Black beauty!

The result of my search: Black beauty

How strange is it for a Dutch woman not to own a bike? Well...very strange is the right answer. Everybody owns a bike in Holland. You know: land of the wooden shoes, Gouda cheese and ......well bikes. So after 33 years I thought the time has come for me to finally get one. A bike that is. It'll be a good thing I said to myself. It's springtime, I'll start biking to work, enjoying the nice spring weather and getting some exercise at the same time. Little did I know that purchasing a bike would be such a challenging task.

I started my quest by visiting my local bike shop (yep we have local bike shops in Holland). I was greeted by a friendly young man, who asked me if he could be of assistance. Having done my research at home (long live Google!), I told him I was looking for a bike. It had to be black, with brown steering handles and a brown leather saddle, retro (classical) looking, a transporter (meaning that you can carry stuff around in a basket in front of you), and had to fit my height (I am only 1m56). He had no bike fitting that description. No luck so far.

I went back online to do some more research, maybe I should get one from the Internet. But what if it didn't match my height or didn't feel good. Yes a bike has to suit you and feel good. Everybody knows that.

I took a look at the pages of The Sartorialist (the book that is) for some much needed inspiration. In the book there are two pictures of fashionable women with their bikes. Both ladies had black classic retro bikes, one even had a cute little basket in front. To me that is so ladylike and elegant. That is what I wanted too.

With renewed energy and inspiration I went to Megabike the next day. Megabike is a larger bike store in the city, that has a great range of bikes. From sporty to classic, and three very charming salesmen. Nic, as the one who helped me was named, proposed marriage in the first two minutes of our conversation. After 5 minutes he offered to move in with me, and finally he asked me out on a date. All I wanted was a bike, I told him. A black, retro, transporter bike, with brown handles and a brown leather saddle. Looking at the big questionmark on his face, I guessed he had never met a customer who had so many specific requests (huh go figure). I quickly told him that I would settle for the next best thing, anything that came even close to my description of the perfect bike. His face cleared up, and he smiled. He showed me a beautiful black transporter bike, totally retro, with black steering handles and a black leather saddle and no basket. Close enough for me. I tried it, enjoyed the ride, and bought it immediately. The basket I got online. Since then I have been enjoying many bikerides and LOVING IT!!!!