The Netherlands ranks very high as one of the most bike commuter-friendly countries in the world. It is so refreshing to see throngs of people riding their cruiser bikes to work, wearing their suits or skirts, their big baskets full with supplies for the day. I’m jealous of this culture of bike-commuting!

As our team ran into and out of the heart of Amsterdam this morning, we took advantage of the ubiquitous bike paths as well, using them to steer clear of traffic. We had a pretty good crowd at the exchange point in the city, and it was moving to see Rudy, our only Dutch runner, speak to the crowd so passionately about the message of safe drinking water.

It is amazing that despite the large number of bike commuters in this country, the traffic here is still horrendous. My friend Andrew, who lived here for a few years, used to joke with me that waiting in traffic was a national pastime in the Netherlands. I now believe it. In fact, we’re sitting in a solid stream of traffic as I type this in the van!

The last 3 miles of my running leg today were on bike paths near the sea, which was both beautiful and also a bit frustrating when we got lost. I had “scooter man” (Chris) with me and despite our best efforts, we somehow got off course and after doing an extra couple of miles and some loops around the circuitous paths (“kids, there’s Big Ben, again”) we finally made it to the next exchange point and I passed the baton to Brynn.