La Double Vie de Verychic

Girlfriends riding together on the bike lanes of Copenhagen. Sociable, sustainable, fashionable. [Confused about the blog title?]

Girlfriends continuing their chat at a red light. The one on the right practices the old school red light posture. Getting right off the bike and waiting for green. Style over speed indeed. Maybe it goes with being a violin player. Or just being a Copenhagener. Or both.


And on some stretches, there's room for three [or more] friends to ride astride and chat on the bike lanes.

A Hub of Copenhagen Cyclists

We coined this phrase a while back, for fun. There is a long line of interesting names for animal flocks in English like:
- A leash of greyhounds
- A gaggle of geese
- An exaltation of larks
- A shrewdness of apes
- A troop of kangaroos
- A parliament of owls
- A siege of herons
- A crash of rhinoceri

Val - The King of Kargo Bikes in Seattle - and I played a little game in the comments about what else we could come up with.

He brought two great ones to the table:
- A pallet of cargo bikes
- A lounge of recumbents

I came up with:
- A cove of beach cruisers
- A sweat of racing bikes
- A posture of Dutch/Danish bikes
- A load of Xtra cycles

Let's play! Any other amusing ideas? Post a comment. Ooh! I have one!
- A elevation of high-heeled Copenhagen cyclists...

UPDATE!
This just in on the comments page:
Jason brilliantly proposes these:

A tower of tall bikes
A cog of fixed gear bikes
A trick of BMXers
A basket of townies
A cubby of folding bikes
A tred of mountain bikes
A convoy on commuter bikes
A union of unicycles

Steve proposes:
A bank of velodrome bikes.

Keep them coming!

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE CYCLE CHIC:

A warm morning smile at the photographer chap taking photos/filming footage of the rush hour.


Are you exceptionally slow if a violin player overtakes you? Perhaps. Do you care? Unlikely.

The World's Most Liveable City - Copenhagen

Always the bridesmaid... finally the bride. Copenhagen is ranked as the world's most liveable city by the bespoke magazine Monocle this year. Munich, last year's winner, was bumped down to number two. Monocle has been my favourite magazine for ages, now I love them just a little bit more.

Cyclist illuminated by Late Evening Light.
Apart from the traditional scientific and statistical parameters like cost of living, schools and health care, etc, the judges have taken quality of life aspects like lifestyle, design and culture into consideration.

Copenhagen is praised for its attention to environmental causes, it's rich design culture, a fantastic food culture, the swimmingly clean harbour, the city's many green areas, the Metro, the architecture and the use of bicycles. Then there are the many Michelin-starred restaurants and coffee bars and - according to Monocle - the many beautiful people who ride their bikes everywhere and recycle their garbage. See... it's NOT just us!

Two musicians ride along the harbour in the sunset.
Tyler Brûlé - the editor of Monocle and Wallpaper* is behind the Quality of Life Survey. He describes the Urban Manifesto for what makes a liveable city in an article on the International Herald Tribune's website. Here's the IHT's entry on Copenhagen last year, in light of our second place ranking.

Interior of Copenhagen Flat.
I'm going to take this opportunity to link to some of my photos that DON'T feature bicyles so you can take a little online promenade through Copenhagen:
Danish Architecture Photos
The Copenhagen Colour Street
Copenhagen People in Black and White
[Yes, I actually do take photos of other subject matter...]


Copenhageners at a beach bar - Halvandet - on the harbour.

The Top 20 for 2008 according to Monocle:
1. Copenhagen/København
2. Munich // 3. Tokyo // 4. Zürich // 5. Helsinki // 6. Vienna // 7. Stockholm // 8. Vancouver // 9. Melbourne // 10. Paris // 11.Sydney // 12. Honolulu // 13. Madrid // 14. Berlin // 15. Barcelona // 16. Montréal // 17. Fukuoka // 18. Amsterdam // 19. Minneapolis // 20. Kyoto





Via: DR & Politiken.dk

Welcome to Copenhagen

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. Copenhagen cellos prefer being transported by bike. We've asked them. 9 out of 10 confirmed it.

Red Bag, Red Coat. Both heading home on the bike lanes.

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 Musical Bikes

A girl and her cello, originally uploaded by Rune Johnsson.

A splendid photo by fellow Copenhagener Rune. The photo is copyrighted.
I was organising my folders containing cycle chic photos and I saw a little theme. Copenhageners transport their musical instruments by bike. I thought of Rune's photo above and then found some more.

Guitarists cycling along the harbour in the sunset.

Posted before, but appropriate again.

I'd seen this chap below a few times around town on his converted Long John. Took me ages to figure out what he rigged it for. Then I saw him one day carrying a massive bass, leaning against the front rails. In the photo on the right, I'm guessing that it's a horn instrument or a violin being transported through the sleetstorm.


The aforementioned cello and musician in a different season.