Nothing like a bit of Nordic backlightaciousness gracing a Copenhagener on a bike in killer heels.
And then you have the Copenhagen version of The French Lieutenant's Woman. Classic style.
And then there is Lululicious. She took a break at the playground to sit in the box of my Velorbis Long John. I haven't personalised it that much just yet. There are stickers for our Danish bike helmet website Cykelhjelm.org and a Slow Bicycle Movement sticker. And the shopping bag for the Slow Bike Movement, too, from the online store.
I had made a box for it but Harry at Larry vs Harry offered to have a bigger one made for me, so I took him up on it. It's great. The kids love riding in it, too: I only really use the Long John for transporting the kids, but it is brilliant and practical. Old school charm, brand new bike.
Steady as a rock. The light was just changing and the other cyclists were doing a double check for cars before pushing off. Some Copenhageners are in less of a hurry.
Philadelphia Cycle Chic from the website for Haley Trikes - a company that makes these cool cargo bikes. We posted about them over at Copenhagenize.com.
This Five Cycling Senses is an aesthetic series so I won't dwell too long on the obvious 'smell' factor regarding urban cycling - exhaust from motor vehicles. I'll just hurry up and link to this post over at Copenhagenize.com about how studies have shown that the level of polluting particles is higher INSIDE cars than next to them on a bike. So while we have to live with exhaust, we can pity the motorists.
And this post highlights how traffic [meaning pollution and noise] kills ten times more people than traffic accidents, so cycling is a fantastic, safe way to stay healthy.
And as with the cyclist on the lovely, wide bike lane above, we can just zip right past the cars anyway.
Meanwhile, back at the poetry... For me, when considering Smell in relation to urban cycling in Copenhagen, one thing pops instantly into my mind. Perfume.
Not a single day passes without perfume wafting up my nose on the bike lanes, and I'm not exaggerating. Cycling here is a fashionable affair [as if you haven't noticed that already] and perfume or cologne are second nature.
Whether having a fellow Copenhagener overtake me or just following in the slipstream, perfume adds aromatic colour to the urban landscape. Even waiting at the red light downwind of another cyclist, the scent of their perfume, or even their shampoo, often drifts your way. Nice aromas but it also heightens that sense of being close to your fellow citizens. It's personal, somehow, even if you're strangers.
I can't honestly remember any negative smell experiences involving sweat or body odour.
Certainly during the summer, the scent of suntan lotion is everywhere in the afternoons when people are heading home from the beaches.
Like in the post about Taste, I'm quite convinced that I can smell the seasons. The most strikingly aromatic season has to be autumn. The sweet organic smell of fallen leaves, intensified after the rain. The cooler air somehow sharpening the scent.
Surely we can taste sunlight? Whether in high-summer, mid-winter or in the early days of spring?
We can certainly smell the woods and the fields when we take shortcuts to work, and the seasons possess each their own unique combination of odours.
I'm quite sure we can agree that we can smell the rain.
I have this thing about water. Wherever possible I like to ride past it. Riding over the bridges in Copenhagen you'll always see people glancing to their right at the harbour. I suppose it's an addendum to the post about Sight, but the harbour has changeable scents, too. The salt water smell is vague and suggestive in the winter and richer in texture in the summer. The above film is comprised of stills that I took over six months on my way to work. I can smell the sea water just looking at the film.
A few years ago I rode in another direction out of town to work, past a lake outside the city limits. The scents were just as remarkable and rememberable - the latter word was not a word until just now - as on the harbour.
In the post about Taste, coffee was mentioned, and that applies to Smell. Whether your own coffee on the bike or someone next to you. Not a bad aroma.
Autumn is in full swing and winter is around the corner. The bicycles roll on. The good people at SWIMS in Norway have already developed fine products to protect your bespoke footwear from the seasonal elements. Here in Copenhagen you'll have fenders on your bike to protect your much-loved Paul Smiths or your trousers/stockings to some degree from the spray when riding to work but when you invest in quality footwear and clothing, it's not a bad idea to have a bit of extra protection. Like the dapper chap above and below. We've blogged about SWIMS before but now we've chatted with them and recieved some great photos, too. They adhere to the time-honoured mantra of Scandinavian design: simple, practical, elegant. Galoshes will never be the same again. They are on the cusp of launching a new product so we're pleased to present a little world premiere here: The City Slipper is the new product from SWIMS this season. Given the fact that urban cycling in high heels is a normal part of life in Copenhagen and many other European cities, it's a welcome addition to the urban landscape. Whether you are just riding to work in your workhorse Louboutins or heading off to a smashing fancy do with the who's who in the evening, if the forecast calls for precipitation of any kind, why not equip yourself with the City Slipper. Like with all of SWIMS products, there is a host of colours to choose from. At time of writing, the City Slipper has yet to premiere on the SWIMS website or in the SWIMSSTORE, but they are right around the corner. SWIMS will work hard protecting your footwear, but they are apparently not designed to help you avoid frizzy hair associated with humid, moist weather. Now you know.
It's a touchy-feely thing, urban cycling. It's physical, organic and a feast for the senses. I figured I'd try to portray the five senses in relation to cycling in Copenhagen. Starting with Touch.
People don't talk about 'cycling' here in Copenhagen. You don't get to work and discuss the morning's commute with your colleagues. You may comment on the rain and whether or not you were caught in it but the whole act of urban cycling is so second-nature that it isn't even mentioned.
