Cycle Chic Global: San Francisco

San Francisco Cycle Chic from Adrienne on Flickr and her Change Your Life, Ride a Bike blog.
Cycle Chic goodness from the Cycle Chic™ Flickr group.

Cycle Chic in Copenhagen and Beyond

New film from the very good people at Streetfilms.org about the fantastic development of the Cycle Chic 'movement' that started right here on this site oh so many years ago... :-)

Wonderful to see Kristin [Charleston], Witek, Henrietta and Kristin [San Francisco] doing their funky thang.

'Xander from Toronto was meant to be in it, too, but the birth of his second child was a bit more important. :-)

We're rolling closer to the third anniversary of the Cycle Chic - Copenhagen blog, in mid-June. This is a lovely way to start getting ready. Thanks to Streetfilms.

[Disclaimer: I don't normally look THAT tired... :-) It was in the middle of the Climate Conference last December and I was working hard, it was cold, blahblahblah]

Cycle Chic's Top 5 Cycle Chic Cities

I was asked in an interview recently what the best cities for Cycle Chic are and it was a good question. I figured I'd whip up a Top 5 List of the Cycle Chic'est Cities on the planet. I limited the list to larger metropolises. Being a Cycle Chic Metropolis requires, basically, two elements. A high fashion bar among the population and... bicycles. It requires that a city has a developed bicycle culture, meaning that the bicycle is an important and respected transport option that is used by regular citizens. Citizens who don't identify themselves as being 'cyclists' or members of a sub-culture but who merely use a bicycle to get around. In many ways, Cycle Chic is synonomous with Mainstraim Bicycle Culture.

1. COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

This probably doesn't surprise you, but we're going with Copenhagen at #1. The reason, apart from the fact that bicycles are an integral part of life in the world's cycling capital, is that the fashion bar is frightfully high in Copenhagen.

Copenhageners are simply an incredibly well-dressed bunch. You'll see well-dressed people in every city but in the Danish capital style and textile æsthetics are a fabric extension of the Danish design tradition. If we measure the procentage of a city's population who are well-dressed, Copenhagen is way ahead.

Whatever they're wearing, Copenhageners just hop onto bicycles to get around. Crappy, squeaky bicycles, fancy bicycles, cargo bikes, whatever. The city gets extra bonus points for the rather recent development of investing in cooler bicycles. For over a century bicycles were black and heavy. With the economic boom of the last decade, bicycles were all of a sudden available in all sorts of colours and styles. Now Copenhageners can accessorize with their bicycles.
Chic. Cycles. Cycle Chic.



2. TOKYO, JAPAN

At #2, Tokyo. Fashion capital of the planet. Sure, we look to the catwalks of Milano and Paris to see what's coming, but it is in Tokyo that the clothes make an impact. Even the greeters who bow at customers inside the doors of department stores are wearing ensembles worth more than annual salary.

As far as bicycles go, Japan is third only to Denmark and Holland regarding mainstream bicycle culture. Bicycles abound in this major car-producing nation. You'll see more bicycles in the racks around Shibuya Station on any day of the week than you'll see on the streets of New York and London combined in the course of a year.

In the 'Well-Dressed Sweepstakes' Tokyo nudges ahead of Copenhagen but loses points on the bicycle front. There is less separated infrastructure for bikes than in Copenhagen and, say, Osaka or Kyoto. Cyclists often ride on the sidewalks, which is great for Style over Speed, but the city would be that much more Cycle Chic friendly with bike lane catwalks for the impeccably-dressed citizens.




3. AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

To be completely honest, it's a tight race in the top three. Amsterdam breathes down Tokyo and Copenhagen's neck on the Cycle Chic Cities list. The bicycle is king in Amsterdam, no doubt about that. Amsterdam and Copenhagen are the Romulus and Remus of modern bicycle culture.

One thing that always strikes us about Amsterdammers is their fantastic individual style. They are so cool, unique and relaxed, with a high level of 'urban funk' in their style.

We find the Amsterdam affection for clunky old bicycles to be fantastically charming. They compliment their non-chalant attitude brilliantly.





4. PARIS, FRANCE

Basically, if you don't include Paris on any list that has anything to do with fashion or style, they send a stiletto clad task force after you to blow cigarette smoke in your face and to shrug in your general direction.

