Vancouver Cycle Chic

Cycle Chic was featured in a blogpost by Douglas Todd, a columnist for The Vancouver Sun, in Canada. I figured I'd dig out my Cycle Chic [ish] photos from the city.





On this trip Wifealiciousness - our own Cycle Chic export - was 6 months pregnant with Lulu-Sophia. Cycling is virtually prescribed for pregnant women in Denmark so going for a ride was a must.

Populaire

Considering the fact that we have posted a few thousand photos of Cycle Chic over the past couple of years, it's interesting to see which photos have been most popular among readers on the blog and on Flickr.

In second place, above, we have this lovely, elegant and simple photo.

In a runaway first place, this photo takes the cycle chic cake. Wifealiciousness and I were heading off somewhere and waiting at a red light when she said to me, in a low tone, "get out your camera."

"What?"

"Get our your camera..."

This Copenhagener was rolling across the zebra crossing. The camera was duly, and quickly, removed from pocket and the shot was taken. Probably the most iconic cycle chic shot in the ongoing collection. Wifealiciousness makes a valuable spotter. As a designer and stylist, her eyes are keen and well-trained as she moves about the urban landscape, tracking trends and styles, excesses and minimalism.

Seasons Greeting from Cycle Chic!

At the exact time that this post goes live I'll be seated at mother-in-law's amazing yule dinner table. It's a legendary spread. Roast pork and roast duck with potatoes, candied potatoes, red cabbage and gravy, among other things.

Afterwards it's rice pudding with an single almond hidden inside. Whoever gets the almond in their portion gets a present.

After dinner we decorate the tree and light the candles on it. Then we sing and dance around the tree. 'Dance' is really a funny word to use, but that's what it's called. We hold hands and walk around the tree. The songs are mostly childrens songs for the benefit of the kids. Then... finally... we sit in the living room and open our presents.

At some point, Father Christmas comes by, in the form of a friend of ours. He gives presents to the kids. Then yours truly pops down to his house to put on the costume and do the same for their kids.

We didn't fancy the idea of getting a christmas tree this year so I'll have to reblog the above, me and the kids heading home with the tree.

The seasonal celebration is called 'jul' in Denmark, from the Old Norse 'jól'. It lives on in English with 'yule'. Originally a pagan festival celebrated at this time of year, the christian influence highjacked the ceremony but the original name lives on. Kind of like the pagan symbol of fertility for the spring festivals - the hare - who still shows up at easter.

December 25 was the first day of the pagan calendar and people used to celebrate all night long to honour the 'divine mothers'.

Here's some more photos of bicycles and christmas trees.

Cycle Chic wishes you all a very happy season and thanks to all our readers!

Four Wheels for a Family of Four

A few more holiday photos before getting back to business as usual. While visiting the island of Bornholm we were equipped with two new two-wheelers from Christiania Bikes [Thanks Annie & Lars!]. They were brilliant to ride and practical, too, with two kids, groceries, beach gear and what have you.

Bornholm is a very hilly island with some nasty inclines but these bikes made easy work of the ups, as well as the downs. The kids loved them, too. There is a little bench inside the box which propped the kids up nice, but when Lulu dozed off on the longer routes, we could remove the bench and she could sleep as we rolled. I wish it was me.

I took some photos for Christiania Bikes - above and below - for their brochure.

Felix usually rode with me, along with the groceries if we visited the supermarket, while Lulu hung out in Wifealiciousness' bike.

One day we visited a lovely amusement park - Joboland - for the day. Lulu's inevitable nap was an issue, so we put both kids in my box and placed her stroller folded up on Wifealiciousness' bike. The perfect solution.

It was hot with temperatures pushing 30 degrees some days, so we used the canopy for Lulu, to keep the sun out of her eyes on the longer rides to the beach. She loved it. A cosy duvet to sit on, a fluffy pillow to lean against. A real princess ride.

While on the topic of beaches, we have a post over at Copenhagenize.com about the insane amount of bicycles at Copenhagen beaches on hot summer days. Not to mention The Sushi Bike!

Home from Holidays

We've returned home from a little two week holiday [little because we get 5-6 weeks of holidays in Denmark] to the Danish island of Bornholm. It's a lovely place and it often feels like Denmark's own little Mediterranean paradise. They call it the Sunshine Island and the local dialect is so unlike the other dialects in the country that you feel like you're in another country.

It's a popular holiday destination not just for Danes but for Swedes, Germans and Poles, given it's proximity in the Baltic Sea south of Sweden. In the photo above, Wifealiciousness was sneaky and caught Felix and I on our way home in the evening on the clunky old summer house bicycle. She was walking with the pram at the time.

