Originally Posted by chicbicyclist

Irrelevant question since there are as many flat areas here(if not more since we're much, much bigger) as there are in the Netherlands. It's your choice to live in hilly areas.

Originally Posted by lil brown bat

I think what you meant to say is that there is more square mileage of flat terrain "here" (by which I assume you mean the United States -- this is not a USA-only forum, btw) than there is in the Netherlands. While that's true, it's not particularly helpful or meaningful, since the likelihood of a cyclist in the USA having a flat commute is lower than a cyclist in the Netherlands. As for the observation that it's a choice to live in hilly areas, that's just plain silly. Most people in the United States aren't independently wealthy and can't choose to simply live wherever they want to, just because they want to: they have to go where the jobs are, or where the colleges are, or where their family is, or something like that, and we can't all find those things in Kansas. Of course, I suppose we could all live in flat areas...but follow your line of reasoning: "If I live somewhere flat, I can pedal a sherman tank of a Dutch bike, giving me the benefit of being able to take a passenger on the fantail I mean the rear rack, and if I can just carry a passenger on the rear rack it will be totally worth uprooting my family and quitting my job and exercising my choice to go to this flat place."