{"id":1168,"date":"2022-05-27T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2design.co\/ebike\/5-surprising-things-i-learned-when-ebiking-in-holland\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:44:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T13:44:41","slug":"5-surprising-things-i-learned-when-ebiking-in-holland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2design.co\/ebike\/5-surprising-things-i-learned-when-ebiking-in-holland\/","title":{"rendered":"5 surprising things I learned when ebiking in Holland:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

5 surprising Things I Learned in Holland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everyone thinks of Holland as Clogs, Windmills, Cheese, Cannabis & Tulips, and that is true; they are everywhere. But there is so much more to this diverse country. In the \u201cOther Holland\u201d, which is the central\/eastern part of the country, we discovered some surprising facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Surprisingly,
Surprisingly Holland is not all about bikes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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1. Farming: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They have acres of flowers, crops, and cows. Every piece of land is utilised and orderly. I learned from their government website that food accounts for 17.5% of their exports. In fact, after the USA, Holland is the biggest exporter of agricultural products globally. Yep, you read that right, a country half the size of Scotland, with 17.4 million people, produces more agricultural products than any other European country. Surprising? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Apple<\/a>
Apple Orchards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tulips,<\/a>
Tulips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rohdes,<\/a>
Rhododendron farm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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2. Horses: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another surprising fact for me was that I noticed that there were horses everywhere we went. Big ones that look like Heavy Horses, medium-sized ones that you would see at a horse show, and what looked like Shetland ponies, which we know are cute. There were hundreds of them. So, of course, I googled it, and there are apparently 450,000 horses in Holland with 500,000 riders. Whether dressage, driving, show jumping, or racing, they have over 7,000 horse events annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Horses,
Horses, Holland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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3. Cycling infrastructure: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although not surprising, I was blown away by how well the Dutch do cycling. The Dutch have 22.8 million bicycles and 35,000 kilometres of bike tracks for commuting and recreational purposes. 27% of all journeys are by bike, which is much higher in cities. With the average car trip in Europe being 7 km or less, we could all learn to take those shorter trips by bike. Even employers in Holland can pay their employees a tax-free mileage allowance. If adopted in all European countries, it would incentivise people to get on their bikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Bike<\/a>
Tandems<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bike<\/a>
Bike parking <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bike<\/a>
Free bikes in the National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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4. Food: <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I had never really thought about Dutch food previously. I did some research before we went and sampled them – for research purposes, you understand! It\u2019s surprisingly tasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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