Sneaky, too, in catching this shot earlier in the evening.

But hah... I'm sneaky too. Here's Wifealiciousness and Lulu heading through the countryside. We got to test-ride the new two-wheelers from the iconic Danish bike brand, Christiania Bikes, who are located on the island. I had Felix on my bike, while Lulu rode with Wifealiciousness on this little 30 km bike ride one day. The requisite baguette sticking up out of the bike is such a summery sight.

Cycle Chic Summer Holiday Imminent

We're off on holiday to the Danish island of Bornholm. The Sunshine Island, in the Baltic Sea south of Sweden.

Here's Wifealiciousness on a previous trip a few years back. See you in two weeks or so. But don't fret, we have set up posts each day while we're away to satiate your hunger for Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

Mondayishness

Wifealiciousness and The Boy Wonder, Felix, on our Bullitt cargo bike by Larry vs Harry.

And if you're in Dublin this week, why do you go for a bike ride on Wednesday? Dublin City Cycle, in conjunction with National Bike Week. Read more right here.

Happy Birthday! Two Years With Cycle Chic

It's our birthday! Call someone and let them know!

Two years ago today, the Cycle Chic blog saw the light of day for the first time. The rest is history.

Wifealiciousness and I celebrate two special days in our relationship. The day we first kissed on a bench at 06:00 after a night out and the day we got married. It's kind of like that here on Cycle Chic.

As avid readers of this blog know, on November 14th, 2006, I took the photograph that started it all. On June 11th, 2007 I figured I'd start a blog, just to have my series of photographs gathered in one place.

Little did any of us know back then how the story would unfold. It certainly caught me by surprise, this sudden international interest in photographs of something that is completely normal for us in Copenhagen - well-dressed Copenhageners on bicycles.

In a way it's as though I started a vacuum cleaner blog because in Copenhagen our relationship to our bicycles is the same as our relationship to our vacuum cleaners. We all have them, we all use them, but we certainly don't think about them in the course of a day. Except when the bag needs to be changed/the tyre is flat. So for the sake of good order, here's my vacuum cleaner:


Before the international press got a hold the story, the first magazine to publish Cycle Chic photos was the always cool KBH Magasin. This was even before the blog started.

Back in the beginning of 2007 this spread was featured in a series about The Details of Copenhagen. You can see the evolution of the press coverage on the Press About The Blog page.

So what is 'Cycle Chic' apart from a useful phrase I coined to try and describe the fashionable art of riding bicycles in Copenhagen? Well, we've tried to sum it up in the Cycle Chic Manifesto, but sitting here two years on I suppose that Cycle Chic is a fantastic way to describe how bicycling used to be, how it is in many places and how it can be again elsewhere. The individual defines their own 'chic' and what is 'chic' in Copenhagen may not be 'chic' in Cork but the very simple act of riding around in your regular clothes on normal bicycles is something all of us know, all of us have tried [if only in childhood] and something that we can identify with. Cycle Chic is a mirror into which we can peer in order to see ourselves and our urban landscape in a new way. It's bicycle advocacy, sure. It's streetstyle, yeah. It's fashion on a bicycle, as opposed to bicycle fashion.

But Cycle Chic is urban planning and a way to redefine our cities and transform them in more liveable spaces.

It's about the bicycle in many ways but really, it's not only about the bicycle. The bicycle and infrastructure are merely tools for change in cities and towns.

Rereading this morning the page with testimonials from readers from the past two years is humbling and touching. Without you readers, this blog would be nothing. So thanks so much for visiting our little corner of the internet. It is also humbling to watch the list of blogs and articles inspired by Cycle Chic grow almost daily. It's on the right column, farther down, Copycats & Collaborators. Thanks to everyone involved.


You just KNEW that we couldn't have a birthday blogpost without my colleagues being involved. Lars, a film composer in real life, has been an epic contributor to Cycle Chic. He has really raised the photographic bar. He sent in a guest photo back in the day and was soon a regular contributor. Ironically, we found out that we both work in the film industry and that we have many things in common. So above is a birthday photo from Lars.


Marie [Velomama] blogs now and then, so here's a photo from her camera. I met Marie after she completed her thesis about "Everyday Modest Democracy - The Bicycle as a Symbol of Danishness". She had included Cycle Chic in the chapter about the iconic Cycling Girl in Danish history and how the tradition lives on here on the blog. We've been friends since. She now works for the City of Copenhagen's Bicycle Office, making our city even better for bicycles. Here's a birthday greeting from Marie:

Although my postings are sporadical, my heart has always been with this blog. I've been co-blogging here since early 2008. Once and again this blog has made me marvel at how the somewhat banal reality of Copenhagen's cycling culture - which we all take so much for granted here - can be an eyeopener for people elsewhere.

