3/3/10

I am the proud owner of a new bike.
Bicycling in pancake-flat Berlin, with it's hundreds of kilometres of bike lanes is so easy. Actually, I encountered a slight hill going over a bridge today and was quite put out by it.
There's a real market for fixed gear and single speed bikes here, not just because they're trendy at the moment but the cruisy terrain means you don't need gears (I'm keeping an eye out for a lightweight single speed road bike for the summer) but it seems most Berliners prefer the old-style cruiser like this one, below. A true workhorse.
It's made by a Dutch bicycle company, Simplex. I just learnt from my father-in-law that Simplex, in a very Dutch tradition, used to also manufacture chocolate vending machines.