I had pushed my luck too far this time. Standing on the wrong side of a train station, in a town I’d never seen before, holding a bike with a handlebar facing 30 degrees west of straight, I wondered, “Is this the end of Opa Fiets?” It was a new beginning. Almost on a whim, […]
In the Netherlands, people are tightly packed. Less than one eighth of the country has anything built on it, including roads. There’s a reason for this. The reason is water. When it rains, the water must have some place to go. The Netherlands has always been a fragile ecosystem, so its people have been supporting […]
The Dutch Flower Parade is one of the great annual events I had never heard of before. I had to go. It consists of a kilometer-long series of petal-covered floats, each with a theme, a sponsor, and its own pre-recorded music. It celebrates the tulips, which fill huge fields and are grown for their bulbs. […]
I have been in the Netherlands nearly a month now, following the adventures of Chris Brunlett of the Dutch Cycling Embassy while making my own discoveries of the country and its cycling culture. Recently, Chris did a piece on why the Dutch don’t wear helmets, and it deserves a response. First, look carefully at Chris’ […]
Right now, there’s a lot of hate for the Cloud Czars and their leaders. There are now four such Czars, the masters of the Cloud. Apple (AAPL) has chosen not to play. (The illustration of Greek Gods lost in a modern city is from Leonardo.AI.) The hate is directed at the Decibillionaire controlling shareholders. We […]
Eindhoven grew up organically in the 20th century around Royal Philips, once a TV maker and now a health equipment company. This made it the most bikeable place Opa Fiets has visited on this trip. The bike paths are not crowded, and there is plenty of room for cars. My first aim was to visit […]
Almost lost amid the hullaballoo over Trump’s tariffs was what may be the start of the AI crash. Nvidia (NVDA) has been nearly cut in half. ServiceNow (NOW) is down 35%. All the Cloud Czars are in bear markets, while the wider market isn’t down 20% (yet). We may have a lot farther to go. […]
Whenever I look at Donald Trump I think of my dad. Like Trump, my dad was outwardly intimidating, and inwardly insecure. He left behind four baby boomers desperate for love, lucky to find it. Long story short, we all have issues. That may be why the first response to Trump’s intimidation is for us to […]
After three weeks in the Netherlands, I am finally figuring out the difference between fietsing and cycling. In my life I have tried to do both. Fietsing is using a bike, or an e-bike, to handle necessary chores. You fiets to work, you fiets to shopping, you fiets the kids to school. The standard Dutch […]
American fietsers like me are usually pointed toward Rotterdam, rather than a city like Utrecht or Amsterdam, for a very good reason. I learned about it this week. Rotterdam was destroyed during WWII and rebuilt along American lines. High buildings, wide roads, and cars everywhere. The city’s metro area is far bigger than most Dutch […]
