"travelogs" - episode IV - Bicycle!

The Dutch have wheels attached to them almost from birth. Two of them (yes, I said 'wheels'... no, no 'inner meaning' intended). It's as if they learn how to ride bicycles before they can even walk! I've heard that a lot of kids are comfortable on two wheels from the age of two! Whatever happened to tricycles?

Anyway, so alongside the characteristic windmills, wooden shoes and Gouda cheese, another distinctly Dutch 'item' is the... (drum-roll)... bicycle! And, of course they come complete with their very own traffic lights - little red, yellow and green bicycles!

Going from one place to another is a piece of cake - 2-lane cycling paths almost everywhere. So, I thought it would be a real shame if I didn't 'join the bandwagon', even if it was just for a while.

But first - a feasibility study of course. All of a sudden. I was this 'pioneer' of sorts - 'no other IT guy from India in Breda' (what an amazing distinction!) had done this :-). So, I rented a bicycle for a week to see if I'd survive. It would be my sole mode of transport - wherever I went, I'd be pedalling there!

On Day One - the trip to work was a killer and my unfit 'machinery' struggled to come to terms with the 14 km (7km each way) trip! When I got back home, I was dead :-(

But I kept at it. In a couple of days, after the rusty joints and indolent muscles had begun responding to this 'wake-up' call, I really began to appreciate the 'quality' of the journey. The cool breeze (the fresh air!), the greenery, the beautiful houses... a small bridge, an uphill climb and an express-speed downhill stretch... and presto - I was at work.

This was definitely a good idea! :-)

I rode at sunset...

And I rode at dawn...

When the sun was rising,

And when the moonlight shone.

"Blue skies, green grass",

Smiling faces, pretty flowers...

The weather was good,

And I rode on for hours...

I never thought that my first ever 'set-of-wheels' would be a second hand 'fiets' (bicycle). Thanks to a colleague (Dank u wel, Jeroen), we found one that was just right - and I bought it off an elderly gentleman living in a cosy-looking house right outside the city.

Slowly but steadily, the 'biking fever' caught on. Sujeet would accompany me to work at times. Soon enough, after a considerable amount of marketing (it was just a matter of time), some of the others were talked into a biking trip. The destination - a lake just outside Breda - Galderse Meren.

The trip was simply extraordinary - it took us a lot of pedalling to get there, but the journey through the countryside was 'super' - picture postcards all along the way. Quaint houses, mini-mansions, the woods, colourful fields, really healthy cows and the intoxicating smell of strawberries (from the fields) were just some of the several things we came across along the way.

[Pic (right/below): Borderline! On our biking trip. At the Belgian border with Sujeet and Chandrani]

Mid-way, we needed a breather and coincidentally, we stopped at a bar which was on the Belgian border! Interestingly enough, the border split the bar in half and the 'Men's' was on the Belgian side :-)). Somehow, I found that very amusing. :-)

However, the so-called lake in itself (which I learnt later was 'artficially' created) was a bit of a disappointment - Galderse Meren was more of a 'swimming hole' and we had come unprepared. :-( By the time we were back home, we had easily travelled a good 25-30 kms (!) and were overcome with a major sense of achievement :-)!

So far so good. Brought my bike into work this morning as well. Will really miss this when I head back home...

Kring! Kring!...