not going to ride one. My bike-scars are going to stay as they are, I am not adding any new ones.
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