Chicago Dreams

We haven't heard much from Chicago from readers of the blog until today. Two great emails pop into the Cycle Chic inbox from The Third City. Both with clear an undeniable links to Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

First up, the coolest current gig in the Americas. HANK & ME is a blog about a Chicagoen and her bike, Hank. Here's her pitch from the blog:
This is the story of Hank & me. Hank is my oma bicycle make by henry workcycles. Inspired by Cycle Chic and Copenhagenize, we're going Dutch for 365 days in the city of Chicago. That's right - no car, no spandex, no toe clips. Just my everyday clothes, a bike, a lock, and a set of panniers. Can we make it the year? Hank and I think so.

Of course you'll make it! Because you're cool and Hank is cool and because 100 million Europeans do the same thing each day! :-) THIS is the kind of role model America needs in order to normalize everyday urban cycling.

We quickly suggested that she take Hank along to Erik & Me, a Danish restaurant and pub in Chicago as well as Wikstrom's Scandinavian-American Gourmet Foods to buy some Danish bread, cheese and herring and the all-important snaps [I think it's spelled schnaps 'over there']

GO chicaGO!
The other Windy City email is a fabulous guest photo from Kimberly:

Now THAT is cycle chic at it's best. THAT is a Friday night in Copenhagen. Classy and chic and a cooler than cool bike to boot. The undeniable link to Copenhagen Cycle Chic is that Kimberly runs the very bespoke Indigo Yacht Charters and among their destinations are the Virgin Islands - part of which was formally owned by Denmark until sold to the USA in 1917 for $25,000,000.

Thanks to you both for thinking of us! Any more photos? You know where to send them.

Bridges, Tailwinds and Rush Hour

There are few places on the planet where the simple act of waiting for a light to change is elevated to such beauty and grace. Even with a stiff wind blowing in from Sweden.

Up over Knippels Bridge like millions and millions of cyclists before her since the 1930's.

Not much rush in this hour. Nice and easy. Copenhagen style.

Leather Bag Street

Three chic Copenhagen cyclists going down the same street. All wearing leather bags. Classic, elegant and practical - just like cycling.

It happens in other streets too:

The guy with the leather bag to the right actually created a whole little debate between our readers about the deeper meaning of cycle chic.

Off They Go

Zipping along the canals.

Walk on by

Hanging out in one of Copenhagen's many public parks yesterday and saw lots of lovely people leisurely walking their bikes on their way to meet friends, or just taking a short-cut.

Great Moments in Cycling

A cyclist gently pushes off.

The Delicate Art of Dismounting a Copenhagen Bike.

The Simplicity of Nordic Evenings

It's Monday. It's wallpaper day. Værs'go [Here you go]

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Here's a little video poem-thingy using Flickr's new video function:


Here's the laptop-a-doodle versions of the screensavers:

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Copenhagen Cycle Chic Global Stickers

Copenhagen Cycle Chic Stickerliciousness begins! We've asked our readers to send us photos of Cycle Chic stickers around the world and they are starting to arrive.

From Pierre in Paris! Classic shot with Velib and le Tour. Quelle photo!

From Viry in Berlin. Lovely chictasticness. The very essence of Copenhagen Cycle Chic in the German capital.

Here's my bike with a sticker. A Velorbis Scrap Deluxe in the Nordic light.

Get your stickers at our Online Boutique. €1.92 / $3.00 each. And send us your photos of the sticker wherever it ends up!

Copenhagen Sunday

Red bikes are lovely in the sunlight.

Yet another Copenhagen Supermum.

Classic Copenhagen. Newborn baby transported by bike.

Copenhagen Cycle Chic Goes Global

Copenhagen Cycle Chic is spreading. Thanks for all the guest photos!

Another stellar shot from Lucy in Australia. Lucy sells restored vintage bikes on Ebay and this is one of her happy customers in Gold Coast. I love this shot, not least because I lived there for six months back in the day and have surfed that very break in the background. Ah, memories.


Cool shot from João in Portugal. Check out his cool blog about Portugal's bike capital, Ílhavo here.


Cool Cycle Chic in Poland from the streetstyle blog Kajakowo
A splash of Munich cycle chic from my mate G-fried.

This landed in the inbox from a reader. Classic bike, as seen by the thousands in Copenhagen.

A splash of New York Cycle Suit Chic from Bicyclesonly on Flickr.

Guest Photos from Washington State

Here are some more splendid photos from one of our regular contributors - about time we calld him a foreign correspondant - Derek, from Washington State. Check him out at bikerubbish.com. Thanks for the photos, Derek! Keep spreading the Cycle Chic.

Springtime, Foraar, Printemps, Primavera

An average Copenhagener on an average bike in the gorgeous spring sunshine. As we've mentioned before, on average 37% of the population ride their bikes each day but on sunny spring and summer days that number rises over 50%.


Bike lanes in Copenhagen. The arrows on the ground indicate which lane you want if you are heading straight on or turning right. Separating the bike lanes from the motorised traffic is the foundation of any sustainable bike culture. So get down to city hall and start your lobbying! :-)


A whole lot of red at the red light.


A fine example of how a wicker bike basket is used while off the bike. A means of carrying your shopping or as a replacement for a purse. The basket above has metal hooks that let it hang on the handlebars, making it easy to lift off and carry into shops or, in this case, down to the canals to enjoy the sun.

19 Copenhagen Minutes

There is a website out there that features 82 pictures of Amsterdam bicycles in 73 minutes, taken by a tourist. I was sitting on a bench with a friend, enjoying the sunshine yesterday, and I got a spontaneous idea. I started shooting photos and ended up with 52 decent photos in 19 minutes before I had to head home.

The photos were taken between 14:01 and 14:20 on 24 April 2008. They only represent a fraction of the bikes that went past in both directions. Here are some of the highlights in true Cycle Chic style, but the whole set features all manner of Copenhageners. Young and old, men and women, old bikes and new bikes. You name it.


Taken at 14:10

Taken at 14:04

Taken at 14:02

Taken at 14:12

In order to see the whole set in all it's glory, you can see it on this Flickr Slideshow - it opens in a new window.

The Grainy Evening Life of Copenhagen Bikes

The Art of Traversing a Square and other photos

The typical Copenhagen way of getting around the "don't ride on the square" law. She's not riding, she's coasting.


Twelve Women and Half a Man. Goodness me. On this stretch of street there are 25,000 cyclists a day. It wasn't a bad thing to see so many female Copenhageners at the light. Sorry I didn't have time to photoshop that helmet out of the photo. :-)


It's springtime. Men look at women. Women look at men. It's anthropology.


Total style over speed.