Bicycling is like Walking With High Heels. For Real!

I remember Mikael Cycle Chic Himself once say bicycling is like walking with high heels. And LOL – I don’t think I ever did understand the meaning.

Until yesterday… when I photographed this bike chick. And came to think of how upright bicycling gives her a great posture. Yep, Cycle Chic, just like high heels do!

Peace & Love,
a-g & www.cphblonde.com

Ps. Upright bicycling + high heels, then = good posture x 2? ;)

When Cycle Chic Rides in Other Cities

A fine artistic representation of how we feel like when we cycle in Emerging Bicycle Cultures. An illustration by the artist Peter Diamond - as spotted on our friends' site Curitiba Cycle Chic.

Joni from Amsterdam

Joni, from Amsterdam Cycle Chic, riding strong only weeks before she gave birth to her son. Congratulations, Joni!

Stylish Times - History Repeats Itself

Nothing like some vintage photographs from Copenhagen to hammer home how stylish cycling was - and is.

Complete with our favourite moment in time - the launch. Propelling the bicycle into motion.

Conversation cycling - cycling in cities should be sociable and cyclists should be able to ride side by side.

On the beach, too.

Let There Be Light

The Nordic winter sun leaves us with no more than a low lazy light during most of the day. However the few soft winter rays that reach us allow for beautiful pictures with deep colours if you are lucky enough to have your camera at hand and a little time to shoot.

I especially like it when the suns draw a fine line of light around the subject as to underline that the rider is the main character of the picture.


Even the smallest drop of yellow helps bring a picture to life.


Here the contour is so thin that it barely catches our eyes - but it makes all the difference. And the best part? Riding on a such sunny winter day reminds us that now we can look forward to two summers and only one winter!
Happy cycling!

Give Me Red

Fire, beauty, passion and a hint of danger. Red has the energy to make us feel alive like no other color. No wonder Red is so popular and powerful. Wear it or ride it with passion:

The ultimate Red. Red hair and Red Surtout inspired coat:

A touch of Red perfection topped off with a prickly knit beret:

Classic Red Bike. Casual style.

Happy cycling!

Cycle Chic & Muuse.com - Match Made in Heaven

Readers may recall the post about Cycle Chic's film shoot with Muuse.com from a while back. We're pleased to finally be able to present the film we made in collaboration with Muuse.

We shot it out at Amager Beach in Copenhagen a couple of months ago. It was a chilly day but we are pleased that the film has a hint of summer to it.

For us at Cycle Chic, Muuse is the perfect playmate. Not only are we good friends socially and professionally, the whole concept of Muuse is appealing to us. The fashion industry is hopelessly unsustainable. Big companies produce piles of clothes and, if they don't get sold, they are shredded and thrown away. Muuse features top young designers and customers can order the outfits on their website. When a certain number of orders are reached, Muuse puts the outfit into production. Ethically and locally.

The designs chosen for the film are all harmonious with the bicycle and go hand in hand with the inherent aestheticism of the two-wheeled machine. Bike geeks will bang on about goofy "cycling clothes" with reflective bits and pieces or "urban cycling trousers" (we've been riding bicycles for a century without needing them) but we'll just send you to this blogpost for our point of view about this. And while we're at it, this little film explains why we prefer to be citizens who use bicycles to get around instead of "cyclists".

Anyway... these outfits are haute couture, sure, but we love them for their flowing fabric movement. Bicycles, by their very nature, create a movement of air around us. Designs that accentuate and compliment this natural flow of air add to the appealing nature of seeing Citizen Cyclists on bicycles. Not surprisingly, we filmed the bicycle shots from a Nihola cargo bike. And thanks to Velorbis for loaning us the bicycles used by our model.

The designs used in the film are by Linda Vasel, Nathalie Fordeyn and Laura Baruël - three designers collaborating with Muuse.com.



Director: Mikael Colville-Andersen / Cycle Chic
Cinematographer: Theis Mortensen
Model: Maria Bloch-Jørgensen
Styling: Muuse.com

Muuse.com

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.

Red Ride

Red bicycles. Nothing beats them.

Cycle Chic Meets Muuse.com

Cycle Chic has teamed up with our friends at Muuse.com to make a film combining Muuse's brilliant fashion with Cycle Chic's eye for bicycles. We headed out to one of the many beaches around Copenhagen last Friday to shoot and here are some of the still photos from the day. Thanks to Velorbis for the bicycles, too.

It was a brilliant day. A little chilly, if you ask us, but our model Maria is a viking and she put on a brave face. We wrapped her in fur and blankets between every take and took good care of her. Most of the shooting featured many of Muuse's creations from their talented designers but we always included some classic Cycle Chic bicycle ridin'. Of course we did. We couldn't live without it.


Muuse.com has also written about the behind the scenes action from the film shoot over at their blog.








It goes without saying that when we did the mobile shots, we used a cargo bike from Nihola. Mikael rode the trike and Theis, the cinematographer, sat in the box.

Right then... we'd better get started editing the film. Keep your eyes on this space. It's coming soon. Well... kind of soon. Soonish.

The Launch & The Dismount

A classic Cycle Chic launch moment when the bicycle is propelled into motion.

Which goes hand in aesthetic hand with the elegance of the dismount.

Posture

We rather like proper posture.

Our mothers would be proud. And the upright bicycle is rather safe, too.

The Flying Pigeon

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

http://www.theflyingpigeon.com/

Everyone Needs a Hero

We spotted this bicycle parked in the racks outside the Royal Library here in Copenhagen. It caught our eye in a flash. Largely because we'd never really seen anything like it before. Black and shiny. Tall and proud. A little piece of India on Copenhagen's harbour.

Flags on the front wheel?! Fantastic!

Chainguard? Of course. Dynamo lights? Yeah, duh.

Extra durable and shining?! Yes, please!

Fantastic kitsch graphics and texts all over the bicycle. In our enthusiasm to photograph the bits and pieces we... uh... forget to get a shot of the whole bicycle. We had to google the brand, too. So here's a link to the bicycle on the Hero Cycles website.

The light in the late afternoons of winter is something special. Magical, even. These four shots were taken a few weeks back, before the snows.





The Copenhageners featured are cycling on a cycle track alongside a busy artery. On this stretch, not even one of the busiest, there are 25,000 bicycles a day.

The cycle track here is nice and wide. Here's a view of what it looks like in the winter. Ride in style. Safe and secure.

Neon

Here's a friend of mine. Christian. He lives in Brooklyn but is home in Copenhagen for an extended visit. We went a few nights ago for drinks and catch-up chatting.

If you're in Copenhagen you should really check out his Facebook marketplace listing. He's selling a bunch of old, but cool, stuff. I've already bought my share. It's like an online, one-stop version of a funky Vesterbro flea market.

See the Marketplace listing here.

Floral Background

Continuing on the theme, here are some more photos featuring cycling Copenhageners framed against a floral background. Carrying stuff home.

Okay... it's not ALL bicycles in Copenhagen. Here's a 12 wheeled supermum on the bike lane.

And another typically Copenhagen activity: snacking whilst bicycling.

September

Sometimes you just wish September would never end. Even though we often have lovely Indian Summers in Copenhagen in September, you still feel like you're on borrowed time and you're grateful for it.