Fortunately, including Paris at #4 wasn't a difficult choice. Ever since the Vélib bike share programme showed up in the city, the French capital has been under a constant and brilliant transformation to a much more liveable city. Here's a previous Cycle Chic article about the Vélib system's influence on the city.

Since Vélib started, 2 million private bicycles have been sold in the city and it shows. So... the city is virtually bicycle-friendly, which certainly counts on the Cycle Chic scale. Fashion-wise... well... it's Paris. The fashion bar is high and the people who are using the Vélib bicycles and private bicycles are people who you would otherwise ride the Metro with. Impeccably-dressed gents and fabulously-fab fashionistas.

If the city keeps up it's push for a more bicycle-friendly future, you'll see Paris muscling it's way up this list.



5. LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

We had to think about #5 for a while, but London ended up rolling away with the honours. Cycling is up and coming in the city and there are a lot of positive players promoting it. Much of our decision for the #5 spot is based on a two-day photo gig in the city back in June last year. Sitting outside Lock 7 Café in Hackney and watching the morning bicycle traffic roll past was like sitting in Copenhagen or Amsterdam. It blew us away.

Sure, most are fairweather cyclists and sure, there is a lot of lycra about, but hey... it's London, innit. Global city and all that. Fashion centre supreme. "Get on with it, mate" attitude. If there's one global city that has the potential to follow in Paris' footsteps, it's London. From the Swinging Sixties to the Two-Wheeled Teens.


Waiting in the Wings
So who's coming up fast from behind? What cities are - hopefully - soon reaching a level of mainstream urban cycling and therewith glorious Cycle Chicaliciousness? Three come to mind right off the bat.

TORONTO

There is a great deal of effort being made in Toronto to push cycling over into the mainstream realm and already the streets are graced with chic cyclists of both sexes.
MONTREAL

With the success of the BIXI bikes share system Montreal is following in the footsteps of many French cities by bringing cycling as transport back to the people.

SAN FRANCISCO

If there is an American city that has the will and the style to reach the heights of Cycle Chic, it's San Francisco. It's where I left my heart.

L'américaine et sa bicyclette à Copenhague

Finally. At long last I was able to hook with Lauren, from San Francisco, who is the proud winner of the Cycle Chic / Velorbis Climate Conference Gorgeousness Competition. Christmas and the holidays got in the way of the bike handover so we finally met up a few days ago on the harbour in Copenhagen.

In the photo above, Lauren and her Studine bicycle check each other out, ready to embark on a fruitful relationship.

Lauren and I had a lovely chat as we walked about in the icy cold weather and took photographs on the harbour by the new Royal Theatre [Skuespilhuset] with her and new red Studine bicycle from bespoke Danish bikemaker Velorbis, who were kind enough to offer up a bicycle for the competition.

I learned that Lauren, whilst growing up in the States, discovered that she loved badminton and was good at it. Must be a lonely life as a badminton player in the States. Kind of like being an American gridiron football player in Denmark. You have to go where the game is played professionally if you wish to make a career out of it.

Badminton-wise, you have Asia and you have Denmark or the UK. Lauren ended up here and currently plays in the national leagues for Herlev Badminton Club. So she's figuring out life in Denmark and writes about it on her blog The Dansk Badminton Life.

We had a brilliant time despite the cold. Lauren's outfit certainly signals her deep and complete understanding of Cycle Chic and the red Studine bicycle from Velorbis certainly looked extra good against the grey skies and white ice on the harbour. We agreed that the pannier bags were a bit out of place here in Denmark and that a basket was a necessity here in Copenhagen, but I could certainly tell that Lauren was thrilled about the new bicycle.


Congratulations once again, Lauren! Great to meet you and I hope you enjoy your new bicycle. And I'll take you up on your offer for more photo shoots later in the year. Be warned! :-)

Check out Lauren's prize winning entry here.

Cycle Chic and Friends in San Francisco

I've blogged a bit about my recent visit to San Francisco and declared my bike love for my friends 'over there'. Adrienne, Kristin and Meli.

I also blogged photos from the Halloween Critical Mass here, here, here and here.

The little film above is about a bike ride we went on the day after Critical Mass. Just riding around the city and hanging out and having a good time. Like the lyrics suggest, I'm a lucky man.

Roll Models for Cycle Chic in San Francisco

Cycle Chic Bike Gang - SF 09.

