Smoshed

This is what happened to Fiz's bike - the rear wheel was vandalised when she left it overnight outside a supermarket. The repair, to work on the rear wheel which got the gears attached, is quite costly so wasn't worth it. So this morning had to get a new bike for her to get her moving around to town and school.

Fiz has been scouting around the last two days and finally decided to go to the shop at the Central Station. Not known to me, there is a small bike shop there apart from being a storage facility for some 3500 bikes! The one Fiz selected is a typical Dutch bike. She even put a basket in front of it.

The Dutch call them omafiets, which means . . . grandma's bicycle. They are solid, well made and last a lifetime. They are the most popular form of bicycle used here. Their wheels are quite large (28 inches) and are painted black, and have a backpedalling brake system and just one gear.

Pitting my bike next to hers, her bike looks enormous and quite tall. Sounds jolly uncomfortable. On the contrary, once you get going, the "towering" position of the saddle and the sheer momentum give a very smooth ride.