What has struck me over the last couple of months is the reluctance of the Dutch to give up their bicycles, even in ice, snow and blizzard conditions. Brave souls. I have watched them with curiosity weaving down the local roads that could easily have passed for ice rinks. A few skids here and there, but not deterred, they keep on cycling through weather that I hibernate from.
Then a friend told me about her mother-in-law who had skidded cycling on the ice, landed on her handlebars and broken a rib. Ouch. Then I read on Twitter that one expat has been taking Dutch integration to the upper limits - and cycling in the icy conditions too. Hats off to him, I thought. Then he reported he that he had taken a tumble. Thankfully he lived to tell the tale and twitter about it, but both incidents brought to mind the popular saying about the Brits and the sun, based on a tune by Noel Coward from the early 1930's: Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
Perhaps a new version should be written based on the fanatic cycling on ice of the Dutch: Mad Expats and Dutchmen go cycling on the ice..........
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