Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Fietsen

'There are nine million bicycles in Beijing
That's a fact,
It's a thing we can't deny
Like the fact that I will love you till I die.'


- Katie Melua



Our bikes get stolen so often...it's unreal! I bet there are about nine million stolen bikes circulating in Amsterdam only. Oh...don't worry. Mine isn't stolen (YET).
But you know what? My bike is almost 12 years old. In the first 11 years he looked shiny and beautiful. And within a year, in Amsterdam, he got all rusty, lights were stolen, tires got flat, making squeeky noises and he's about to break up in separate parts. It's no goody for bikes in Amsterdam...they get OLD very fast.

18 comments:

SparkleQueen said...

Bikes were never really my thing.. I had roller blades growing up. & now, I get a car :/

diane said...

It's no wonder your bike hasn't been stolen.
Amsterdam is like a lending library for bikes, isn't it? Nice photo, I haven't seen that many bikes in one place since grade school.

Rita said...

Hahaha, I looove bikes. I was just talking to a friend right now about that, and how, despite my love for them, I cannot ride a tall one for my life. My feet have to touch the ground, otherwise I'm scared, hahaha.

Here in New York, bikes are becoming more and more popular, though people mainly rely on the subway system of course, but it is not uncommon to see businessmen riding fancy bikes in their suits and whatnot. Good thing they're not in Amsterdam or they would have probably already been stolen :P

But it kind of puzzles me. I might be wrong, but I've heard in Amsterdam, or The Netherlands in general, there are 2.5 bikes per each person... so with that surplus of bikes, why are they always getting stolen? To sell the parts?

And also that reminds me of a great Italian classic I watched recently called The Bicycle Thief and it was soo lovely.

ps - I'm amazed at my ability to always write comments longer than your posts :P

Sarah Peguine (שרה פגין) said...

Same in Tel Aviv! I love my bike and I use it on a daily basis so I try to be super careful about where I leave it... (my bike's actually from Brussels, I brought it with me)

Dominica said...

I do need a new bike !
Mine was stolen too over a year ago !

Elizabeth Marie said...

Kate=LOVE

And I don't know how to ride a bike. Confession.

Besos xo

Anonymous said...

why is amsterdam so ghetto? :P bout the housewarming party, i can't cause i dont live by myself. but i would've liked to surely :(

Jack Daniel said...

@ Diane: They do have a company where they lend bikes to tourists (and people who don't have a bike, or don't want to own a bike...otherwise it gets stolen) :) Like a lending library, yes!

@ Rita: They get stolen by bums. And those bums sell these expensive classic-style bikes for 'only' 50, 40, 30 or 20 euro's. Just negotiate about the price. Haha.
The weird thing is: you get a fine by the police if they catch you buying a stolen bike from a bum. I don't know about the numbers of bikes per person. But at my parents house, we had like 6 bikes. 2 of them were old (not used), 2 are my parents' and the other two were mine and my sister's.
About your 'p.s.'...my pictures makes you say a thousand words. :P Hehe-haha-hoho!

@ Elizabeth Marie: yeah wel...you're a cali girl and you're probably need a car when travelling from A to B. :P

@ The President: Amsterdam is not THAT ghetto. It's quite an alright. I'll post some new pics which shows some less-ghetto pics. :)

Whistful Wind said...

Wow! It soooo reminds me when I was in China.

FASHION CHALET said...

heyy, thank you :]

hahah- about "the pose" I'm not sure what it's called, I just see it a lot in the magazines and enjoy doing it.. ;]

curiositist said...

Ha ha!
It's nice)I love your posts about bikes.

Have you tried to nick a bike too?!
Don't forget to make photos of this if you will)

curiositist said...

it will a substantial contribution in circulation of bikes in Amsterdam,yeah.

k said...

i want spring back ! and a new bycicle ! one of those million bicycles from Beijing

Kay said...

Thank you for your lovely comments!

That's a sad sad story! I rode a bike for the first time in two years the other day and fell off... oh dear.
Maybe you should get a new one and keep your 12 year old one for posterity's sake (:

Elizabeth Marie said...

Exactly-we cali girls drive. Although it would be nice to ride a bike down pacific coast highway, but le sigh...

You're a doll. xo

Irene said...

Fietsen in Amsterdam kan een ramp zijn ja. Ik had mijn fiets in die grote stalling naast het station gezet alleen nu weet ik niet meer waar hij staat. Maar het kan ook zijn dat hij is gejat.

Frances Davison said...

Poor bike.
Nice photo!

Anonymous said...

There are too many bikes, that's why. It's like that in Copenhagen too. I had never seen so many bikes in my life haha