The Netherlands: Bicycles and Cycling

As I mentioned before, the whole country of the Netherlands has amazing, intricate trails and safe, level pathways throughout farmland and along waterways, past small towns, villages and hamlets. Cycling is a common and routine method of transportation for students, families, those who go to work, for shopping and for recreational purposes. They do not require a licence nor any special equipment such as a helmet...just the bike with working headlights and tail lights, a bell to signal that you are passing or to alert another cyclist, some saddlebags/shopping totes/baskets
and a good lock.
If you have time, you can read more about it here:
Cycling in the Netherlands
(very interesting!)
We were very privileged to be able to use borrowed bicycles from family, and used them almost every day for the duration of our trip as seen here:

Although blurry, this was our first outing through the town
and along the cycle paths...just beautiful!

Waiting for the family in front of us to cross the street:

Bicycles in Urk:

Bicycles in Franeker as seen from our boat:

Scooters are also used in the larger
towns and cities as seen in Sneek.
How would you like to win this one?
Wouldn't it be fun to do all you shopping with a scooter?
Stylish, don't you think?

Pink...how cute is that?

Biking and Boating in Sneek:

Hitching a ride while biking down the midstraat of Sneek:
( enjoying time with a cousin)

More shoppers in Sneek as seen here:

Lovely baskets on the front of bikes:

Biking to the Lake:

Biking in the Joure:

Many bikes are decorated with flowers...so cute!

Biking to the Library:

And on our day trip to Amsterdam,
we discovered that the city has over a million bicycles
for the population of 750,000 people,
some having more than one bicycle for their family.
This city is known for its bicycle culture!
Bikes have the right-of-way here.
Pedestrians must always be on the look-out
and move onto the sidewalk,
when a bicycle or scooter passes through.
Although large locks are used, many bicycles get stolen each year,
therefore, people do not take their best bicycle
on their every day outings to work or shopping.
Can you imagine trying to find your bike after a long day
at the office?

(the bicycle parking garage)

Decorating the bicycle city-style:

This is a bicycle with a large front wooden box is called a bakfiets,
where adults will take two or three small children
in the front to take them to day care, to school or just for shopping:

Many bicycles end up in the canals every year. As we took the canal cruise in Amsterdam, we noticed that some bicycles were barely hanging on, even though thick, heavy-duty locks were used.
Each year, municipalities will remove the bicycles
as well as the small cars
that roll into the canals.
Here is a brief clip showing the removal of bikes.

I am coming to the conclusion of our trip, just wanting to highlight a few villages yet in the remainder of my posts to follow. It is difficult to condense 2 1/2 weeks into blog form, but I trust you will have a better view of the small country of the Netherlands and in particular Friesland when I conclude....

Cycling in the City

This past week my daughter introduced me to yet another cycling trail, this time in the city. She often takes her clients/residents from the group home here to enjoy the beauty within the city limits.
"This area, known as Rim Park, is located in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and in Canada's technology triangle, in the heart of southwestern Ontario.
The City of Waterloo is a dynamic urban municipality with a strong cultural and economic base. With a land area of 64 square kilometers, the City's population in 2009 is 120,800 persons (this includes a non-resident post-secondary student population of 24,580)"
I was thrilled to see that this was no ordinary city park, and couldn't believe it when we pulled out our bikes, to see the beautiful piece of paradise we encountered!
Does this look like city to you?

"The Elam Martin Farmstead is a sixth generation Mennonite family farm, presently located on over 11 acres of land incorporated into RIM Park...." Working in the garden...
Cleaning the implements...
As we were taking in all the wildlife, we were greeted by a blue heron that eyed us cautiously but did not move.

This mallard duck swam/waded alongside us in the creek....such gorgeous colouring!
We stopped for a picnic lunch "by the rivers of Babylon, where we sat down".....Actually this is part of the Grand River system that travels 300 kilometres through southwestern Ontario from the highlands of Dufferin County to Port Maitland on Lake Erie.
We saw our first canoeists as well as numerous people fishing....such a perfect spot for a perfect day! The golfers were out to enjoy the beautiful golf course here with the farms in the background. We cycled past people in golf carts, those roller-blading, jogging, pushing strollers, and taking walks.
When we got back to the starting point, we noticed that a nest had fallen out of the tree; so unfortunate and yet it was our first robin's egg spotting.
For more information on the trails, check out these links:

http://www.walterbeantrail.ca/

http://www.walterbeantrail.ca/heritage.htm

http://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabID=1278

http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails-a-z/rim-park-trails/

Rails to Trails

The Trans Canada Trail is the world's longest network of trails. When completed, the trail will stretch 22,000 km from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic Oceans, linking 1,000 communities and 33 million Canadians. The trail is being used for cycling, hiking, horseback riding and in the winter for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.

Most of the rail trails were abandoned railway lines that have been resurfaced with fine gravel, and converted to trails for recreational use.

Kissing Bridge Trailway
This is the Kissing Bridge in West Montrose, part of the trail system. This scenic covered bridge was built in 1881 by John and Benjamin Bear, and is the last remaining covered bridge in Ontario.
































On the weekend, we loaded up our bikes and headed to the Kissing Bridge Trailway, a section of abandoned rail line or trail that stretches 45 kms from Guelph to Millbank. The weather was, dare I repeat, perfect for biking and the cyclists and walkers were out enjoying the wonderful afternoon! We started in Elmira and continued through to Wallenstein and then on toward Millbank.























As we were cycling, we were greeted by a groundhog wanting to enjoy the Spring-like temperatures.























The common red-winged blackbirds were making their presence known along the pathway.
We also spotted many killdeer, a unique plover known for camouflaging well on gravel pathways and in fields. They are so quick, running in spurts, that I had a difficult time capturing it, so the photo is borrowed.























We passed many walkers and cyclists, enjoying the wonderful weather.























As we were crossing over the road toward Millbank, I had to capture a unique yet common scene in our area: the Mennonite horse and buggy.