Bicycle Culture Shock

It's 7:06 pm here, we haven't sleep yet, Amie just lied down next to the computer and exclaimed, "omg, horizontal feels so good, we haven't done this yet!" We've been too busy exploring this incredible city.

After getting off the plane, we realized it was 50 degrees and raining in Amsterdam. great riding weather. So we picked up our bike boxes, dragged them through the airport, and obtained train tickets to Amsterdam central station. Oh, and Erin chatted up the New Zealand men's triathlon team who are on their way to the World Championships in Budapest. We also ran into a guy who (upon noticing McKayla's adress on her bike box) told us about how he grew up in Cape Elizabeth and went to Cape High School. Weird, it's a small world. Anyways, outside the train station we put together our bikes and hopped right onto the bike path. Amsterdam is FULL of bikes. As Amie put it, it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between bike paths, tramways, actual roads, and sidewalks, they all blend together and wind in every direction. People off all ages speed by you on bikes carrying bags, dogs, small children, WHATEVER, without a second thought. It's absolutely unreal. The bikes that people aren't riding line the streets and fill the bike racks, cluttering the city literally by the thousands. There are special traffic lights for the bikers, which light up with red, yellow, or green bicycles to direct the bikers. We are the only people who wear helmets.

After making our way to the hostel, we dropped off our belongings and set off on foot to explore the city. We obtained cash, maps, and looked for an appropriate phone service (fail). We ate whoopie pies for breakfast, falafel for dinner, and now we are ready for bed....An altogether wonderful start to our adventure.