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.

Steady On

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.

Voting in Style in Minneapolis

What a way to ride to the voting booth. Thanks to Todd in Minneapolis for sending us the link to the blog run by his and his wife [pictured] - RedBlackBrown.com. Heading down to vote in Saint Paul, Minnesota on a lovely fall day on a brand new Velorbis Victoria.

Cicloeleganza in Milano

Our intrepid - and frightfully fashionable fashionista - friend Raquel from Madrid was on the Cycle Chic beat in Milano recently, recording a series of cicloeleganza shots for us here at the blog.

A splendid series of shots of citizens enjoying a cycling life in the Italian city. Cyclists who are clearly feel safe and secure and who know that taking it easy is the safest way to ride.

Eek not Ick

Another cracking photo from our mate Derek Pearson of Bikerubbish.com in Washington, USA. Thanks, mate.

I've discovered that many people pronounce the title of this blog [lifestyle, movement, source of inspiration] as Chic[k], to rhyme with 'flick' or 'kick' or 'Titanic' but we'd just like to point out that when pronouncing Chic you'll be wanting to say so that rhymes with 'sleek', 'cheek' or 'fantastique'.

In other words, we're not aiming for the US English 'Chick', which orginates by the way from the Spanish 'chica' for girl. We're aiming for the French word, 'Chic' meaning "smart elegance and sophistication especially of dress or manner". I knew that, but I found the fancy description by googling. Did you know you can type define:YOURWORD into google and press enter? It finds word meanings if you do. Try it. It's cool.


So is riding your bike complete with a surfboard rack. Thanks to Richard of Cyclicio.us fame, over in Santa Cruz, USA, for getting out there to snap it upon our request.

Get your own knuckles at the knuckle tattoo gun.

Let them know you ride chic and aren't afraid of telling people about it.

Tandem Glamour in New York City

Joanna Goddard from Glamour.com sent me this blarticle of hers about this lovely couple and their tandem in New York. Thanks, Joanna! Be sure to read about them, where they got the bike and what it's like to ride it at the website.

Copenhagen Cycle Chic International Roundup

Photo: Ruby Washington
The New York Times has a little slide show they call A Field Guide to the New York City Bicyclist wherein they feature five cyclists from the city. One wears lycra, but behold the others! Thanks to the readers who fired off the link to us.

Photo: Ruby Washington


A little splash of Copenhagen Cycle Chic as seen in lovely Karlskrona, Sweden. Thanks, Joel!


A bit of Berlintasticness from Der Spiegel.


Thanks to Andy for this fine example of Springfield Cycle Chic!


I've had this photo on my harddisk for ages and ages. I think it's a publicity stunt for The Bicycle Film Festival.


GQ's Taiwan magazine have a cool print edition with loads of my photos this month and here's a little online teaser for their Scandinavian design feature.

Ode To A Bicycling America

Atlanta, Georgia - by San Smith - check out her blog!

The very, very best thing about this blog - and the other one - is the people we've met. It's a pleasure to cybermeet like-minded individuals who share our love of personal style, fashion and bicycles. In that order.

Santa Monica, California - by Madness Riviera.
We get so many lovely guest photos sent in or added to our Flickr group so why just chuck a little montage up with photos from a few of our American friends.

Fashion-wise there will always be differences in style on both sides of the pond, but we're loving what our friends and acquaintences are doing for Bicycle Chic in America.

Venice Beach, California
I lived in L.A. for a while back in the late-80's and every weekend was spent either surfing or hanging at the beach. Venice Beach was a favourite spot. Even back then Venice Beach was bicycle heaven. Some good things never change.

New York:


You know cycling has arrived [or rather returned] when the citizens of big cities get into the saddle. First Paris and now New York. Sure, it is far from perfect, but it's happening. And when it happens in cities like Paris and New York, it will spread. Wonderful.
Read our series about Paris for more info about the rebirth of their bike culture.

Seattle & Portland:


Sacramento, California:


Thanks for all the photos. There are so many more and we'll keep posting the, but for now this is our Ode to a Bicycling America.

Signage and Suchlike

Got a kick out of this sign, based on those strange American 'No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service' signs. I'd love to see these posted to the doors of fashionable shops and cafés. :-) Why not? In some places, baggy trousers that expose underwear are not allowed and you can even go to jail for wearing them. So it must be kosher to require customers/guests to adhere to the Copenhagen Cycle Chic basics. As ever, this design is also available on t-shirts for ladies, gentlemen and as posters/postcards at the Copenhagen Cycle Chic Online Shop.


Meanwhile, back on the bike lanes of Copenhagen...




Over at the Interbike Bike Fair, Richard from Cyclelicio.us took these photos of a cycle chic fashion show. The good word is spreading.

Prague Cycle Chic

Photo by Jakub Turek, Horydoly.cz
There was a massive bike ride in Prague the other day, under the critical mass banner, and a friend of mine sent me these lovely photos. I have criticized the critical mass approach earlier as being counterproductive. Things are different, it seems, here in Europe. In Budapest and in Prague, the rides are as they are meant to be - a celebration. There is great cooperation between the organisers and the authorities and hardly any confrontations to speak of. Certainly not like what you see in New York. What a treat it would be to take part.


Photo by Jakub Turek, Horydoly.cz
Perhaps we have more of a tradition of protesting here in Europe. Each summer during "Strike Season", there are protests and strikes across the continent. They are a part of life - citizens passionately demonstrating for or against issues. So perhaps these European versions of the rides are just another demonstration in the eyes of the spectactors.

Whatever the case, it's lovely to see a spot of Cycle Chic in the Czech capital. Go Prague Go!

Cicloeleganza

Sometimes you just have to coin a phrase to make sense of things, to give them a description that works. 'Cycle chic' regarding cycling style made sense when we invented it last year. The cycling women of Italy, however, deserve their own phrase.
Cicloeleganza.
Above, in Milano, by Amenove.

Another example from Milano, also by Amenove.


Ravenna.


And in Pisa, by John.


Roma.


Cremona.

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.

Cycling to the Vineyard in Portugal

A lovely guest photo from Portugal today. Milton sent in a photo he titled, "Mum and son at the vineyard", from a trip out the vines to check the ripeness of their grapes.

Milton writes:
"Although biking is mainly an urban phenomenon, it can exist and flourish in small villages, too. The bike is our means of transportation on our local trips, which includes trips to my hobby, the vineyard, near Aveiro, Portugal."

It's harvest time for Milton and his family. Follow his wine journey on his blog. Gets me all sentimental for the autumns I've spent picking grapes in France...

Here's wishing you a fruitful harvest, Milton.


And here's a photo from Budapest, sent it by a reader. It's from a ride on Earth Day 2008. Ahh. What a sight.

Just Another Day in Copenhagen

Just another day in Copenhagen. Just another Copenhagen cyclist.
Thanks so much to Lars, a fellow Copenhagener, for these guest photos. His eye for streetstyle is great and we're hoping he'll keep on sending photos in.


Purple is hot this autumn. It's official.