I've always felt that using a bicycle to get around really makes you feel like you're a part of your city on a whole different level. Glancing off to the left at something or someone, glancing off to the right to see the harbour. You name it. You're out in the open and the city embraces you.
Heading towards the city one morning. The weather has been nice so flip-flops are still a popular choice around the city. And don't worry, that cyclist is in her own lane. I really wish I'd see more of this. In the Red Light Posture Series, I called this posture "Classic Grace". This was standard Red Light Posture for ladies back in the day. Elegant and graceful. You hop off your bicycle with the step-through frame and place one foot on the pedal, ready to go.
The sticker on the bike lane reads "Watch out for blind angles", reminding cyclists of the blind spots that large trucks have when turning. A nice, friendly reminder. No, they're not slippery. The City of Copenhagen takes good care of us.
The Copenhagener atop the sticker has a grass mat in her basket, leading us to believe that she is returning from the beach in the lovely late summer weather. She is practicing the Copenhagen Straddle from the Red Light Posture Series to perfection.
Simple, really. I pointed the camera out the window for 45 minutes one morning. From about 08:00. It was mostly for my own anthropological aims, but I figured I'd whip it into a film. It's long - 14 min - but I put some nice music on. Four different tracks. And here's the funny thing. The vast variety of citizens on bicycles here is always amazing. All age and wage brackets. Truly universal.
Which cyclist reflects who you are or how you ride - or you would ride if you did? Maybe not everyone can see themselves reflected in the Copenhagen bicycle culture but I'll bet that many can. There's over 420 to choose from.
Watch the film and let us know in the comments. I think I'm a combination of the chap at the front at 3:39 and the chap at 5:10.
While you're at it, here's some fun. Watch out for the following: - A big bouquet of flowers in the basket. - Someone eating an apple. - Some reading on their bike - A postman Music: The Cardigans - You're the Storm / Tina Dickow - Room With a View / Mireille Matheiu - Les bicyclettes de belsize / Ibens - Jeg savner min blå blå cykel [I miss my blue, blue bicycle]
If any of you are in the neighbourhood of Pardubice, in the Czech Republic, on the 16th of September, I'll be speaking about Copenhagen's bicycle culture there. In addition, a series of my photographs will adorn the lampposts of the city throughout European Mobility Week.
Copenhagen Design Week is in full swing. A design week in a design capital offers up a slough of interesting lectures and events about sustainability, design and architecture.
I'll be getting around to some of them on one of my two bicycles. The Velorbis Scrap Deluxe, above, as seen with our newish Opera House in the background.
" A student project has produced a lighthearted guide to changing a flat tyre. With a bicycle shop on every corner [i have over 20 within 1 km radius of my flat], it's easier and cleaner just to chuck the bike into the shop, but if you fancy doing it yourself, you can do it in style.
It seems that there are still fragments of summer left. September seems rather inevitable though, as does the usual setup of conspirators: Windier, rainier, colder and shorter days. No, forget that. We are going to have a long indian summer.
Welcome to Monday. Welcome to Cycle Chic, Russian Style. From the groovy Afisha.ru website. Katya, 23 years She bought a cheap toy bicycle by Stels, painted it and named it Joddy.
Masha, 23 years She bought it for exactly one and a half thousand rubles. She uses the basket for books and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. She tried to carry her dog, Otiko, in it but he likes to run alongside. She notices that car drivers pass her winking and smiling more often than boys on the street. She dreams of a retro bike cruiser with a feminine frame.
And yes, Cycle Chic is itching to get back to Moscow.
On the other side of the globe, in Melbourne, a journalist is quite fed up with lycra and 'cyclists'. She just wishes she could cycle to work without having to put up with the 'hobby' cyclists: I cycle to work on my poverty-pack hybrid in my work clothes, cruising along at a leisurely pace as the lycra brigade whizzes past with audible groans of disgust at my clear lack of cycling style.
If I dare get in their way with a wobbly start at the lights, the verbal abuse would make your hair curl.
I just smile politely and totter along like a happy little tortoise, invariably catching up to the lycra brigade at the many sets of lights between home and office.
But for maximum effect you really have to read her whole article right here. She certainly doesn't cut any corners but she is witty and sharp about it.
Interestingly, this is something we here at Cycle Chic are noticing more and more in the chatter on the internet. A kind of backlash by people who cycle in regular clothes on normal clothes against the fetish cyclists in their 'gear' who tend, in certain regions, to dominate the public image of 'cyclists'. And, in a way, shouldn't it be the general public who dominate the scene as it is them who are re-mainstreaming cycling after a break of 40 odd years? Nothing wrong with anyone who fancies joining a cycling club or anything like that. But cycling has always been a democratic pursuit and it is for the people at large - for the benefit of society.
Our ever intrepid Cycle Chic correspondant Raquel, from the frightfully groovy Spanish fashion blog Gratis Total, was on holiday in Croatia this year. She sent us these shots to allow us, once again, to underline the fact that Cycle Chic is going global, as well as just riding a regular bicycle in normal clothes. The photo above, at left, is taken in Hvar. The one on the right in Split. This casual chap was seen in Hvar. We're loving the plastic bag on the seat. A Copenhagen classic. As seen in Mali Ston. Thanks for the current update, Raquel!
Look at this chap. Dapper all to hell. Cycling about his city in style at a grand age. Waiting for the red light with dignity. I'm hoping I'll look this good when I get to his age. Heading home in the afternoon into a stiff headwind. Fresh flowers in the basket. Riding past one of Copenhagen's bicycle counters.
