"The cargo bike is my everything... it's my lifeline," says Orla Chennaoui

Journalist Orla Chennaoui speaks about getting rid of her car and why cargo bikes are so brilliant, in the third road.cc Drink at Your Desk Friday episode.

Orla, who is currently providing daily coverage of the Giro d'Italia for Eurosport, explained how since moving to Amsterdam, her family have been able to leave their cars behind thanks to the city's famously safe cycling infrastructure. 

The presenter, who previously worked as Northern Ireland correspondent for Sky News, moved to Holland two and a half years ago.

She said: "We were a two car family in the UK which is fairly standard even though we only had one child.

"Then we went to Amsterdam [got rid of] both our cars and became an entire bike family because it is just so easy and normal and the most logical way to get around.

"The easiest way to ditch car life was to get an electric cargo bike and these are everywhere certainly in Amsterdam, [mine] is an Urban Arrow which is the most popular brand and it’s just brilliant...

"This bike is my everything, it is how I get to the shops, how I get to school, it’s how we transported our Christmas tree, it is how we move furniture...

"It’s how we get my mother in law around when she comes over. It is my lifeline the cargo bike."

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She did give a cautionary word of warning for those thinking about ditching their cars in favour of a cargo bike however.

"The one thing is if you have a little wobble on it they are so heavy they fall over," she said. 

"I remember once taking my daughter across Amsterdam with my son who was still really little.

"What is great is you can put a Maxi-Cosi baby seat into them so my son has been in that bike since he was a few weeks old.

"I had taken them across town and I had strapped the Maxi-Cosi in the front and I was just trying to get going on the bike.

"I fell over with my son, [who was] a tiny little baby and my daughter inside it and she was strapped in.

"The panic. I was like 'are you ok kids?' and my son was sleeping and he opened his eyes and fell back to sleep again."