You Can't Describe Copenhagen Living Without Saying The Word 'Bicycle'. Ever.

Nothing stops us cycling in Copenhagen... from Grit Tind on Vimeo.

So here's a short film that I made with a crazy and talented group of friends studying Performance Design at RUC University, Denmark. We just wanted to depict what it's actually like cycling around the beautiful city of Copenhagen (even on a grey day!)

We thought to be on the safe side by filming this during August when the weather was warm and wonderfully sunny but of course, according to Sod's Law, on the actual day of filming it rained so so hard! We persisted anyway because at the end of the day, whether it rains or even snows, the reality is that Copenhageners will cycle through anything - "Sådan er det...!" (That's just how it is!)

Enjoy!

Over and Out!

K.E.G. x

Cycle Chic Films - Vancouver Cycle Chic

One of the proud members of The Cycle Chic Republic - the good people at Vancouver Cycle Chic - have produced a series of wonderful portrait films.

Here is the first film in the series. Meet Simon.

Enjoy.

Cycling the Frame in Berlin

Back in 1988, a short film - part documentary part art-film - was made, called Cycling the Frame. It was about the Berlin Wall back when West Berlin was still isolated from the West. The film follows a young girl (Tilda Swinton) and her thoughts as she cycles around West Berlin alongside the 96 mile long, iconic, symbol of the cold war.

The above trailer is for the 2009 follow up to the original film. Tilda Swinton cycles once again along the same route, commenting on what she sees. Brilliant stuff.

Check out www.Invisible-Frame.com for more about these two works.

Designing Bicycle Culture

The city on bike from Bicycle Innovation Lab on Vimeo.

As ever, it's not all about how Cycle Chic continues to inspire Citizen Cyclists around the world to open their closets and dress for their destination. Here's an interview about Design and how it can help our cities - and our bicycle culture. Together with Danish designer Jens Martin Skibsted. An interview for Bicycle Innovation Lab and their "The City on Bike" lecture series.

You can also see my TED x talk from Zurich about Bicycle Culture by Design in this earlier post.

Designing Bicycles & Urban Lifestyles

How to design a lifestyle? from Bicycle Innovation Lab on Vimeo.

It's hardly a secret that Cycle Chic® is run by Copenhagenize Consulting, the mobility consultancy that works with cities around the world in becoming more bicycle friendly. While this blog came first, it is now an extension of our work in promoting cycling around the world.

I'll be speaking here in Copenhagen - at the Danish Architecture Center - on October 30th, 2012, together with designer Jens Martin Skibsted from KiBiSi. It's a part of the lecture series from Bicycle Innovation Lab - Denmark's cultural centre for cycling that we co-founded last year.

Jens Martin will be talking about bicycle design - based on his work with Biomega. I'll be talking about designing streets instead of engineering them. Designing lifestyle is the theme.

The film, above, is a teaser for the event.

The lectures are free and they will be in English, so feel free to come on down if you're in Copenhagen.

Join Us.

What a strangely appealing little film. Promoting Jacksonville Bike Month, apparently. Cycle Chic it is.

Red Light Moments

This little film has been frightfully popular on Flickr - seen almost 30,000 times.

To my surprise, I found another version from the same spot in my archives today:


Red light moments in the City of Cyclists.

Oh My Oh My it's Oh Land

Oh Land: Nordic Fantasia on Nowness.com.

Sigh. What a way to wander into the weekend. Danish songstress Nanna Øland Fabricius - aka Oh Land - features in this animated film by photographer Matthew Donaldson.

Tissue Chic

Cute little advert featuring a bicycle.

Bondi Beach Cruisers

This is brilliant. A cool film feat. Australian Cycle Chic for Bondi Beach Cruisers made by +61 Collective. Cycle Chic is lovin' this on this, the last day of summer in Copenhagen. So says the weather gurus, anyway.

Copenhagen Picnic

We're loving this little film about a group of friends going for a picnic in Copenhagen. Makes us love Copenhagen just a little bit more.

New York Cycle Chic

Sometimes we just miss places. Today it just happened to be New York. We're aiming on getting back in the new year with some cool Cycle Chic events. Not NYC but Janette Sadikh Khan on my Bullitt cargo bike in Copenhagen last year.
And here's a couple of films of Mikael riding in NYC.

