Watch: Extreme winds in the Netherlands rip a rider’s bike into the street
At least four fatalities have been reported in continental Europe as a result of the severe weather.
#Storm bij het Strijkijzer pic.twitter.com/6M8ukNmir9
— Arnout Vos (@arnoutvos) January 18, 2018
In Europe, high winds have been ravaging the continent, with four reported fatalities in three countries resulting from the extreme weather. Transportation networks, meanwhile — both air and ground travel — have been snarled with cancellations. Severe damage has been sustained by buildings and other structures; rooftops have been ripped away by the howling winds.
Cyclists, of course, have been feeling the weather’s wrath in unique ways, with a Twitter video from the Netherlands showing a rider losing control of his or her bike — while walking it down the sidewalk.
As passers-by cling to one another and light posts in The Hague, holding on against the blasting wind, an individual walks through the frame of the video, attempting to stabilize his or her bike against the heavy gusts. Suddenly, the bike is ripped out of the rider’s grasp, careening dangerously into the street before it strikes a transit shelter. The rider, meanwhile, is pulled along with it, as streetcars approach from the other side of the intersection.
For cyclists in the Netherlands, the video might redefine the idea of drafting.
