New Wheels

In the Netherlands, you can take your bike on the train, but not during rush hour and only if you pay an extra ticket price.  But if you have a folding bicycle, you can take it on any time and for free.  When I commute on the train down to our office in The Hague, it's about a 45-minute train ride and then a tram ride, walk, or bike ride to the office ... 10 minute bike ride, and we have secure underground bike parking at the office.

I don't have a car ... I live in the middle of Amsterdam and it's insanely expensive to park here, and I don't need a car for the job ... but it's Amsterdam, so I have to have a bike.  Got a cheap one when I first came here, now it looks like I'll be here for at least another year, so ....

Got a folding bicycle today at a shop down near our office in The Hague.  Very helpful staff, found just what I was looking for after a little online research, a Dahon 7-speed internal hub folder ... weighs about 25 lbs., folds up to a little bigger than the wheels, little magnets hold it together folded, easy to transport.  I'm hoping to take a lot of day-trips on the train this spring to see other cities in Holland that I haven't been to since moving here.

Here it is chained to the railing outside my building's front door (the black door on the right).