An Affirmation

Oh for heaven's sake. Another snowstorm has rolled over Copenhagen. I love winter, I love snow, I love cycling in snow in the winter. But please... give me some hope of summer.

Enter Artuu, with this brilliant photo from the official Cycle Chic Flickr group.

I'm currently re-reading Susan Sontag's brilliant work from 1971 called On Photography. It's a dog-eared volume:


In it she writes this:

"Poignant longing for beauty, for an end to probing below the surface, for a redemption and celebration of the body of the world - all these elements of erotic feeling are affirmed in the pleasure we take in photographs."

Cycling Poise

Photographically speaking, it's not an instant Cycle Chic classic. But I keep returning to it in my head. For the poise. The poise.

Look at the lines. Such elegant lines. Sitting up straight like her mother taught her. Pedalling with true Style Over Speed. Taking it easy. Oh, the lines. Can't get much closer to a 90 degree angle.


Then I remembered this one from a week or so ago. It hammers home the point that cycling doesn't have to be a hunched over, adrenaline-based, testosterone-driven activity.

Here's a quote from an American book on ‘How to bicycle’ from 1892, by L. F. Korns, as seen on Quickrelease.tv:

“As a means of pleasure, cycling stands in the foremost rank, but in common with all the great pleasures, it may easily stand in the foremost in abuse. The desire to ride at an unreasonably high speed may become morbid... The ever lasting scorcher, bent like a hoop, and with sunken cheeks, ought to be quite sufficient warning against this abuse.”

No 'scorchers' and thank goodness for that. Cycle like you walk. Head raised high.

Three Copenhageners, One Location

Cycling past a sewing machine shop never looked this good.

Three different hats, same snowstorm.

Today we're still rather chuffed about being included in The Guardian/Observer's Top Ten Fashion Bloggers list. Sweet.

My friend Jamie sent us this great quote:

"Photography as a fad is well-nigh on its last legs, thanks principally to the bicycle craze."
Alfred Stieglitz - The American Annual of Photography, 1897

Sorry, Alfred. You were a bit off, mate.

Three Red Bicycles and a Musing

Nothing quite like red bicycles, is there? Strange, that.

One of the books I'm reading at the moment is Nothing to Be Frightened Of, by Julian Barnes. It is an autobiographical work about the author's fear of death, which has nothing at all to do with bicycles or streetstyle. Nevertheless, one passage in the book struck home one of the sub-conscious reasons for continuing to produce this blog featuring the beautiful citizens of Copenhagen on their bicycles.

Barnes experienced a fear of flying for a period in his mid-twenties but he cured himself of it, quite unexpectedly, at Athens airport. He was a day early for a flight home to the UK and he camped out in the airport.

"To kill time, I went up on to the viewing roof of the terminal building. From there, I watched plane after plane take off, plane after plane land. Some of them probably belonged to dodgy airlines and were crewed by drunks; but none of them crashed. And this visual, rather than statistical, demonstration of the safety of flying convinced me."

There is little statistical proof that cycling is dangerous anywhere in the world, which is brilliant. But perhaps the visual demonstration of the beauty and safety of cycling that is this blog will convince readers, wherever they may live, that cycling is a normal, potentially gorgeous and safe form of transport. The 'Style over speed' motto coined here on the blog is, if you think about it, a fine traffic safety slogan.

New York Dane - Cycle Chic NYC

Photo © Copenhagen Cycle Chic / Theis Mortensen

A lovely shot of the Danish singer Ane Trolle in New York City. Cool girl on a cool bike. Ane sings in Ja' Confetti and she has feat. on Trentemøller tracks, too.

My mate Theis took this photo of her in New York City. Theis is a cinematographer and we're currently shooting 22 episodes of a science programme for kids called Volt [premiere in Denmark this Sunday on TV2 at 09:25 if you have kids between 6-10 years old!!], which is why I haven't had time to reply to all your lovely comments as of late.

