A Royal Family Goes Dutch

When people think of "cycling nations", one of the first that comes to mind is the Netherlands.

Indeed, in a country of 16 million inhabitants, there are 18 million bikes.  More important, though, are Dutch attitudes about cycling.  Someone who rides to work or for pleasure is not seen as an outlier or renegade:  Even Prime Minister Mark Rutte rides to work.  Hmm...What kind of a country would the US be if our President rode to his office every day?

Oh, but it gets even better.  You see, although the Dutch royal family--like its counterparts in the UK, Denmark and other European countries--has little actual power, it is still seen as a "face" of the nation.  Their day-to-day activities help to form the image their subjects have of their nation, and the image that nation projects to the world.



So it's no surprise that King Willem-Alexander, who has occupied the throne for nearly four years, cycles--as a Cycling NL video notes, "not only for the annual so-called photo opportunities, but also in private."  He is regularly accompanied by his Argentinian wife--Queen Maxima Zorreguieta-- and their daughters.

It's also not surprising that he inherited his love of cycling from his family.  His mother, Queen Beatrix, did not cycle much while she was queen, but did enough riding before that to warrant a statue of her astride a bike in the Dutch capital. 

 Her mother, Queen Juliana--one of the best-loved monarchs in Dutch history--was an avid cyclist throughout her life.  Here we see her during a visit to the Frisian Islands in 1967:


It's widely reported that her entourage didn't ride behind her merely for appearances or out of courtesy:  the Queen actually could, and did, out-ride all of those men!

On The Streets And The Silkroad

Today I will start with a quiz.

Take a look at this bike:

Now check out this:

What do they have in common?

Now, if you know anything about either of these bikes, you might think it's absolute heresy to posit that they might share any trait besides two wheels.  The first machine, a Schwinn Clairmont, can be purchased in Wal-Mart and other fine stores. ;-)  

The second, on the other hand, is a Silkroad from Tout Terrain.  Somehow I don't expect to see it parked on a street near me, or anywhere else.

So what trait could such disparate bikes share?

Believe it or not, it's in the frame!

All right, I'll tell you:  They both have rear racks that are integral to their frames.  In other words, you can't remove them.

Such an arrangement has been uncommon for a long time.  Interestingly, even it was more common, it was found on bikes at the top and bottom of the price spectrum.  

Once upon a time, British and French custom builders made frames of which the rear carrier--intended to lug loaded panniers and other items for long tours--were constructed as part of the frame.  Of course, those were special-order items and customers would wait months, or even years, for theirs. 

I recall seeing a Jack Taylor tandem and Rene Herse single built in this way.  I tried finding photos of bikes like them, to no avail.  

You won't find such an integrated carrier/frame on anything but a bike dedicated to loaded touring, even from the elite builders I've mentioned.  I'm not sure that any of today's builders construct bikes in that way:  It is an extremely labor-intensive process, and if the height of a stay is off even by a little, the carrier--and possibly the frame--will be misaligned.  

Also, the market for fully-loaded tourers---even during the peak of their popularity (at least here in the US) during the early- and mid-1980s--has always been small.  Not many people want a bike that is so purpose-specific:  Few cyclists go on more than one long tour in their lives.  Most cyclists, understandably, would rather press their racing or trekking bike into touring service and remove the racks and bags once the tour is over.

Of course, loaded touring is not the only purpose for which an integrated rack is useful.  They also make a lot of sense on cargo bikes, or even city bikes that are abused.  I think those purposes are the ones Tout Terrain had in mind when they designed the Silkroad and other models.  

But you have to wonder for what purpose--other than big-box store sales--the Schwinn Clairmont was designed. Perhaps it is meant to evoke balloon-tired kids' bikes sold in the US during the 1940s and 1950s, some of which came with built-in racks.  The funny thing is that on such bikes--from the likes of Columbia, AMF and other low-budget manufacturers--the rear racks were seldom used to carry books, sneakers or anything else besides other kids.

If anyone from Tout Terrain (or Peter White, who seems to be their main dealer here in the US) is reading this, I hope you are not offended by my comparison.  I simply find it ironic that your bikes can have something in common with a bike that just might disintegrate in the very spot where I saw and photographed it (with my cell phone) today--or end up in a landfill in a year or two.

What To Ride On The Streets

It's expensive to live here in New York.  Maybe not London-expensive or Tokyo-expensive, but plenty expensive nonetheless. Probably the only US city where it costs more simply to let the force of gravity hold you in place is San Francisco.

Still, even with our high housing costs and such, there are ways to have a good time for little or no money. Sure, it costs more to go to the movies in The Big Apple than it costs anywhere else.  And it's long been rumored that one needs a winning lottery ticket in order to buy a ticket to a Broadway show.  

But why would you want to spend your money to see 42nd Street?  That's for tourists, as we're fond of saying.  And you didn't move here to go to the movies, now, did you?

There are all kinds of other entertainments available.  Some include poetry readings, art openings and concerts in small spaces.  And you can even get into most museums for little or no cash--as long as the admission price is "suggested" or a donation.  Of course, if you're a student with a valid ID card, you can get into a lot of places for free or not much.

(Once, years ago, I was dating a woman from Italy.  I made it a point of showing her some of our fair city's cultural treasures. One day we went to the American Museum of Folk Art.  I got us both in for free when I told the young man and woman at the counter that we were both students:  I was teaching her English and she was teaching me Italian.)

But the real entertainment in this city is found on its streets.  I guess you could say that about other large cities.  Here in New York, though, you can see things that you never imagined.  Then there are the performers.  The best, to me, are the ones who don't have to rustle a hair on their heads to perform.  I have seen folks made up and costumed as various public statues and other structures, and their ruse wasn't apparent until they passed their donation cups!

Better yet are people who can stand, sit or lie beside street signs and other markers:

I'd put money in that guy's donation cup!