simple is beautiful
Copenhagen Cycle Chic - Streetstyle and Bike Advoc: "youtube bike film"
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Showing posts with label "youtube bike film". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "youtube bike film". Show all posts

Monday, November 17, 2008

French Kiss


For some strange reason this short film by François Truffaut popped into my head the other day. Les Mistons - The Brats - was one of his first directorial efforts, in 1957. It laid the groundwork for the adolescent themes in some of his later films. It's about five boys who quite fancy an 'older woman' and who subsequently get jealous when she takes a lover.

No, this hasn't turned into a film blog, I'm including it here because the first 3:30 of the film is a beautiful woman on a bicycle. Skirts a'fluttering. As they have since the bicycle was invented - so feel free to giggle when somebody tells you cycling is only a 'sport'. That's why I call it Bicycle Culture 2.0 [beta]. We've all been there before and we're going there again. Regular people on normal bikes in everyday clothes. All over the world.

”In the late 19th century, large numbers of women were already using bicycles to get to work, women office workers and shop assistants wending their way each weekday morning from the suburbs to the town. They found the bicycle a convenient form of transport for distances up to, say, ten miles”.
John Woodeforde ”The Story of the Bicycle”, 1970

And they weren't wearing lycra or riding carbon fibre contraptions and they weren't restricted to flat areas.

The Sartorialist - aka The Colville-Andersen on No Wheels - :-) posted a couple of lovely bicycle shots recently. The film above was shot in Nîmes and this photo is in Paris.

Red Bicycle
Nothing French about this shot, I just like it. Taken at the new Royal Theatre - Skuespilhuset - on the harbour in Copenhagen.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A Hub of Cyclists

A Hub of Cyclists
A school of fish, a memory of elephants, a murder of crows - why not a Hub of Chic Copenhagen Cyclists? There. We just coined the phrase.
Stylicious
Stripes, tights and heels. All hail the Copenhagen Cycle Summer.
Classic Copenhagen
Cycling is Copenhagen is a mixture of ease, grace, beauty and a casual, relaxed attitude.
Long John Long John
More Long John shots. The kids had so much fun that I had to try it myself. Here's Jeppe doing the hard work with me in the cargo box. And another shot of the kids.


My friends at Momemtum Magazine in Vancouver sent me this link of a recent bicycle fashion show they put on. It's great to see. Just think... a year ago, when we started this blog, there were hardly any Cycle Chic sites or blogs out there. Now the net is swimming in them. Yes, we're responsible. Yes, we're pleased. :-) Seriously, it is really great to see people taking back the bike culture.

We've had a couple of write ups on cool French bicycle blogs this past week. Vocivelo and Weelz.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Cycle Deliciousness for the Weekend

Elegant Red
There were showers on and off yesterday but it was lovely and warm. Here's a Copenhagen supermum heading home in the afternoon. Perhaps she's picking up the little one[s] today, perhaps it's the dad.


Here's a little teaser for a longer version I'm working on.

Walking Dry
Sometimes you ride with your umbrella, sometimes you walk. Check the Biking With Umbrellas tag for more photos.

Orange Orange
Would she have chose those orange earrings if she rode a green bike? Unlikely. Bikes are mere transport, but they are a part of your fashion style and your personality in Copenhagen.

Ride and Smoke
Ride and smoke in the casualness of Copenhagenishness.

We posted about Topshop's new bicycle advert the other day. A reader let us know about The Gap's version from a couple of years ago.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Copenhagen Cycle Chic Goes to London - Topshop Rules



Topshop is is the current leader of the Cycle Chic peloton with this brand new advert featuring pure Copenhagenesque Cycle Chic.

"This season green is the new black and bicycles are the only wheels to be rocking up in."

Indeed. Nice one, Topshop. Our only minor regret is that it isn't a Danish bicycle, but we can live with that just this once.

It's adverts like this that help generate not only pure Cycle Chic but also pure bike culture. Some people can get with the former, but everyone can get with the latter. Presenting the bicycle as a normal, easy and fun form of transport to an impressionable generation is brilliant. London cycle chic extraordinaire. In many ways, this video sums up everything we try to portray here at Copenhagen Cycle Chic and we're loving this little love-in we have with Topshop.
Topshop RideRideRide Video
Here are some stills from the video for your perusal.
One thing is certain, Boris Johnson, the new Lord Mayor of London would love this video. As do we.
Topshop RideRideRide Video
The video is also available on Youtube.

Ride on. And have a giggle at the poor soul Jamie Caddick who wrote this letter to the editor in the Bristol Evening Post. Be sure to write a comment.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Copenhagen Rainy Day


The rain fell all day but the bikes rolled on. This stretch of bike lane is 'medium-sized' - it gets about 10,000 bikes a day - and is located about 4 km from the heart of the city.

Here's a previous post about Biking With Umbrellas.

Two of my biking with umbrellas photographs have been immortalised for all time as postcards available at our online boutique:

Friday, May 16, 2008

Vélib - The Movie


What better way to wrap up Semaine du Vélib' here on Copenhagen Cycle Chic than with a little video tribute.

