The bike of Agata Majcherska

“I used to study architecture and lighting design at a Hogeschool in Amsterdam, and that was a little more than a year ago. I bought a bike when I studied in Amsterdam and it was love at first sight,” says Agata Majcherska, giggling, as she describes her old bike. “As it was the best bike among all my friends, I was really protective of it. It was like riding a unicorn over a rainbow.”

“My biking experiences in the Netherlands have changed my perception. The first thing I did upon returning to Krakow was to buy a bike. I think Poland is learning from the Netherlands,” she surmises, observing the new, improved bike paths being conjured up overnight in her home city. “So, when I decided I was going to come back to study architecture at TU Delft, I decided to check up on my old bike, which I had left with some friends.” Unfortunately, the bike didn’t last long locked to a fence. “It got stolen, like many others do in the Netherlands,” Majcherska recounts gloomily.

“Having experienced the biking culture in the Netherlands, it wasn’t difficult to get my priorities straight when I came in August. I knew buying a bike was very crucial to getting around here – be it to my faculty or the supermarket, a bike is very handy for distances too far to walk but too short for public transport,” she says. “Buying a bike wasn’t so easy with so many students wanting to buy at the same time. I had to go to at least two other ‘sellers’ before going to Rotterdam to buy a bike. I was so desperate to buy the bike that I would’ve probably settled for a bike even without wheels. I finally bought a bike from a lady who couldn’t speak English, but I managed to converse and even bargain about the lock.”

“What I love about my new bike is the perfectness of it.” Majcherska says, laughing. Having experienced some of the bigger bikes designed for the tall Dutch, she was overjoyed to have found her perfect bike. “It looks pretty new and doesn’t have too much technology in it. With only foot brakes and no hand brakes or gears, I find it more comfortable and maintenance has been free so far,” she explains. “The only thing I don’t like about it is its colour.”