Archive for October, 2010
Well, that was wild
On Friday, one of my posts was featured on a portal site. A messload of people were sent down my series of tubes who would not have otherwise found this sleepy blog. To those of you who have returned: welcome! It’s been a long hot summer during which we did a lot less riding than […]
Filed under: bakfiets, Dutch, Kids | 1 Comment
Tags: bakfiets, bicycle, bike, blog, portal, wordpress
4-year-old sued for negligence
Manhattan is a funny place. I lived there for a lot of years. One of the things you come to accept is you could step off the curb and die at any moment. That’s part of the thrill of living there—it’s a tiny island jammed full of people scattering around at all hours, getting angry […]
Filed under: cycling infrastructure, Kids, law | 226 Comments
Tags: bicycle, bike, negligence, sidewalks
Born on a bicycle
I have the good fortune in the work that I do to have met a few Dutch people this year. When the conversation inevitably turned toward cycling, they all said the same thing: “The Dutch are born on bicycles.” The reason all that fantastic infrastructure works so well is because people start learning to use […]
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Tags: bakfiets, bicycle, bike, Dutch, infrastructure, Kids, twins
Al fresco in a box
One toddler out for dinner is a task. Two toddlers out for dinner can border on torture—for everybody in the restaurant. This summer we had to decide whether we would be prisoners of our own creation or if we would take the children out to eat. We took them out to eat. It sometimes bordered […]
Filed under: bakfiets, eating, Kids | 1 Comment
Tags: al fresco, bakfiets, bicycle, bike, dinner, eating out, Kids, twins
Jesus does not love cyclists
I was just given the finger by a woman with a needlepont crucifix hanging from her rear view mirror. I didn’t get out of her way with enough speed to her liking. There’s a cliche here about the universality of grouchiness on the road, but I don’t know what it is.
Filed under: commute | 2 Comments
Tags: bicycle, bike, commute, jesus
Shout outs
Two surprising shout outs from the street today. This morning on the way to the farmer’s market, we got a “look at that silly thing!” from a little girl in her lawn. Which was of course hilarious. Tonight on the way to ice cream, we passed a handful of people on a second-floor balcony. A […]
Filed under: bakfiets, Dutch | Leave a Comment
Tags: bakfiets, bicycle, bike, Dutch, ice cream, Nederlands, neighborhood