Monday, August 4, 2008

This is how we roll

When I tell people I have a bike with a box in the front - a bakfiets - they can never quite visualize it. This is an Amsterdam minivan. There is a little bench in the box with two seatbelts for your kids. Now I ride with the baby's carseat in front with a child's seat on the rack behind me for V. I have thighs of steel.



We had a graffiti artist make it a little more "us" with a skull and crossbones on the front, flames on the side, and Amsterdam's triple-x shield on the back.

I don't know what I'd do without my bakfiets. It has given me more mobility than a car would and it's free to park. People consider it sort of an Amsterdam yuppie status symbol (no wonder, considering how expensive they are), but it's really a necessity for me. They make much bigger ones with three wheels. It is a common sight here to see tiny Dutch women pushing around 3 or 4 kids in one of these rolling living rooms.

I have actually taken my cat to the vet on this bike with my son's feet on top of the carrier, while I was 7 months pregnant. My partner said if I'd have sent a photo of that to Immigration, they'd have granted me permanent Dutch citizenship.

If I ever find the bastard who stole my first bakfiets, there won't be enough of him left to bury. That's why the Dutch invented bike insurance. Cue Goldmember "Isn't dat vierd?"

4 comments:

Unknown said...

That is a hot ride! Maybe I should get one of those instead of the Ducati....

Anonymous said...

Frickin great.

Anonymous said...

couldn't live with out my bakfiets either... once I got over the sticker shock!

Anonymous said...

Love the paintjob, and I've really enjoyed reading through your archive. Amsterdam is a lot like Brighton, with the same dickhead Brit stag parties, unfortunately. Still, just like Amsterdam, you can escape them pretty easily.

BTW, if anyone else is lusting after a custom paintjob, but doesn't have a friendly local graffiti artist, I see www.bakplakkers.nl do some pretty cool bakfiets stickers, and you can use your own images.