Raintastic

Autumnal rain on the bike lanes. A stylish Copenhagen Supermum and her boy in the rainy afternoon rush hour.


Another supermum, 'sans enfant' crossed my path.


'Chic' is, and always will be, a relative term. Nevertheless, a splash of colour on a rainy isn't a bad thing.


Red rain poncho, heavy load on the Short John.

Right Then, It's Autumn

Right then, supermum.

It's autumn.

Carry On, Copenhagen

Classic Copenhagen street scene, including bikes and a cargo bike ridden by a Supermum in heels.

City Hall Square one day. Blue on blue with a poncho-clad Supermum.

For more about Danish cargo bike culture, I have an article online at The Los Angeles Times right here.

Carry On, Copenhagen

A little batch of Copenhagen Cargo Bike Supermum photos from last week. Coincedentally, four of them riding Christiania Bikes. Above, a crossing moment on the King's New Square under moody clouds. The canopy helps in the event of rain.

Waiting for the light to change. The two kids in the box were sitting on their bench reading library books. How lovely is that?

Another classic Copenhagen transport shot.

A family out for a ride. I suspect they might be tourists, but that is wonderful that they are seeing the city in a Copenhagenized state.

And here's a Nihola bike with camoflage canopy outside Europe's oldest tea shop, A.C. Perch's Thehandel. My friend Christian's family have been running the shop for generations. They've just opened a tea salon upstairs. Even if you don't drink tea, pop inside for an aromatic experience. They do a great online sales service as well, shipping to tea lovers all over the world.


We're pleased that our Cycle Chic message is spreading. One of our readers, Lisa, sent us this link from the Canadian newspaper The Globe & Mail. Copenhagen Cycle Chic Goes To Canada.

Based on the tone of the article, it's as though the journalist JUST realised that it is possible to ride in style and in heels. It's a bit corny the way she explains things, but hey, it's all good news for Cycle Chic.

Heels and Patterns

Copenhagen Bike Culture Colours. As long as we keep hearing "people ride in HEELS there?!" we'll keep showing that they do.

Hmm. I many have discovered another pattern here. For the second time in a couple of weeks I've seen a Copenhagen Supermum with a cargo bike with heels, steering with her right hand and holding her keys in her left hand.



A lovely stretch of bike lane.


I cleaned up the bikes at the summer house. They came with the place, two lovely old school bikes and an old BMX for kids. But somehow the bikes looked lovelier covered in cobwebs.

Another Pattern Emerges

Off to the summer house for a week or so. Blogger has a function that lets me post while away! So nobody has to live without Copenhagen Cycle Chic! Yay!

Copenhagen Supermum on her Nihola Cargo Bike.
I see a pattern developing here. Supermums on Niholas wearing short skirts and high heels...


A pattern not unlike Louboutins and old Raleighs.

Copenhagen How To

This whole blog is a Copenhagen How To, but here are some recent shots.

How to buy tickets for you, and your bike, in the Copenhagen Metro.

How to park your bike outside a Tiger of Sweden shop. Just a quick click of your wheel lock and off you go. And remember, cyclists make better shoppers than motorists.

How to transport two bottles of beer in style. The bike this chap is on is a Pedersen, or a Dursley-Pedersen. The inventor of this revolutionary bike, Mikael Pedersen, died in 1929 but in 1995 his remains were reinterred in Dursley, Gloucestershire, where this bike was made famous. Sometimes called The Most Comfortable Bicycle in the Universe.

How to say good-bye to friends. A last exchange of words, the light turns green, supermum on left rides straight on, friend on right turns right.

How to ride home in the afternoon.

How to gently accelerate off the lights on your Short John delivery bike.

PLUGGING
We'd be fibbing if we said we weren't frightfully pleased about this article in The Guardian from yesterday. Thanks to Carlton Reid for the kind mentions and compliment. Check Carlton's bike site at Quickrelease.tv.

This Could Be You

In the US, according to the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey:
- 25 percent of all trips are made within a one and a half kilometre [1 mile] of the home.
- 40 percent of all trips are within 3 km [2 miles] of the home.
- 50 percent of the working population commutes 8 km [5 miles] or less to work.

Yet more than 82 percent of trips 8 km [5 miles] or less are made by personal motor vehicle.

The figures are not far off the European averages. Basically, as we've been waffling on about for ages, distances aren't an issue. They are quite accessible. Which is a fantastic point of departure for encouraging people to get onto bikes. Sure, we often hear people say "I live much farther than that from work... so I can't ride my bike..."

Surely there must be ways to divide up the trip. Put a bike rack on your car, find a secure place to park it within cycle striking distance of your work and ride the last leg. Or ride to a train station nearby and take the train part of the way. Get a beat up old bike that nobody wants to steal, in case you're worried about theft.

Suits are no hindrance, even in 28 degree heat, if the distances are as reasonable as stated above. It's Style Over Speed, after all.

Bring a bottle of juice along for the ride.

Another Copenhagen Supermum in action.

And here's a stat that's interesting from the same study at the top:
60 percent of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively. Since "cold starts" create high levels of emissions, shorter car trips are more polluting on a per-mile basis than longer trips.

