Splashes of Red, Splashes and Anarchy Chic

I haven't forgotten the Cycle Chic Hat challenge laid down by some readers. Until I collect the appropriate shots for the series, here's a couple hatastic Copenhageners.

Old school charm and grace.

While visiting the new Royal Theatre Skuespilhuset on the harbour, I saw this person just riding around in slow, happy circles on the old quay. Riding through puddles. That's it. Nothing more to it than that. How lovely.


Here's a spot of Anarchy Cycle Chic. If you're going to protest the World Bank summit in 2000, what better way to get around than on a normal bicycle. That chainguard is handy for stopping water cannons from getting your chain wet. That back rack is convenient for carrying molotov cocktails or a friend or a friend carrying molotov cocktails. And the dynamo light will help you through the tear gas/smoke from burned cars. And lord knows you'd look stupid if you were wearing lycra in this situation. Normal clothes are fine. From an advert for Lee Jeans' Make History photo contest.

Bad Day At Cycle Chic + Rainy Moods

Once in a while there's a bad day here at Cycle Chic. I wasn't even trying to take a photo of this Copenhagener. I was focused on something up ahead. My finger hit the button and I first saw the result at home.

Which goes to show that you can virtually close your eyes and point your camera in Copenhagen and you'll probably end up with a shot of a chic Copenhagener.


I love this rainy day shot. I love all the shots when a cyclist is just launching into motion but this one is great. Both chaps have just reached speed and their right feet are gliding towards the pedals. It's stationary and yet filled with movement, motion, momentum.


Another little umbrella shot.

Right Then, It's Autumn

Right then, supermum.

It's autumn.

Saturday Certainly

Pure brilliance from my mate Lars, who is one of the top film composers in the land when not photographing on his way to work.


One of our esteemed readers sent us this link to a book titled Romancing The Dead. I know nothing about the book - I just like the Cycle Chic on the cover. Fits well into the It's Not Just Us category.

We're pleased to have been translated, in part, into Czech! My mate Hynek is offering up the Five Senses Series for Czech readers. Nice one. Thanks, Hynek!

CPH Cycle Chic in A-dam

This is Marc from Amsterdamize who was so sweet to show Copenhagen Cycle Chic around Amsterdam this summer. We can't wait to drink him under the table if he ever dares to show up here in CPH...

A series of Amsterdam beauties:














To say whether Amsterdam or Copenhagen is the most cycle chic city is like having to choose between salty licorice and chocolate... (very difficult for a Dane, actually!)

But then, if you can combine the two (CPH & A-dam cycle chic), why bother?

Here's a video Marc shot while biking Velomama (aka Marie) around town. We're discussing the differences between Amsterdam and Copenhagen's bike culture - for instance the use of panniers and boxes vs. baskets, the use of bike locks and the extend of traffic regulation in the two cities...

Slowly, Slowly

Nothing like a flowing scarf on a cyclist.

Two funky Koreans outside of Baisikeli - a bike rental place that sends used Danish bikes to Africa. I love their hats. They rented bikes and were off to tour the city.


The cape is gently fading away from the fashion landscape. It's not really "sooo last year" since it has a classic quality to it, but this fall it seems the poncho is returning in force to the streets of Copenhagen.


We've just posted about the blossoming cycling life on New York's Governors Island over at Copenhagenize.com. If you're in New York or thereabouts, pay the island a visit and bring your bike.

It's a fantastic opportunity to go for a Slow Bicycle Ride in the true spirit of the Slow Bicycle Movement. Join our Facebook group if you haven't already.

The King's New Square etc

A fragment in time on The King's New Square in Copenhagen.

Whenever I see couples riding together in Copenhagen, I think of this quote:
"Love is not looking at each other, but looking together in the same direction" Saint Exupery.

Another simple bicycle moment on the King's New Square.

Copenhagen Lørdag [Saturday]

A Copenhagen cyclist crossing the bridge in Nyhavn, the old pictoresque canal on the harbour. Doesn't get much more Copenhagen than this.


