We thought we'd be fair. We do what we can to document the cycling life of Copenhagen's fashionistas and fashionistos but they should not have a monopoly on beauty and poetry. Here are some of our fellow citizens who are aging oh so gracefully in the World's Cycling Capital.
Running to catch an elevator at a train station.
Gracefully crossing Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard.
Launching into motion.
14 comments:
This is a wonderful post! I love having something to aspire to later in life! Thank you!
This is one thing I love about cycling in Copenhagen: it is for people of all ages because it is so safe.
As a resident of Copenhagen for a little over 2 days now, I am qualified to make the following comments on the concept of CPH cycle chic:
1. If you arm yourself with a camera and stand on any street corner, then after a short period of time you will have a card full of shots of drop-dead gorgeous girls in stylish clothes riding bikes.
2. Not all Copenhageners wear "ordinary" clothes to cycle - there is a fair amount of lycra and other abominations.
3. Quite a few people wear helmets. These fall into 3 equal camps:
a. ordinary helmets worn correctly
b. ordinary helmets worn in a stupid way perched on the back of the head
c. stylish hlemets like skateboard helmets, or pseudo-riding helmets, in trendy colours, or designs
4. Comparisons with Holland: cycle traffic moves faster here. Maybe because bikes are lighter - not so many "all weather" bikes with big mudguards and panniers; not so many "pillion" passengers; more helmets and lycra
5. Err ... that's it. I HAVE to buy a bike this weekend - any suggestions where to go for a secondhand bargain?
Great post. Thank you.
Oh, this is a lovely post! Not the first time you've featured cyclists older than I am, but a nice change from fretting about not being a lass any more. Why no charming older men?
Jeremy, how sad. Why on earth would cyclists wear helmets and "kit" when they have safe infrastructures.
Looking at this site and Copenhagenize, as opposed to what I know of Amsterdam, the roads and paths seem wider in Copenhagen. Alas I've never cycled there - I was only in Copenhagen very very briefly to work at a European Social Forum related event, and it was December, so always dark.
I also suspect that the theft problem is worse in Amsterdam than in Copenhagen (this with input from a friend originally from Copenhagen who works in Amsterdam - of course he cycles). Doubt there is so much difference in smaller cities and towns.
Bicycling might not keep us young (what does, after all?), but it keeps us youthful and alive and moving ahead, always. Many thanks for the lovely photos!
jeremy: yes, sorry about the helmets. we've had an unfortunate spate of helmet promotion recently, without much science, but a lot of emotional propaganda. current rates in Denmark are 15%. In Holland: 0.1%.
the lycra... i don't notice it much. but there are many people who commute long distances and that's who you're seeing in the skintight clothes.
with 500,000 daily cyclists you're bound to see a bit of lycra.
second-hand shop: we don't have many. we usually just throw our bike away when we're done with them. But if you head up Gammel Kongevej there's a shop on the left just after Vaernedamsvej called, i think, Falke.
Or go up Nørrebrogade. On the right side when you're passing the long yellow wall of the cemetary there's a used bike shop.
or you can lease a bicycle at www.cph-bike-rental.dk until you find one you want to buy.
Never in my life have girls or women my own age been much of a fashion or life inspiration so I really appreciate this post. I suppose because I have always been more focused on the possibilities of the future . . . anyway, these women are really beautiful. Shown on their bikes, I wonder what they are thinking, where they have been and where they are going.
beautiful post! loves it!!!
Beauty at all ages comes with activity and confidence. Nice to see it rolling by!
Wonderful post, really beautiful. It's so good to see - more of this please and yes, also of charming older men.
Hoping this will catch on in Cambridge where we are seriously plagued with lycra shorts, luminous yellow horrors and an overload of cycle helmets.
It's comfortable to ride in sport-specific clothing. Why is that so hard for some people to understand?
noone is saying that, matthrew.
the point is that it isn't necessary. there are 100 million daily cyclist in Europe and even more in Asia, who just cycle in regular clothes. in order to encourage people to cycle, it is important to stress, and highlight, that cycling in regular clothes is the norm. and it's easy and comfortable.
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