Cycle Chic Christmas Red

 

Red, leather gloves

     

Red, cotton beret 

 

Red beanie on a red jopo

P.S. spot the Danish flag in the back...

     

Red beret #2

 

Red scarf on red cheeks

 

& red beanie #2 

December has begun and bright, merry red is now easy to spot among the people on bicycles in the urban fabric of Copenhagen. Riding a bicycle can be the best way to spread the holiday cheer...

Happy Cycling!

Paris Cycle Chic in Copenhagen

These two Parisiennes, Virna and Omar, are leaving Copenhagen tomorrow. Which is regrettable. They have been guests at Casa Cycle Chic, renting out my guest room through Airbnb.com and riding around the city for five days on my guest bicycles. It's always regrettable to see guests leave.

I've been hosting guests through Airbnb since last year and it's been fantastic. I grew up in a home where the doors were never locked and friends, family and neighbours waltzed in unannouced and made themselves at home. That's the kind of home I try to create for me and my kids and Airbnb has helped inject a splendid amount of cosmopolitanism into our humble home.

Most of the guests who visit know me through Cycle Chic or Copenhagenize.com or the company, but there are also others who end up here for whatever other reason. When I tell my kids that guests are arriving, they ask where they're from and look forward to meeting them. The kids are bilingual, so it's great for them to practice their English, too.

When Virna and Omar were leaving, The Lulu - aged 4 - announced that she missed them already. I take that as the ultimate accolade for any guest who visits. Virna and Omar enjoyed playing with Lulu and they got the biggest hugs from her when they left.


And not only that, they were kind enough to buy a present for me from the bookshop at the Danish Design Center. Perfect for my many work-related journeys with Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize. Merci! You're welcome back anytime.

This is what the internet does. Bring people together. I experience it every time I travel, meeting people who read this blog and who thank us for it. It strikes deep in the heart each and every time.

Now I have the chance to welcome guests here at home and that just doubles the joy.

Good Design

There is something relaxing, visually pleasing, satisfying even, about objects that are organised nicely and neatly.  Probably why we are fans of the photo blog, Things Organized Neatly.  So, we set out to find examples of bicycles organised neatly.  Something like this...

Photo shoot for Jopo Bikes.
or this...

Bamboo getting ready to be made into bicycles in Sao Paulo.
Occasionally the City of Copenhagen does a nice job cleaning up and organising the bikes for us.  Not least with their Bicycle Butlers.

One of the closest every day sights we found, was this arrangement at a Copenhagen train station.  Adequate, efficient, and typical Scandinavian minimalism.

More often than not, it's slightly more chaotic, bicycles ending up like a heap of stuffed animals.  Loved, well-used, lost, sometimes forgotten.

Do you have examples of good design? Design that encourages order and aesthetics and would organise all these bicycles neatly.  We'd love to see it.

The Jopo

Earlier this year Cycle Chic did a photo shoot for the iconic, Finnish bicycle brand, Jopo. Jopo is moving into the Danish market and we had a brilliant day on the Copenhagen harbourfront shooting the bicycles in action.

The Jopo is to the Finns what the old Schwinns are to Americans. Iconic bicycles that almost everyone can tell a story about. They are cheeky and playful and perfect for city cycling.



It was a blustery day on the harbour, but the sun was shining so all went well. In a Nordic country everything is fine when the sun is bright, regardless of the season.

We also launched our "Chic and Ye Shall Find" concept in association with Jopo. We gave away four bicycles to Copenhageners. We locked one bicycle a week somewhere in the city and gave out clues on the Jopo Denmark facebook group, publishing the combination to the lock. Whoever found the bicycle first got to unlock it and ride it home.

We'll be launching a global version of our Chic and Ye Shall Find treasure hunt in the near future. So stay tuned and get ready...








Below you can see Jopos in their natural environment:

On the left a vintage Jopo at our Cycle Chic photo shoot in Helsinki. At right, a Jopo on a hill climb in Helsinki.

The Jopo never went away in Finland. Now the rest of the world gets to get in on the action.

Chic and Ye Shall Find: First Winner

A week has passed since the first out of five iconic jopos has been hidden. Laura was the lucky girl who guessed right and found the yellow jopo on Monday.  She told us about her experience with "Chic and Ye Shall Find" and how she likes her new ride...

"I had a day off and took a chance when I saw the contest on Facebook. I had a very strong feeling that the bike was hidden at or near Café Baisikeli. I jumped on my good old iron horse and rode from Nørrebro to Vesterbro. I had in no way expected that I would be first, so I had prepared myself to compete with three to four other people. That's why I learned the code by heart, so I would not have to waste time looking it up. But when I came, I was the only person there who knew about the Jopo. I opened the locks with shaky hands and I still could not really believe it - but then the lock opened and I was just really happy. There was a couple with their baby in the Café who were looking at me, amused. But I didn't care, I just jumped around with joy! The jopo is really fun! I'm really looking forward to riding it and it looks so cool! I am a very happy winner."

Could we tell your story next week? A new jopo is being hidden in a secret location in Copenhagen as we speak. So stop by tomorrow for the first hint!

Chic and Ye Shall Find - jopo - Found!

Laura and her new yellow -jopo- outside of Baisikeli.  Congratulations on finding the first of the -jopo- bicycles in Chic and Ye Shall Find, Laura!


The bicycle was locked inside Baisikeli's cafe house.  Stay tuned as we hide another -jopo- Friday!

Chic and Ye Shall Find - jopo -

Today we are celebrating Cycle Chic by launching “Chic And Ye Shall Find” – a spinoff of the quote "Seek and Ye Shall Find" – and that's exactly what this event is all about. The event kicks off in Copenhagen and will travel across the Cycle Chic Republic.

The first of five iconic Finnish, funky colored, - jopo - bikes, secured with two large combination locks, has just been placed in a secret hiding spot in Copenhagen. The first of the bikes is yellow. Bright yellow. Like the original - jopo - as seen in the photo below.

Each week, for the next five weeks, we will hide a new - jopo - somewhere in Copenhagen for you to find.

The code for the locks can be found on - jopo's - Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JopoDK. For daily hints, you can find them either on the Cycle Chic Republic or - jopo's - facebook pages.

All you have to do is find the location, remember the code for the locks and the - jopo - is yours.

Hop on and ride off into the sunset – though not before taking a photo for us to post.

For questions or more information, please contact:
Mikael Colville-Andersen, info@copenhagenize.eu

Jopohagen Preview

Cycle Chic did a photo shoot for Jopo Bicycles from Finland last week. We're looking forward to blogging the photos but for now, here's the photographer's favourite shot of the day, featuring our Czech model, Anna.

On the railing you can see that this bicycle/pedestrian bridge is the Copenhagen place where lovers lock padlocks to symbolise their love. You see this all around the world, thanks to the Italian novel I Want You by author Federico Moccia.


Here's one I shot in Prague last year.

Left, Right, Jopo

Left and right.

And a cool Finnish Jopo in Copenhagen.