Bike is the New Black

Another Danish photographer, Erik Daugaard, has some great shots of Copenhagen women on bikes, with a tongue in cheek angle. He calls his theme Dogme 1 - this is the land of Dogme after all.

- The bicycle is a classic form and clearly too big for her.
- The bicycle has a handlebar-basket mounted, preferably decorated with artificial flowers.
- The lady wears sunglasses. The bigger the better.
- The lady wears long boots and/or high heels
- The lady is wearing a huge scarf
- The lady is concerned about other things than traffic.
- The lady is carrying some sort of electronic equipment in her hand.
- The lady has some sort of large messy bag hanging from her shoulder or on the bicycle.
- The lady doesn't wear a helmet.
- The lady looks miffed / mentally absent
- The photo is shot from close distance.
- Flash is used.

Try to fullfill as many rules as possible - minimum 3 rules.

He offers here a couple of examples of his quest.

Springtime Autumnal

It's autumn. There's no doubt about it. Or is there? Certain visual signals in the city are confusing. The sun is shining and the temperature is the same as in April. Colourful flowers on bike baskets, as above, are a century-old tradition but they send your mind into springtime.

Then there's this shot. This is confusing. Brightly coloured flowers on a city square. The chairs stacked up could be a sign of the start of the outdoor serving season - indeed that is one of the surest signs of spring in Copenhagen. The cafés start stacking chairs outside waiting for the first mild day. The girl's outfit is certainly springlike. Skirt and stockings, as though it's the first day she shed her jacket, which is in her basket.

Rainy days. Definately springtime.

All very lovely and very confusing.

Those Pesky Cyclists

Look. This isn't an easy task, documenting the fashionable cyclists of Copenhagen as they happily pedal about our lovely bicycle culture.

There I was, having just visited the Copenhagen City Museum with my son, and I saw a nice shot of Copenhageners at a café, with two cyclists in front. Nice framing, a black background, sunshine, blah blah blah.

So up goes the camera and click. What happens? A pesky cyclist, damn them all, rides into my frame. I mean... it's MY frame. I created it by deciding to record time and space in pixels at that moment in time at that geographic location with those characters who will never be positioned like that ever again in the history of homo sapiens.

And then she just barges in with her sunshiny, flowing locks and big basket and bag to upstage everyone else.

Maybe I should go into the forest to start recording the stationary delights of Danish fungi culture. Let's compare:

Nah...fuhgeddaboutit.

At least things are easier at a red light. Smashing raincoat ensemble.


And don't get me started on pesky photographers. There I was, pedalling happily down a lovely shared space street in the heart of the city when CLICK, Chris from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation snaps this shot of me with my Cykelhjelm.org bag. No rest for the wicked. He was in town researching our bike infrastructure and culture and we went for a lovely ride.

Guest Photos, Lingerie and The Wings of Hermes

It's been far too long since we've heard from our friend Derek Pearson from BikeRubbish.com in Washington State. Luckily, he sent this photo along the other day. In his words: "Hot date - heading to the outdoor movie with my sweet sweet wife :)" Style over speed, indeed. Thanks, as ever, Derek, for sending the photos along.

Here's another one from Derek, in San Francisco.

A Triumph for Cycling in Copenhagen

If you have a new underwear collection and want to show it off in Copenhagen, you use a bike. Oh, and underwear. Triumph paraded models down the pedestrian street in the heart of the city, led by a rickshaw from Flying Tigers Rickshaws - thanks to my mate Alkis who owns the company for this film.

The Wings of Hermes on your legs

Now while all bikes have chainguards in Copenhagen - and basically everywhere else with bike culture these - funky trouser clips might be of interest to those who need to protect their trouser legs. Ride with the Wings of Hermes. Available from MOMA.

Danish Basket Cases
Here's a link to a national newspaper's list of baskets for your bike. New, classic and everything in between. It's in Danish, but the links are clickable no matter what language you speak.

Things To Do At Traffic Lights in Copenhagen

Rummage in basket.

Pause for thought.

Adjust pony tail.

Adjust scarf.

Stay dry.

Bike Baskety Goodness

Herewith we present a series of photographs as a Visual Analysis of the Bicycle Basket as a Key Part of our Bicycle Culture.
The written analysis goes like this: Slap 'em on your bike, put stuff in 'em, ride around.

Over at Charlotte's Chic Cyclist blog out of Boston she had a post called "What's in Your Bag?" wherein visitors discussed the contents of their bike bags. It's a good, fun question.

But it made be realise that, as a rule, the bags you see in Copenhagen, transported around by cyclists, are not bike bags. There is nothing bike-related in them. This goes for baskets, too. No bicycle tools or pumps or suchlike 'gear'. Save a pair of lights, perhaps. It's just people's stuff. The same stuff they have if they took the train or the bus. Stuff.

Nor when they hop off their bike do they become 'pedestrian bags' anymore than they are 'shopping bags' if the cyclist - now a pedestrian - walks into a supermarket or designer boutique.

Regarding the baskets in these shots, I love the fact that in this design mecca called Copenhagen, old wicker baskets live on. Some are new, but the design remains unchanged. Just as women 75 years ago carried their belongings in these baskets, the modern Copenhagen woman carries on the tradition. Most are detachable and are carried into shops or supermarkets. They serve a practical purpose and do so with simple, elegant and timeless style.

You do see modern baskets in Goretex-y material now and then but they are rare. A good old wicker basket - or even a wire one - or a wooden beer crate/plastic milk crate on the back rack are still around because they do the job and do it well.


Denmark and Copenhagen are doing fine lately in the global media exposure sweepstakes.
This from the NY Times about Denmark's tackling of the energy crisis. This from the Washington Post today about why the Danes are consistenly ranked as the happiest people on earth.

Harbourlicious

Went to take a dip in Copenhagen's harbour bath next to the Brygge Bridge. Place was crowded with Copenhageners going home from work - or just going somewhere in the nice afternoon sunshine.









It's my shadow in the bottom right photo. Not very discrete!
The guy with the pink shirt and red helmet is a former colleague, Jacob, a really nice bloke. Just a shame I didn't recognize him until after I'd taken the photo - he was long gone by then :)

Flowermobile

Those flowers aren't going to walk home by themselves, are they? Good thing she has a basket.

Jazzed Up

Town is buzzing with the yearly Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Everyone is out on their bikes, shopping a bit of bebop, avantgarde and New Orleans... 900 concerts all in all. Yes, that's a lot.

Flowers Versus Stripes

Apparently, it's either flowers or stripes this summer. My closet definitely has more stripes than flowers.. How about you, what do you prefer?








Combining is also an option:

Sleek and Chic

She flew along with her baskets, chatting amicably on her hands-free mobile, turning heads the whole way. Elegant heels, short skirt, flowing locks.
Classic Copenhagen.

Off They Go

Zipping along the canals.

Springtime, Foraar, Printemps, Primavera

An average Copenhagener on an average bike in the gorgeous spring sunshine. As we've mentioned before, on average 37% of the population ride their bikes each day but on sunny spring and summer days that number rises over 50%.


Bike lanes in Copenhagen. The arrows on the ground indicate which lane you want if you are heading straight on or turning right. Separating the bike lanes from the motorised traffic is the foundation of any sustainable bike culture. So get down to city hall and start your lobbying! :-)


A whole lot of red at the red light.


A fine example of how a wicker bike basket is used while off the bike. A means of carrying your shopping or as a replacement for a purse. The basket above has metal hooks that let it hang on the handlebars, making it easy to lift off and carry into shops or, in this case, down to the canals to enjoy the sun.