This quote was posted in my Slow Bicycle Movement Facebook group. Quite brilliant and quite an apt description of Copenhagen and Cycle Chic, as well:

"The secret of riding a bicycle as an adult is to pedal just hard enough to keep the machine upright, then to increase speed very gradually, but without becoming too breathless to hold a conversation or hum a tune."
From The Discovery of France by Graeme Robb.

Copenhagen Goodness

Last Friday I was heading out to a friend's place for a bit of red wine and FIFA on the Xbox when I happened upon this charming, lovely couple in the twilight near the bridge over the harbour. I stopped them and asked if I could film them for a promotional cycling video I've been asked to make. They obliged. They are everything that is cool about cycling in Copenhagen. Relaxed, smiling, sweet and just plain cool.


Two Cyclists Surveying The Boulevard


The first photo is of one of our famous Weather Girls - Vejrpigerne - who stand atop the Richshuset Building on the City Hall Square. I was up there filming for the promotional cycling video and the Cycling Girl is just gorgeous even after over 75 years. We have an earlier post about her here. The other photo is a modern version of the Cycling Girl surveying the same Boulevard from street level. Cool, casual, Copenhagenesque.

Promoting Cycling Positively

This photo of morning rush hour reminds up of a quote from the novel Gudrun, by Johannes V. Jensen in 1936:

"And like a large home Copenhagen begins the day's work. Already down on the streets is one at home, with loose hair, long sitting rooms through which one travels socialbly on a bike. In offices, in workshops, in boutiques you are at home, in your own home, one large family that has divided the city among itself and runs it in an orderly fashion, like a large house. So that everyone has a role and everyone gets what they need. Copenhagen is like a large, simple house."

Over at Copenhagenize.com we've been having a series of posts about how or how not to promote cycling positively and showing different examples. We here at Copenhagen Cycle Chic are proud to live in a city with such fantastic safety statistics. The majority of Copenhageners, when polled, say that they feel secure and safe in the traffic. We know we certainly do. We are also proud to lead the way in showing how cycling in Copenhagen is safe, effortless and healthy. Promoting cycling as it should be promoted.

We have a good mention in today's Irish Times, which is readable online here. Doing our bit for the cause.

Our Cycling Legends

Copenhagen Cycle Chic will be present at the world's largest bike industry fair in Germany - Eurobike - in partnership with Velorbis. We'll have a massive wall-size banner at the Velorbis stand and we whipped up these flyers for the sports geek crowd. "Our cycling legends dress differently than your cycling legends". A tribute to the everyday dress code of Copenhagen cyclists and a nod to the iconic and historical figure of the Danish cycling girl. There is nothing quite so opposite to spandex than heels.

Casual Copenhagen

A cyclist completely at ease with herself and her role in the life of this city.

I've noticed a few funny groups on Facebook regarding bike culture:
From Sweden - My Bike Was Stolen In Uppsala / I Stole A Bike In Uppsala.
"Let's all just work this mess out." Thieves and the thieved. Together at last.
From Denmark: [translates as:]Hey! Is there a sign on my bike reading 'Trash Can'?
For people who get tired of their baskets getting filled with trash.


Just your average Copenhagener.
Here's a great historical quote on cycling in the Take Back the Bike Culture category:
The whole nervous system is highly benefited by bicycling. The rider must constantly use the senses of hearing, seeing, and feeling in order to avoid collisions, direct his machine, and keep his equilibrium. This exercise, therefore, is in a high degree apt to draw the mind away from its usual pursuits and cares of daily life. It is highly exhilirating and promotes sociability, since it is both pleasanter and safer to ride in company than alone. In women it is apt to overcome the impulsivenness and whimsicality which render so many of them unhappy. ...Bicycling is no longer a mere fashion that may fall into disuse and give way to a new one. It is a wholesome and inspiring exercise, and has provided of practical value as a means of rapid locomotion.
--Dr. Henry J. Garrigus, in the January Forum, from Public Opinion, 30 January 1896

I whipped up another poster. For those who love bike frames. Available at our Online Boutique, as always.