i bIke...i AMsterdam

my bike is like a cat...it has nine lives...since i have bought it someone has tried to steal it by taking off the handle bars, which left it impossible to drive sober (and cost me EUR25, the cost of the bike, to fix)....also someone "borrowed" it and returned it to the same area near my house, but in a different spot, complete with the chain...

after these two instances and also in an attempt to get more active, i have been riding my bike alot more lately - to work, around town etc....

and whether it's a 5 minute ride down the street, ringing my bell at the tourists who walk in the bicycle lane...or a 40 minute bike ride to work in the morning chill, equipped with my hook-on battery operated bike lights... somehow riding my bike around amsterdam is something that really makes me feel connected to this city and feel a part of it.....a feeling of connection that i was missing somehow in the previous years of constant travel...a welcome feeling indeed