The very best thing about having launched this strange cycle chic movement is that I have had the opportunity to meet so many like-minded individuals on my travels. Especially people with whom I developed online friendships under the exquisitely tailored cycle chic banner.

It's always brilliant to shake these hands, kiss these cheeks and look these people in the eyes after ages of communicating in text and photos. Whether it be in Moscow, Budapest, Czech Republic, NYC, Tokyo, France, Riga and so on.

I must admit, however, that the experience peaked last week in San Francisco, when i hooked up with a posse. A group of women who, for me, personify everything I've wanted Cycle Chic to be and who take the concept to new levels. I found myself looking so much forward to meeting them and I wasn't disappointed.


This is traffic... get used to it.

I don't know what it is about San Francisco. The concept of cycle chic seems to go hand in hand with the city. And in that city there are 'roll' models that do so very much for advocating normalising the bicycle once again.

They have their finger on the pulse of the emerging bicycle culture in the city and they are surfing the wave in style. They are active in advocacy but their mere prescence on their bicycles in their regular, funky/elegant/cool/chic clothes is the best form of advocacy. These girls got it ALL goin' on and they are selling the re-democratization of cycling every minute of the day.


First up you got Kristin, mastermind behind the Velovogue blog. Of all the copycats and collaborators who have started cycle chic-like blogs, Kristin is one whom I've hit it off with from the start. She is the first one who I really considered a collaborator. Hanging with her and seeing her navigate the streets on her cool mixte was a pleasure.

Up and down the hills we went. Kristin and I both originate in the film/tv industry so we had loads of 'shop talk' but really, it was all about bicycles.


Here you have Kristin and Adrienne before we headed out on a 'bike ride' - something you apparently do in Emerging Bicycle Cultures. :-) Adrienne has long ranked super high on the list of sharp, bright commenters on this blog and especially over at Copenhagenize.com. Her humour certainly lacks nothing at all either. Adrienne blogs at Velovogue, too and she writes/photographs at her brilliant Change Your Life, Ride a Bike blog, as well.

Adrienne rides 'the heaviest bicycle in San Francisco', although it wouldn't even make the top 30,000,000 in Europe, let alone Asia, and yet she rides so effortlessly. Even up the hills. All the while relaying a constant encyclopædic flow of information about the history of the city or the status of bicycle culture in this or that neighbourhood. A goldmine of information and a Tiffany's of humour. Such dedication to the cause of promoting cycling positively, too.


Then you have Meli. You can't forget Meli. from Bikes and the City. She also founded Change Your Life, Ride a Bike with Adrienne. This photo really sums her up. She can strike up a conversation with every [wo]man and his/her dog. With such ease that the first 150 times I was sure she had known the individual since grammar school. What a brilliant character trait to behold.

Even people just walking down the street recieved a bike bell 'ding' and a pleasant or cheeky comment. Actually, there was no real pattern to her bell ringing. I think she just likes ringing her bell. Which is cool.

These three bikeissima cycle chicistas took such very good care of me in San Francisco. I had to teach them how to drink margueritas and they showed me what the hell a 'bike ride' was as we headed out to the Golden Gate bridge the day after Critical Mass.

Three amazingly passionate advocates for normalising cycling and they all do it with ease, grace and style. When I started these blogs I didn't have a clue what a 'bicycle advocate' was. Meeting these women and I now know the definition of the phrase.


The International Cycle Chic Convention in San Francisco 2009 lasted for more than 24 hours. It involved a lecture [by me] and then quickly progressed into a Halloween Critical Mass before moving to an Ethiopian meal at a restaurant in Mission whereafter it morphed into margueritas at a mariachi joint and then beers at a... bar. Pause for sleep and then coffee, bike ride, coffee, bike ride, etc. on a brilliantly sunny SF Saturday.

I couldn't wish for a better time with better hostesses with the mostesses. Above you can see photos of the ICCCSF2009 and you can also see other members of the posse, including the lovely Lilia of LiliaPilia and the wonderful Melissa. Not to mention Didrik and Caryl and The Man Erik Zo.

Cycle Chic isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not with these kinds of people selling the idealistic product for the Common Good. And all the anti-cycle chic hatred you can muster won't make a difference.

There are more positive advocates of urban cycling than you can shake your handlebars at. All working at Marketing the Simple Bicycle Lifestyle.



I left my heart in San Francisco. Thanks, ladies, for a brilliant time.