If you live in the Netherlands, then you probably own a bike, or two, and biking is a serious mode of transportation for you, and possibly an important aspect of your life. The very flat Netherlands and the ultra efficient Dutch have managed to make the Netherlands into one of the most bike friendly countries in the world. There are bike lanes, bike traffic lights, bike shops, and a lot of biking competitions and clubs for those enthusiastic about biking. They all bike, from the age they get on their two feet, to the very elderly, which I guess helps allot for both self, like personal health, and society, having less impact on the environment.
I’ve been wondering why I haven’t come across a museum dedicated to bikes or biking so far, and so I was very glad to see such a museum during my visit to Nijmegen. It’s a funky small museum, between the river and the park just outside the old town, with a great collection of old bikes, taking you through the history of how the technology and the culture evolved. Some folks tend to the think the Dutch were always bike friendly, but this really is not the case, it was due to a very deliberate decision by the government following a mass grass-roots movement. Quite remarkable.
Each one of the old bikes on display has its own story. For now, I’ll just show you some of the collection…
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Aren’t these great? more from Nijmegen to follow…