Guest Photos Early August 2008

Another batch of fantastic guest photos and thanks very much for thinking of us. At the bottom in the middle is Alexandra in Washington, D.C. and she is the focal point of this article in the Washington Post. As they say in that neck of the global woods, "You GO, girl!" Great article.

All in all, looking back over the past year of Copenhagen Cycle Chic, it is quite amazing to see how things have snowballed. It was as lonely as a Finnish winter until other sites started cropping up, followed by Flickr groups and then, late in 2007, we started seeing coverage in newspapers in the UK and the US. It's increased in intensity here over the summer in the US as the media has realised the people are taking back the bike culture. Here's an article from Canada, another from Australia, and this one from Washington, DC.

It's an amazing development to behold. Funny, too, considering the fact that this cycling chic thang is hardly a newfangled thang here in Europe, but it's great to watch it develop. All I did was coin a phrase - Cycle Chic - and start photographing a theme - it's all of you who make it grow and spread the Style Over Speed word - especially with wonderful guest photos like all of them we've published on the blog.

Let's keep it snowballing, shall we? A good, stylish tailwind to you all.

This and That from Here and There

Another brilliant painting by Janet Karam, inspired by one of my photos. Art imitates art once again. This one was inspired by this photo:

Janet's Blog.
Janet's website - Funkytown Art.

Taking a literary angle, Inge in Antwerpen has a Dutch literature blog called Plankje Ongeregeld and she interviewed me for a new feature on her blog - Bloggers Read and Tell. Now I'm looking forward to photos/reportage about her and her new black Oma bike. :-)

Michael in Brooklyn has a cool blog started up. Drunk and In Charge of a Bicycle. Michael and his roommates have been discussing getting cool 'normal' bikes and they are all casting themselves into the fray. Michael had a poll on his blog about what bike his should buy. Either an Azor Opa [some Dutch contraption] or a Velorbis Churchill [bespoke Danish elegance and exquisite design]. Needless to say, the Velorbis won the Euro-challenge.

Michael will be posting about his new bike and his travels in NYC as they happen. He is also compiling a list of dealers/distributors for various European-style bikes in the States, which should come in handy for those of you who are in the market for one.


We have a backlog of guest photos itching to get online so we'll start with another photo from Patrick in Portland. Pure Copenhagen.

Guest Photos: Italy and Portland

Nouvelle Vague Bike, originally uploaded by Federico Erra.

A stunning find on Flickr, taken by the excellent photographer Federico Erra.

Brilliant mood and cycle chic to boot.

Below is another fine shot by Patrick Finntastic in Portland. He's titled it The Fastest Girl in the World:

Guest Photoliciousness from Estonia, London and Portland

A busy inbox we have.
Thanks to everyone who sends us guest photos of cycle chic around the world. Here's today's international collection:

One of our newest member states in the European Union, Estonia, has a blossoming bike culture and Rasmus sent us this pearl of a shot. Thanks for that. Even though mountain bikes [in urban settings] are so-o-o-o 1990's, the outfit makes this shot. Nice contrast.

Thanks to Eva for this groovy photo from the London New Years Day Parade where participants dress up in vintage clothes and ride vintage bikes.
Check out Eva's cool blog - Cyclepod.

Another report from our Foreign Correspondant Patrick Finn in Portland, USA:
Here is a shot of something we see very often in Portland, girls riding track bikes with no brakes. This has caused quite a controversy here due to police citing cyclists for not having a brake, but the lawyers looked closely at the law and saw that it said the vehicle must be able to skid to a stop. Some fixed fear riders can do this and some can't. I ride a fixed gear, with a front brake. I can certainly understand how Europeans see this fixed gear craze and think it's a bit frivolous, but what can I say? It's become part of the culture here.
Great shot yet again, Patrick. You're right, it's a strange fad that fixed gear thing. But fads fade. Bikes without proper brakes are not allowed here according to the traffic laws. If bikes are to enjoy an equal footing with motorised traffic then the rules should apply to bikes as well. That's an important step towards bike culture. Thanks for keeping us up to date from your side of the pond!

Finntastic Fotos From Portland

A mere 24 hours after annointing our first Foreign Correspondent - The Right Honourable Patrick Finn of Portland, Esq. - the boy plops THIS into our inbox.

In one fell swoop he proves his worth as well as raising the bar for himself. What a copenhagenesque photo, Patrick. Great capture.

Patrick's notes:
"Thank you so much for honoring me as your foriegn correspondent, I will not let you down! So long as there are fashionable girls riding bicycles, I will be compelled to photograph them.

I have been driving to work more often than not these winter months, which fills me with ennui and pent up energy, but today I was lucky enough to share the road with this lovely cyclista for a few blocks and I was able to line up this shot out my window.

You may note the baby blue helmet in her basket. I'd like to think that bicyling isn't so dangerous as to require a helmet, but this cyclist at least carried one with her, maybe to put on as she approached her home to be a good example or to avoid castigation.

Thanks again -Patrick"

Guest Photo: Portland and San Francisco

Generally, we just think it's cool to have a blog onto which we can chuck photos that we would have taken anyway. We love that we have many viewers. It's such a laugh and we love the regulars who we have gotten to know over the past seven or so months.

But what really tickles us pink is that we now have a Foreign Correspondant! Our good friend Patrick from Portland has taken up the gauntlet and endevours to do what he can to record cycle chic and bike culture in that faraway exotic place called Portland.

Here's his latest reportage.

"Hello Mikael, It's Patrick from Portland with a bit of winter cycling here. Capturing cycle chic in winter is tricky: I see so many folks bundled up in their safety yellow rain gear that I'm not ready when a good photo opportunity rolls by.

This is the best shot I've gotten in months so I thought I'd share it with you. The color combos are a bit garish, but sometimes this grey world can use a little Gaudi.

Here's to the warm months in our future! -Patrick"

Thanks, Patrick! Always a pleasure to feel the Portland pulse through your sure and steady trigger finger.

While we're at it, here's another quick guest photo from Kristin in San Francisco:

"I find your blog incredibly inspirational for us Americans who tend to be not-so-cycle-friendly. However, SF is a great city for cycling! I caught this girl biking in a vintage mini, tights and cowboy boots on Friday evening in San Francisco's Mission District, with her basket filled with groceries, riding home with her boyfriend, probably off to cook supper".
Thanks for thinking of us, Kirstin! We look forward to more photos from San Fran!

Guest Photo: More Portland by Patrick Finn

Ladies and Gentleman... another fine photo from Portland by Patrick Finn.
Thanks for sending it along to us, Patrick... and we look forward to the next installment!

Guest Photo: Portland, USA

It had to happen sooner or later. At some point a photo from Portland, USA was sure to ding into our inbox. We have been hearing so much about Portland lately. The good cycling people of the city are endearing themselves to us more and more each day. [Although we'll never forgive them for bribing and flirting their way into second place - ahead of Copenhagen - on this very unscientific list... :-)]

We were dying to gain a glimpse of cycle chic in the city and we have to thank Patrick for sending this one along.

"Your website has been an absolute inspiration to me. I spent this summer attempting to document the best of Portland bicycle chic, but found that it's trickier than it looks. I did manage to get one photo I would like to share with you. Thank you so much for your amazing glimpse into your culture."

Thank YOU, Patrick. We're so pleased to be able to have a Portland photo of cycle chic on the blog.

And please tell everyone to keep up the splendid bike advocacy work in your passionate town.