I find such poetry and reassurance in the fact that a popular, everyday phenomenon such as Copenhageners cycling around in their everyday clothes can actually inspire others and show the way forward towards more relaxed, livable and living cities all over the world.

Those of you who get a kick out of this blog: Find your own voice! Spread the message! Bicycles are for everyone! Big cheers, Velomama


And then there's Wifealiciousness. Susanne doesn't blog much here - she's too busy with her own style blog in Danish - but being my muse [and wife] she is a major part of this blog and I couldn't do any of this without her. She still gets interviewed about style and the blog, however.

In celebration of our birthday, a talented friend of mine, Rasmus Balstrøm, is penning some Cycle Chic illustrations. He's done these two and there are more on the way, which we'll be turning into posters. These two are available as postcards and the first one is also available as a mini print over at our online boutique.


The boy's got talent and has really captured the essence of cycling in Copenhagen. We're looking forward to his next batch of artwork.

Enough, already. It's our birthday! We shouldn't be sitting here blogging. It's time to celebrate. Thanks again to all our readers. We're looking forward to the next two years.

Copenhagen loves you.

YES! It's a celebration!

Revisiting Paris Cycle Chic

This time last year Wifealiciousness and I were in Paris and we used the brilliant Vélib bike share programme to get around the entire time. Here's a little 'Paris Cycle Chic Revisited' post. To read more about Paris Cycle Chic, read the original reportage here.


Paris' blossoming bicycle culture certainly gives Copenhagen a run for her money.


I made this little film about our trip to the city. Music is 'Bello Ciao' by my friend Jason McNiff.


Cycling in style.

And cycling sociably.

See more photos in the set on Flickr.

Launching Wifealiciousness

That magical moment when the bicycle is pushed into motion. This time featuring Wifealiciousness.

Simple Saturday evening shot.

There is order in the percieved chaos.

Ice Cream Sunday

We went for a bicycle ride down to the harbour last weekend. Here's Wifealiciousness on her Velorbis Scrap Deluxe outside the near Royal Theatre.

Two white tops.

Yours truly feeding Lulu-Sophia - in our new Bullitt from Larry vs. Harry - some Sunday ice cream in Nyhavn.

Purple, Pastels and Amazon

I was heading off to the post office to pick up a book from Amazon.co.uk and I passed this lovely Copenhagener in her winter wear.

I was picking up a book for Wifealiciousness called Why Women Wear What They Wear (Materializing Culture) by Sophie Woodward

It's actually a fascinating read. One chapter is called Looking Good, Feeling Right: The aesthetics of getting dressed. I'd recommend it to any fashion-interested individual.

It's the fashion version of Tom Vanderbilt's excellent book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us) which I reviewed over at Copenhagenize.com.

The bike above is purple. It's been interesting to see how the purple fashion craze of autumn/winter materializes in bicycle culture. I've seen many purple bikes on the streets and Velorbis, their finger always on the pulse, have produced lovely purple bikes to suit the trend.

Wifealiciousness, being a designer and stylist, has an uncanny ability to spot trends over a year in advance. It's baffling. She senses things, it seems. Even before you see certain fads in fashion magazines, she's already predicted it. Sure, she's off target on occasion, but when she nails it, she nails it.

I'm certainly not going to list her most precious secrets/predictions here, but it'll be interesting to see if pastel coloured bicycles - et al - will be seen on the streets next summer. You read it here first.


Nothing to do with bicycles, but Cycle Chic has a new blog on our favourites list. Check out Oh Joy! We found the photo above, by Pamela Hanson, on the website, along with heaps of inspiration and fashion.

The Family Tree

Now that christmas tree isn't going to walk home by itself, now is it?

Our little family made our way down to our good friends at Baisikeli - the sustainability organisation who send used Danish bikes to development projects in Africa. They're selling eco-Swedish-christmas trees to the neighbourhood this year.

What better way to get the tree home than in our Velorbis Long John?


There was a bit of brainstorming about how to get the tree... and the kids... home. Niels, from Baisikeli, and Wifealiciousness realise that we should tie the tree up a bit more so the kids don't have to chew on pine needles. In lieu of string, we just taped it. Lulu-Sophia looks on. Then Felix was put into the box to see if he would fit. He's loving it. And he fit.

On the way home we stopped to pick up some ice cream from the best ice cream makers in the nation: Paradis.
What better way to get the tree home but in the cargo box of our Long John.

At last we roll up to one of the bike sheds for one last corny photo before getting the tree up into the flat for prompt decoration.