I loved the town of Nijmegen! It was such a relaxing change from Amsterdam for me. I liked the bike routes we took and the long rural ride. Meeting Joss and having him share how he made it possible for that cycle track to be made. Something that really was sad to see was the ghost bike. In Portland, a girl had gotten hit on Hawthorne for trying to cross the street. When I saw the ghost bike, it reminded me how changes must be made to make these areas safe. Hawthrone added a crosswalk right where the girl got hit. I could see the emotion and realness of nothing happening to fix the issue. That policy needed to be enacted and the necessary road to change. Again with the next intersection, he shared with us. That needed to be made more safe for people to change. It was truly brilliant to see the network system that Joss put together. It had excellent infrastructure for the size of the town it is. Also having interconnected systems that could take you to any town was very impressive. Being able to bike all the way to the border of Germany was impressive. We biked a total of 44 miles that day. I am so grateful for this experience and all it brings. It was so freeing being in the countryside and getting anywhere by bike. Nijmegen makes it shows that small towns can have a bike instructor. For instance Albany to Corvallis. Or Eugene to Corvallis by bike. This city showed that we can infiltrate this experience. It is so accessible to use these bike paths for people in motorized wheelchairs. We saw a woman pass by into Germany as we sat at the border. Also being able to say I biked to Germany is madly impressive and awesome! We have the power to implement small changes that can cause ripple effects. For example when Joss told us about him talking to the park rangers. As he brought them on the path and explained what they could do with the space they already had their minds started to shift on the matter. The rangers stated we can take this tree down and this one. The small changes can get a plan in motion that will bring better welfare for people. Our car-dominated society is not going to work forever. It is killing us and our planet. Also, the benefits I received from that bike ride to Germany. I have been having a hard time recently and being able to just bike and get outside made my day better.
Very fun that you biked to another country!