As I've mentioned before, we don't have many cyclists in Copenhagen, we only have Copenhageners who get around by bike. Sure, there are groups that hang out together. The sub-cultural bike messenger crowd and the fixies do their funky thang together. The woolen-socks in sandals/trimmed greying beard crowd join the Cyclists' Federation. The rest of us just ride around because it's easy and fast. 57% of Copenhageners say that's why they ride. 17% mention excerise and only 1% say they do it for the environment.
Since starting these blogs I've asked friends what they like about riding their bike everyday. The most common reply, it seems, is that it's nice to experience the fresh air and the weather. And then the conversation quickly moves on to something else. There's nothing really to talk about. It's a routine - an enjoyable one, sure, but just a part of daily life. We don't discuss teethbrushing techniques either.
THE WEATHER So, the photo above falls into the Touch category. Feeling the light spring rain, snowflakes, a sudden downpour or the stabbing, painful slivers of ice during a storm on your face and hands are definately appropriate for Touch. Feeling the four seasons up close and personal is an aesthetic part of urban cycling, even if you get drenched once in a while.
TOGETHERNESS Touch is riding with friends or loved ones. Sure, you can hold hands while driving but it's not quite the same thing. And this kind of togetherness would be difficult in a motorised vehicle.
HANDLEBARS Our sense of touch applies to all of our body but it is our hands that most used. Therefore I've included a shot of hands on handlebars. Riding with a firm grip up a hill or a loose grip through the city or even just riding with one hand. Fingers reaching for the brake and squeezing it. It's all about you touching the machine and controlling it. Even with one finger. And even if it's two sets of handlebars.
TIPTOES There are various postures people use at red lights, as we've highlighted before. Many people just rely on their toes to keep them balanced at the light. Tensed muscles supporting a body and a bike, ready to push off at a moment's notice. A brief connection with the ground before sailing off on two wheels.
FOOTPOWER Just after that magical moment when 'lift off' is achieved and the bike is rolling forward of its own accord and the foot that propelled it forward has lost contact with the ground, the next event involves the foot finding the pedal. Seeking it out in a combination of instinct and experience as well as touch. It's second-nature. We don't have to look for the pedal, we know where it is. But the touch of the foot on the pedal confirms it and we can start pedalling away. Lift off. The cyclist on the left is seeking out the pedal with her foot. Preparing to accelerate.
Seeking out the pedal is one thing, but the foot sometimes needs to find purchase on the curb. Placed just right - according to individual taste - until motion is required once again.
Anyone else have any observations about Touch in relation to cycling? Add a comment and I'll start thinking about the other senses.
No jockeying for position, not muscling their way ahead of other cyclists, no trackstand on the edge of the zebra crossing. Just two cyclists waiting calmly for a red light to change to green. A spot of stripes in the autumn sun.
Over at Copenhagenize.com we've been discussing http://www.copenhagenize.com/2008/10/what-if-we-marketed-cycling-like-we.html.
Above is a recent advert for the French tyre company Hutchinson which is quite brilliant. Just two cyclists - one messengery type and one Cycle Chic Hero riding through New York City. Cool cool cool. This is the way to go to start branding cycling as effortless, enjoyable and liberating, not to mention a feasible and acceptable form of transport.
There is one flaw in the film, though. Hundreds of thousands of chic female cyclists in Europe know that when cycling in high heels you don't use the heel to pedal, for gods sake. You use the sole of the foot like with any other shoe. Sheesh.
But... because we're cheeky... we made a quick and dirty Copenhagen Cycle Chic Remix of the above advert wherein we feature just the Cycle Chic and sans sub-culture.
Wonderful Copenhagen from Colville Andersen on Vimeo. Don't know why it didn't occur to me before to use this song. It's corny, it's kitsch - it's from a musical for god's sake - but it works well with the footage. The Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen song from the 1952 Danny Kaye musical about Hans Christian Andersen. The story is completely Hollywoodized and doesn't come close to drawing a true portrait of the writer. Believe me, I know. I produced this website for Danish Broadcasting for the bicentenary of Andersen's birth in 2005. Actually, if you're coming to Copenhagen and like history, I'm quite proud of The Time Machine on the aforementioned website. You follow in Andersen's footsteps in a flash-based 'game'.
The Hollywood film, it is said, is the single reason that generations of Americans still pronounce the English name for Copenhagen wrong. It's not Copen-HAH-gen. It's Copen-HAY-gen. Blame the songwriter/scriptwriter on that film.:-)
Meanwhile, back in fairytale land, splendid creatures roll about the streets each and every day, as Lars' photo attests [and every other photo on this blog]. You can send the dinky Little Mermaid to China, for all I care. I prefer the Cycling Girls of Copenhagen as a symbol for this city.
I nabbed an inflight magazine from Sterling Airlines that featured this classic Cycle Chic image on the cover of the Sept/Oct 2008 issue. What a splendid shot. Sterling flies around Europe so if you're planning on coming to Copenhagen, they are very reasonably priced. The magazine is published by Ink Publishing.
And while we love seeing beautiful shots inspired by Copenhagen Cycle Chic, we love the real thing even more. Like these shots from the morning rush hour last week:
Autumnal rainbow in Copenhagen. The all-important colour coordination.
Frightfully stylish Quebecois riding along the canal. Safe to say he is completely integrated into the Copenhagen scene with his choice of clothing. We had a coffee and a bite to eat and a long, wonderful chat about bicycle culture.
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