The Bicycle

"I thought of that while riding my bicycle."
-Albert Einstein, on the Theory of Relativity.

Some people say there are more bicycles in Holland than there are people. Allowing for the number circulating on the black market, this may be true -- the rate of bicycle theft is enormous. It is a cheap and relatively convenient method of transportation in a country with a relatively temperate climate and no hills. The official numbers, I hear, are that there are 15 million people in Holland and 12 million bicycles. I have one, I got it second hand for 15 euros. It was, in the Land of the Giants, necessary for me to get a girls' bike. But it is big enough to put Daan's baby seat on the back and also to hang various bags of groceries from the handlebars, an operation which becomes second nature faster than you might think if the alternative is to haul 5 kilos of potatoes home on foot.

Douwe, of course, has one. It came equipped with training wheels, and he got it when he was just at 4 or maybe a little younger. There was a High Council on the training wheels, in which it was decided that maybe it would be okay if they stayed on, since he is after all American, a country where a bicycle is not a mode of transportation but a toy. However, the recommended practice I hear is to drop them on a bike without training wheels because otherwise they become dependent upon the wheels and don't want to take them off. Douwe might become overly dependent on the training wheels, after all. At four years old.

Did I mention at any time the enormous and unrelenting emphasis on independence in children here in Holland?

So anyway, the training wheels. Several High Councils have been held since on the training wheels. I do not actually care about the training wheels, he does not use them except when banking around turns at high speeds. So I welcomed anyone who cared to take it on to take the wheels off and explain the whole independence thing to Douwe while I read a good book. I got no takers and the High Council was in recess.

So yesterday we went to Eindhoven to visit friends. They have two lovely children, aged 4 and 5. We went to the playground, because it is Spring here and the weather is terrific. Douwe rode the pedal cart, Daan rode the push car riding toy, the kids of our friends rode their bikes. On the way home, the 4 year old got tired and wanted to be carried. So I would up bringing her bike, as the only person there short enough to do it without bending over. Douwe decided he wanted to ride her bike. Her bike has no training wheels.

Before I could point this out, he jumped on and rode away. Just like that. I hollered "way to go, look at you,". Or something similar, forgetting momentarily that this is Douwe. He looked around, startled, looked up and saw his father coming back to see what the commotion was about, and fell off. And refused to get back on, because of course by this time everyone was looking at him and trying to get him to get back on and telling him how great he was.

Finally we just went on back with him pushing the bike. (And me pushing the pedal car as my penance, oh my back). And we all resolutely ignored the bike for the next twenty mnmnutes, whereupon he got on it again and rode away. To no fanfare of any kind.

Today we went to the park in Breda with the bike, because he was riding the bike just fine but stopping the bike with difficulty. He kept falling off instead of getting off. HIs solution was to fall off the bike on purpose for about twenty minutes. I think a lot of Dutch people think I am insane, because I spent twenty minutes or so with my 5 year old like this: he gets on the bike, he rides it into the grass, he brakes abruptly and lays it down (just like riders of motorcycles do, actually, he just laid it down and stood up through the process) and comes running over to me shouting exuberantly that he fell off his bike. "I fell, mom, I really fell!!". To which I replied with great enthusiasm, "You really are getting good at falling aren't you? I think you should practice some more, though,". We did get a few Looks.

So anyway, within a short period, his grandmother took over and I took Daan to the sand box to play. And Douwe can now ride a bike. Without any lingering dependency on training wheels.

He has joined the ranks of Albert Hoffman, who accidentally ingested LSD-25 and set off for home on his bicycle, hallucinating all the way. Lillian Russell, who recevied from Diamond Jim Brady a gold-plated bicycle with mother-of pearl handlebars and spokes with chips of diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. William Hastie, who became Dean of Howard Law School, and rode a bicycle to school rather than sit in a segregated streetcar.

Well, and Einstein of course, but we already knew that.