I was born in The Netherlands in 1979 and studied in Maastricht and The Hague to become a translator in English and Dutch. However, after a solo cross-country ride on my bicycle from Florida to California in 2006, I decided to become a full-time bicycle mechanic instead. I wrote and published a book about the trip and now I'm editing the English translation. Every year I go back to the USA to pursue my dream: ride my bicycle through all 50 States. October 2010 someone came up with the idea to write a series of children's books about a little animal who rides her bicycle through every state as well. I published the first book, Lily rides her bicycle, in June. It's a book for children aged 4-6. There are four rhyming lines on the left page and an illustration on the right page. The first book is just an introduction to Lily, in the next book she will be riding her bicycle through Alabama.