Last month, I wrote about the high rate of bicycle theft in Holland.

But with fietspads (cycle tracks) stretching some 30,000 km, or parallel to over one-fifth of all roads except highways in Holland, the country is a paradise for cyclists.

Apart from the most popular, sturdy black oma fiets (grandmother's bikes), there is a large array of many special bicycles in Holland.

Tandems, bicycles with a child bike attached to the rear, bicycles with a big plastic box on the front for large shopping, bakfiets (bicycles with a big wooden box at the front to carry children and other items), similar bicycles, but these with a plastic tent attached to the rear to carry children and other items, bicycles that you ride almost lying down, and covered bicycles that almost look (and cost) like a small car.

There is even the fietscafe (bicycle cafe), a mobile pub that can be rented by groups of up to 17 people who can transport themselves while drinking.

Luckily, not everyone in the group has to cycle because only 10 seats are equipped with pedals. But at least one of the hirers must sign a contract stating that you'll stay sober to ensure a safe ride for everyone else.

Being raised in Switzerland, I used to think that I could do almost anything on skis. But with Dutch people and bicycles, that seems to go even further.

Most bikes here operate with foot brakes, meaning you must pedal backward to stop or to slow down. With all the traffic, you must also use your right or left arm to signal when and which way you want to turn. This is quite difficult especially in big cities like Amsterdam, where cars, motorbikes, bicycles, trams (with their rails into which bike wheels seem to love to fall), and roaming cats and ducks, not to mention the frequency of rain and frost here.

But people learn how to balance on bikes at a very early age since many children's first bike ride is in a baby bjorn (a sort of baby sling) as a newborn — though this is officially not allowed.

As soon as they can sit, the front or back of mama's bike becomes their main means of transportation.

A touching moment is when the child receives his or her first bicycle shortly before or when the child enters elementary school at age 4. From then on, the proud mini-rider starts to practice cycling with training wheels, often with an orange triangular flag attached to the bike for safety. For a while, a parent constantly guides the child along major roads like training a chick before it makes its first solo flight.

My Dutch friend Margreet used to have a bakfiets when she was living in Tokyo three years ago. Since she lived in the center of the city, she often took her two young daughters on the bike through Omotesando on the weekends. Three blonde girls on a strange vehicle was such an attractive sight for the Japanese, they were often surrounded by passers-by taking photos of them with their camera-equipped keitai.

I also have a bicycle that regularly takes the Dutch by surprise — my Japanese dendo mama chari (electric mama bike) I brought from Japan. Though there are electric bicycles here, the shape and its luxury — padding at the shoulders, on the seat and even the front of the child's seat — are unheard of in Holland.

I find it really funny since the Dutch, who usually act cool and indifferent to many things, even stop me on the road to ask where my bike is from! I'm sure they too would take photos if they had a camera-equipped keitai handy.