Spring is here. Repeat after me. Spring is here.


Making it look so easy.


A fragment in time on The King's New Square in Copenhagen.

The Yellow Bikes of Spring

Now that is style. And of course I mean the back tyre of my Velorbis Scrap Deluxe on the left.


One last dash of yellow bike in the afternoon light.


A classic Nishiki bike in a fetching colour.

And Converse hightops - or hightops in any brand - seem to compliment these yellow bikes. Coincedence? Fashion?

Marie and I were sitting outside at a café nearby here and watching the bikeworld go by.

Cycle Chic Pour Homme - Dapperliciousness

Don't worry, the focus of this blog remains intact. We just thought we'd post a couple of cyclists of the male variety to highlight a bit of dapperliciousness.

This chap, above, is a poster child for individual style. Just the fact that he's riding one of the retro 10-speeds, with the curvy handlebars of my distant youth, is retro coolaliciousness. Then there's his clothes, cap and the coloured tape on the bike. What a sight.

And from outside the Hauptbahnhof in Zurich, ubiquity_zh on flickr snapped this dapper gentleman getting ready for the lovely bike lanes of Zurich.

Cycle Chic in Vietnam

Many thanks to Al, from Philadelphia, USA, for sending us these shots from Vietnam.
"I love the blog and I was looking forward to having a chance to send these to you. My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Vietnam, including a bike tour around the Mekong Delta.

Although much of the country's transportation has converted from bikes to scooters (25million scooters and counting), there is still some great cycle culture. The school kids mostly bike home from school and, as I understand it, adolescent girls often have these fantastic white silk school uniforms (younger girls do not, and not all schools seemed to require this outfit) and they are a vision.

The girls in these pictures were within a few hundred yards of the road turning to dirt and I presume they were just going to continue on their way -white silk clothes on dirt roads... Two of these girls are also demonstrating a common way of riding with a friend -just sit on the rack and many of the rack-riders help pedal by placing their feet on the outermost edges of the pedals.
thanks, Al

We'll do the thanking, Al! Thanks for these lovely shots.

Guest Photo: Santiago, Chile

Costanera río Mapocho, originally uploaded by bilobicles.

A splendid splash of cycle chic in Santiago, Chile, by Bilocicles on Flickr. Entitled "Costanera río Mapocho", it really shows how cycle chic is spreading across the planet.

The New Age of Urban Cycling has begun.

Snowfall & Ponytail

A quiet moment in a quiet snowfall on a quiet street in Copenhagen.

The Cape of Good Hope

Looks like the cape is still going strong on the ladies of Copenhagen. It's been a classy addition to the streetstyle scene this winter.

Another pair of Copenhageners being socialable as they ride from A to B.

Found this on the Telegraph's website: Goodbye Lyrca, hello street cred. Great title.

And this from The Guardian - On your bike!:
"More and more people are choosing to cycle to work, but what do you wear if you have an aversion to Lycra and road racing? Paula Cocozza offers some suggestions for the fashion-conscious cyclist..."
It's an amusing satirical piece but with many a vein of cycle chic truth.
On the helmet:
"The fallacy at the root of all helmet design is that people who ride a bike are cyclists. We're not. We just want to look like ordinary folk who happen to have chosen the bicycle as our mode of transport."

On the Breast Pocket:
"A humble adornment, but, according to Boris Johnson in response to our inquiry, it's the single most important accessory to cycling. Over to Boris: "When you're cycling and you want to stop talking quickly because you're about to hit the car in front, you need to put your mobile phone smoothly away in a fluid action, to ease from the breast pocket to the handlebars in one swift parabola of the wrist."

I'm off to the summer house in Sweden for a few days over easter. The Danish nation shuts down completely. We have bank holidays on Thursday, Friday and Monday, so rest and relaxtion with La Famiglia is on the cards. Unfortunately the woods of Sweden are devoid of cycle chic, but I'll be back soon enough. :-)