climate adept or just plain dumb?

A typical morning here in Holland. The sun doesn't come up until sometime around 8:30 and the temperature outside is below freezing. A balmy -6 Celsius (that's 21 Fahrenheit for you Americans) greeted me on my way out the door today, which is about the same as the -5 C that whacked me in the face yesterday morning.

But I was prepared for it today. I was sure to check the thermometer before I left and bundled up for the journey to school. I put on layer after layer, not wanting to be a frozen Nomad-sicle by the time I got to work. Gloves, hat, hoodie sweatshirt (with hood up over warm hat) and so on. Even after all that, I still was only 'comfortable' on my ride to work.

As I rode, I took notice of the Dutch riding their bicycles to work and the various versions of cold weather gear that people were wearing. People riding without gloves, some wearing no knit caps (or any head gear), some just wearing a sweatshirt or a thin suit (jacket and tie flapping in the wind). So my question is, are these people incredibly adapted to the freezing cold (remember, its actually below freezing) or amazingly stupid for not dressing for cold weather?

I know that I will take grief for being a "Californian" even though I am not - I only lived there for a few years. I've been in cold weather before. Skiing on Whiteface Mountain (Lake Placid) in New York was chilly at -61 C (that's -79 Fahrenheit), so I know what cold is. I've also been in the exact opposite with extreme heat; driving through Death Valley in June in a truck with no A/C and the big thermometer in Baker reading a blazing 52 C (it actually said 126 F, I'm just converting for the rest of the world). So I've experienced over 100 degrees of Celsius (over 200 degrees Fahrenheit) in my life yet I still don't understand riding a bicycle in below zero temperatures with no gloves.