New York Times & The Guardian
Just a little addendum. We were sent this link to T-Magazine, a supplement of the New York Times about Copenhagen. A shocking lack of bikes, but still cool.

Then there is The Guardian's 'I've Been There' feature - great for collecting readers' tips about traveling to various cities. Here's the Copenhagen intro.

Copenhagen is an aesthetic capital that is content with its laid-back, cool attitude and rather unimpressed with the delusions of grandeur suffered by other European cities. The city centre is a charming labyrinth of cosy streets peppered with trendy cafes and boutiques. The surrounding neighbourhoods are relaxed areas where the Copenhagener can be seen in its natural environment.
[...]
If "big is better" is your thing, then Copenhagen will disappoint. Upon seeing the Little Mermaid statue on her rock on the harbour generations of puzzled tourists have uttered the same remark: "But she’s so SMALL!" Upon hearing this a Copenhagener will merely shrug and remark, "She’s life-size". All with a crooked smile and a twinkle in the eye,

Which would be an ideal motto for Copenhagen. Life-size. An ego to match any other capital but an ego which is wrapped up in a Nordic coolness that makes any visit to the city a calming, groovy and aesthetically appealing experience.

Copenhagen Family Life

The Copenhagen Family.

Playful on the bike lanes on the way home from karate.

"A Cycling Girl Becomes Our Dream Today"

Our co-blogger Marie is currently in Malaysia working on a Danish reality show for a couple of months but she'll be blogging as best she can while there. Marie's granddad was known for his songwriting and we thought it appropriate to translate one of his cycling songs about springtime. His name was Sigfred Pedersen and he wrote the following song in 1936.

We have several posts about the iconic stature of the Cycling Girl [cykelpigen] in Danish history and this song is a fine example of the poetry surrounding the topic. I translated it directly, so it doesn't rhyme in English. Nevertheless, the song remains true to this day and still fits Copenhagen's bike culture to a tee.

Cyclist Song by Sigfred Pedersen, 1936

Denmark's young girls are all cycling now / Through springime's gentle, floral kingdom / To the beat of nickel bike bells / They head in flocks towards fairy tale adventures / With the sun in their eye, squinting over the handlebars / All the cold of winter is suddenly forgotten.

Yes, soon old houses can ignite in flame / Us old boys feel our blood rush [...]
We must give up! It's useless to lie: / That which flutters and which flies, entices us / A cycling girl becomes our dream today.

Fly out in flocks, you lovely cyclists / That which smiles and which tempts, entices us [...] / Fly out in flocks, fly out with your partner, / The youth must have freedom every day / But remember that bike lights must be turned on at 9!

All winter you long for the sun / Now springtime embraces the dresses / As the bike bell chimes from the polished handlebars / Every girl's heart is a promise given / One to be embraced completely by life / Springtime's fairytale begins today

The small cyclistas become cyclones / Millions of them on their small machines / Make traffic dangerous for every sad cyclist / But I have an indestructable frame and I can swing / If your tyre is flat we can trade tubes / As long as it will be you and I at the end of the day.

My own girl cycles through the spring / small auriculas flutter from the forks / A knee slides in and out of the hem of her dress / It all smells sweetly of love and nickel and springtime / from the newly varnished cycle / that carries the city's blonde girl on her way.


[NB:] The reference to 'auriculas flutter from the forks' is seen to this day. Women decorate their baskets and frames with flowers, more often plastic than real, but it is an old tradition in Denmark from the early days of cycling:

Copenhagen Sunday

Red bikes are lovely in the sunlight.

Yet another Copenhagen Supermum.

Classic Copenhagen. Newborn baby transported by bike.

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:

Freyja's Day

Friday originally means 'Freyja's Day'. Freyja is a major Norse goddess of love, beauty and fertility. She is portrayed as blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful and people prayed to her - and still pray, since the traditional Nordic faith is officially recognised as a religion in Denmark - for happiness in love.


You don't always have to ride. This Copenhagen Supermum padded casually down the street in the sunshine, eating a plum and chatting with her child.

She rode effortlessly down the Old King's Road, music in her ears, smoking a cigarette in the most relaxed manner imaginable.

Sticker with city hall in the background.

Spring is here and that means summer is sure to follow. My family and I either ride our bikes [25 minutes] or hop on the metro [15 minutes] down to the beach at Amager Strand. We're all looking forward to the summer.

Daily Musings from Copenhagen

The surest sign of spring is the sight of bare legs. My wife and I and some of our friends have a contest each year to see who spots the first pair. Nighttime doesn't count, since bare legs are always a part of the night life, so it has to be during the day. This shot doesn't count, but it signals that we're getting close. Our eyes are peeled.

On the stretch of street outside our flat it far between the the traffic lights. Cyclists usually get spread out. Perfect for solo shots. But once in a while you get lucky.

Today's Copenhagen supermum. Two bags of groceries hanging on the handlebars, kid on the back, basket filled with school bag and what have you. And just a run of the mill bike. No bells and whistles, just transport.

I love this wall near me. A waterfall in the summer and every night it is lit up with embedded lights.

It's really hard to take pictures of anything in Copenhagen without a bike in the background.