The Flying Pigeon

The Flying Pigeon Bicycle from yulu canada on Vimeo.
Cycle Chic is lovin' this. We approve. Brilliant.

http://www.theflyingpigeon.com/

Rio Cycle Chic Bike Ride

When I was in Rio de Janeiro last week I was picked up by bicycle at the airport and rode all the way into town on bike lanes. THAT is a sign of a cool city.

The next day my friends put on a fantastic Cycle Chic bike ride to celebrate the launch of Rio de Janeiro Cycle Chic. A 12 hour affair starting at five in the afternoon, we were around forty or so people at the peak. We rode along the bike lanes parallel to the iconic LeBlon, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches before heading around the bay to the monument commemorating the founder of the city where I gave a short speech about Cycle Chic and what it is all about and what it can achieve. After beers - and wonderful snacks provided by the bicycle-oriented La Biciclette Bakery in Rio - we moved on to various bars and nightclubs. A cracking event true to the Cycle Chic spirit. Rio is ready for Cycle Chic.

Here are some beautiful photos from the ride from our photographer, as posted on Sydney Cycle Chic.

We'll be posting some more shots from the city quicksmart.

3.1 Philip Lim Salutes Cycle Chic

Brilliance from 3.1 Philip Lim.

Noa Cortes from New York Cycle Chic

A moving, brilliant portrait of Noa Cortes from New York Cycle Chic. Defining everything Cycle Chic is about and everything it should be and everything I've always wanted it to be.

Thanks, Noa.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

The bad news is that you have to go up one side of the bridge.

Up, up you must go.


The good news is that you get to glide down the other side.




The Copenhagener in the top photo is doing something that is hard to avoid. She's glancing out over the water and the harbour. No matter how busy you are, you have to glance at the water, it seems.

This is what the harbour looks like over a six-month period:

Beautiful Copenhagen Cycling Film

Brilliant film about Copenhagen's cycling life by the director Martin de Thurah.

Faith, Hope and Love

Ah, the oddities of the internet. Bill over at District Citizen Cycling, a DC bicycle blog, has dug up this clip from a Danish film directed by Bille August in 1984. It's called 'Twist and Shout' in English and 'Tro, Håb & Kærlighed'. Which translates as 'Faith, Hope and Love'. It takes place in 1963.

Perfect title for the context presented here. As Bill writes ironically on his blog, "This short scene is pretty charming, but does serve as a stark reminder of one of the real perils of bicycling: you may not be able to catch up to your girlfriend on the bus."

Faith in the bicycle as a tool for transforming our cities. Hope that rationality will prevail. Love. Period.

Cycle Chic Guide #10 - Cycling in Winter

So, winter is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere. We here at Cycle Chic think it's high time for a little repost of our film we made last year. A little peek into cycling in winter in Copenhagen - or any city with mainstream bicycle culture. The film spells out our Cycling in Winter Guide for us.

Every winter we find ourselves dispelling misconceptions about bicycles and winter. As though it's something quite bizarre. You know how we ride in winter? The same way people have been riding in winter for 125 years. In this country and in every country with snow.

Clothing? Easy. We wear the same clothes cycling around our city that we wear whilst walking around our city. Why would we need anything different? We have winter clothes and they're great on foot or on two wheels. Anyone who tells you otherwise probably wants to sell you something.

Winter is unavoidable and only avoided by purchasing plane tickets to warmer climes. So let's just suck it up, buttercup and get on with it. Summer is, as always, just around the corner.

There are a couple of bikey things to mention, however. Firstly, most bicycles in Copenhagen don't have the razor thin wheels associated with sporty types. Our tires are thicker, which makes it easier to ride in the snow.

Going straight is rarely a problem but when approaching a corner, we tend to slow down more than we would on a dry surface.

Sure, it helps that the City clears the bike lanes here long before they clear the roads so you can almost always rely on the bike lanes being clear. In case of snowstorms you may find yourself riding on snow or ice, so just take it easy.

Whether rain, snow or shine, Cycle Chic is all about Style Over Speed. This is a little more applicable in the winter. :-)

Although you might want to leave it up to the Copenhageners to ride in a snowstorm, on snow, in killer heels whilst holding an umbrella. :-)

This is one of our favourite bicycle + snow adverts. Ever. Crappy beer. Great advert.