Free bike lights

The ANWB is the Dutch equivalent of the Automobile Association. They campaign for motorists rights, they offer car insurance, produce route maps and have a car rescue service should your car break down.

However, there is another of those history twists here which sets the Netherlands apart from many countries. The letters A.N.W.B. actually stand for Algemene Nederlandsche Wielrijders-Bond, or in English: General Dutch Cyclists Union.

So, even the car driver's organisation here is also a cycling organisation, and they do things like cycling maps, cycle rescue, putting up signs for cyclists as well as those things for drivers (they don't necessarily do these things as well as many cyclists might like, mind you, which is why the Fietsersbond was formed in the 1970s to provide an alternative for cyclists).

Anyway, to get back to the reason for this post, the ANWB produces a weekly newspaper which is free in many shops. I noticed this week that they're giving away free bike lights, which might be of interest to my Dutch readers.

They're not the only ones offering lights as the nights get darker. Click here for somewhat higher quality bicycle lights.