The music I used is courtesy a friend of mine, Jason McNiff. The song is called 'Bella Ciao' and it's from his latest album 'In My Time', which is available on Amazon.co.uk
He used one of my photos from New York for his album cover:
My First Album Cover
Which is lovely, of course. My son and I run around the house singing Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao Ciao Ciao! :-)

I love that it's an Englishman singing an Italian song in a Danish film about the French capital. Vive l'Europe... :-)

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Simplicity of Nordic Evenings

It's Monday. It's wallpaper day. Værs'go [Here you go]
Wallpapers from Copenhagen Cycle Chic - 1024x768
1024x768
Wallpapers from Copenhagen Cycle Chic - 1024x768
1024x768

Here's a little video poem-thingy using Flickr's new video function:


Here's the laptop-a-doodle versions of the screensavers:
Wallpapers from Copenhagen Cycle Chic - 1680x1050
1680x1050
Wallpapers from Copenhagen Cycle Chic - 1680x1050
1680x1050

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Welcome to Copenhagen

Accelerate
Another Great Moment in Cycling. It's that moment we love so much here on Cycle Chic. Green light. Muscles tense. Bicycle propelled forward. Momentum achieved. Continue on.
And look frightfully fashionable while doing so. Ah, Copenhagen.

Any ideas for what this magical moment could be called? The initial thrust off the light? We've discussed it here at the blog, but couldn't come up with a fine, good name for it.

Anyway, here's today's photographic offerings from the bike lanes of Copenhagen:
Musical Ride
Musical ride. Copenhagen cellos prefer being transported by bike. We've asked them. 9 out of 10 confirmed it.
Red Bag Red Coat
Red Bag, Red Coat. Both heading home on the bike lanes.
Daily Copenhagen Supermum
Yet another Copenhagen supermum. Superstylish. Supercool. Super mum.

And with Flickr's new video function, we offer you this. The Art of Waiting For The Light To Change in Copenhagen:


Copenhagen Cycle Chic online boutique is now open

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Copenhagen Bridges Now and Then

Left right
"In the stream of cycles over Knippels Bridge we see Gudrun again, pedaling steadily. As though her and the machine are one. She is Copenhagen and Copenhagen is her."
Johannes V. Jensen, from the novel Gudrun, 1936.

The photo above is Knippels Bridge these days. Still a steady stream of cyclists each day. Below is a great video showing bike rush hour in Copenhagen on said bridge.

Here's the same bridge in 1935:

In the aforementioned novel 'Gudrun' there's a great passage comparing Copenhageners to schools of fish:
"If one is bumped by a car, the whole school is bumped. It's a nerve one has in the elbow, a flock function, which Copenhageners have learned so well that it is second nature".

Here's one of the other bridges over the harbour:
Bridge Glance

And this is the newest car-free bridge over the harbour, one side for pedestrians [not visible, it's on the other side of the white barrier] and the other for bikes.
Shadow Check

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Like-minded Individuals

Copenhagen - Gay Spot of Europe
I've made the acquaintence of many like-minded individuals through this blog and now I'm met one close to home. I was contacted by Marie, a fellow Copenhagener, and we met to discuss our passion for Copenhagen bike culture.

She wrote her thesis from the University of Copenhagen last year called "The Modest Democracy of Daily Life - An analysis of the bicycle as a symbol of Danishness".

For those who understand Danish, there is an interview with her on Danish Broadcasting's website. Click on the name Marie Kåstrup to hear it.

The thesis makes for fascinating reading. The short of the long is that we are now collaborating on a book about Danish bike culture and it's all very exciting. Not to mention odd that it hasn't been done before. Working title: 'Cykelkultur' - I don't need to translate that, do I? :-)

But despite the lack of books on the subject, she confirmed what I had long suspected: that Denmark has more songs, literature and poems dedicated to the bicycle than any other country. Not even our happy, singing, poetic Dutch friends to the south can compete.

And indeed, the concept of "cykelpigen" - or "the cycling girl" was well established from early on and it remains an iconic symbol of Danishness even today [this blog, for example]. "A unique front figure for the democratic bike culture", as Marie writes in her thesis. "She is, all at once, a modest, charming and everyday representation of Danishness."

Poets and writers and songwriters have sung the praises of the Copenhagen cycling and cyclists for over 120 years.

In his famous documentary from 1935 simply called 'Danmark', Poul Henningsen filmed cycles in the city, including these 'young cycle ladies' and wrote the final song in the film - "Cykelsang" wherein he mentions 'Sweet shoes on pedals [...] Cycle girls... lovely girls!'. Here's a still from the film of a cyclist in a summer dress pedalling through the landscape:


And here is a hastily made Short visual history of Danish cycling:



More to follow, along with the usual content... don't worry.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Cyclopornography Film - Copenhagen Bike Ride



Finally... we got around to slapping a Gorillapod - flexible camera tripod - onto one of our bikes. Setting the film function to 'time lapse' and hitting the bike lanes.

It's a simple, funky little film. A journey from my place to the City Hall Square and back again another way. Just a quick 6-7 km journey in the lovely winter sunshine.

On bike lanes the entire way. It's worth noting that I rode in the afternoon. During rush hour you'd see hundreds more bikes. We'll try to get out one day to capture this Copenhagen phenonemon.

Until then, enjoy this one.

LABEL