It's Thor's Day, which is Thursday in English and that means absolutely nothing at all. Above is a Copenhagner doing a classic 'around the rack' [as opposed to around the block] looking for parking on Amager Square in the heart of the city. The City of Copenhagen is starting to make rackless bike parking areas, since real bikes have kickstands anyway.
Afternoon rush hour with cyclists either turning or accelerating off the light.
Canadians and Aussies will know the scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki, above. We hosted him and a crew from the CBC last week. He's shooting a doc on sustainability in Europe with his daughter Sarika, also above. It was lovely. Copenhagen's bike culture was the subject, of course, and we rode around for two days talking about it. Read more over at Copenhagenize.
TAG!
So it appears that we've been Tagged - some sort of viral buddy thing for bicycle bloggers. As urban blog legend will have it, some blogger called The Fat Cyclist started it and Erik at K-WALL
tagged us. Uh... thanks. I think. But I'll play along. It means we have to answer some fun questions so here goes:If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?
No idea. It's not about the bike. Maybe a black one. All shiny like.
Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?
No idea. I don't covet bikes. I don't covet busses or other forms of transportation. I do like my Scrap Deluxe from Velorbis. It's cool. But as beautiful as it is, it's just a way to get around.
If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?
I would start in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver and ride downhill to West Van where the route would morph into a bike lane along the Seine in Paris for a couple of kilometres or so before morphing into the Shibuya Crossing intersection in Tokyo where I'd wait for the lights and pedestrians. Then, on the other side of the intersection the route would morph into the Tiergarten before ending on Frederiksberg Allé from where I would roll on into the heart of Copenhagen.
What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to do for the rest of her / his life?
Probably a helmet advocate.
Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded?
What the fuck is a 'road' bike? I know mountain bikes, they were popular for 42 minutes in the mid-nineties. What a lot of silly terminology. I just ride a bike on the bike lanes.
Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.
No. Alcohol would be required.
Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?
Nope. Nope.
Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?
Ice Cream. I can't ride ice cream to the supermarket or to work.
What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.
Am I really sitting here answering these questions at 22:06 on a Thursday evening?
Yes. Apparently I am. I'm cream-crackered and off to bed.
Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.
Drunk and in charge of a bicycle
Montréal Cykler
Bike in the City
11 comments:
in australia the choices are mountain bike or road-bike (racer).
that is it.
i don't know what you mean by "bicycle" there's no such thing. i do hear some people talking about fixed-gear bikes... but it sounds spurious.
A road bike is wonderful tool for getting yourself over paved mountain passes. A mountain bike is a wonderful took for riding rugged dirt/rock trails in the mountains.
Using your bike for everyday transportation in the city is a wonderful thing, but you should also try using it for pure enjoyment in other environments. A bike can also be used for fun! :)
:-)
Do car owners say stuff like, "I think I'll take my mid-sized hatchback today, instead of my compact Japanese model"?
Don't worry, while the bicycle is transport here, we all love going for bikerides, with our loved ones or families. The crowds in parks and on the beach paths on the weekends are a testament to that.
In America, yeah, a motorist might actually say that... :)
What really makes me angry here is when I see a big ol' pick-up or SUV towing a trailer with ATVs or motocross bikes behind it. So they're driving some big ol' gas guzzler up into the mountains so they can then drive another gas-powered, noise-making machine to tear up the wilderness. People here are LAZY.
My neighbors actually have a mini motocross bike with training wheels for their 3-year-old. Yup, that's right - he can't even ride a bicycle w/o training wheels yet, but they have him on a motorcycle with training wheels. It sickens me.
Land of the free, home of the brave...
A real bike may have a kick stand but how do you keep it from getting stolen without a bike rack to lock the bike to?
More people are taking up bicycling here now. It is making our very limited bike parking harder to get.
Fonk: you dont' have a monopoly on car crazed outdoorsy types. we have them here, too.
cycling red: you're right, it's not a solution for other cities. but in Copenhagen we don't lock our bikes to things. we use wheel locks. so rackless parking is a must in order to ease bike parking congestion.
It looks like it's just me, but the ice cream question resounded with me the most. I must really like frozen treats, but I figure you could still have gelato and sorbet if you gave up ice cream for your bike. I had to add that so I could make sure you'd be able to sleep tonight ; )
Thanks, Bronzebombshell! An excellent angle. And technically i could stop eating products on which the words 'Ice Cream' can be read. but that doesn't stop me from eating creme glace, gelati, isvaffel... or any other sweet, frozen dairy product with a foreign name.
I'm in!
No bronze bombshell, you're not alone! It's the only question that I still can't answer. But, just like zakkaliciousness said, if it's crème glacée I should still be able to eat some. Of course, in Montréal, we have billingual labels so, if I keep the french side in front of me, it should be ok!!!
I found your blog thru Kathrine of Copenhagen, and I'm having a great deal of fun perusing it. If you don't mind, I think I'll link it to my site.
good reasoning, manon!
thanks, kate!
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