Others

Here at Cycle Chic we often pop in to visit Bicycle Pirate. A girl after our own heart. She's on hols in Canada at the moment but check out her delicious blog.

And the ever-fashion-vigilant Wifealiciousness put me onto Altamira NYC. A splendid streetstyle blog with the occasional bicycle.

Silver Wheels and Frocks on Bikes

It's all the rage. Luxury brands are producing bicycles. The latest is out of Copenhagen, where the luxury design company Georg Jensen has teamed up with Sögreni Bicycles. It's called Wheels.

Georg Jensen (1866-1935) was a silversmith and sculptor who quickly made a name for himself with his jewelry, hollowware and cutlery. Even back in 1935, at the time of his death, he had shops in many cities around the world.

Now, of course, Georg Jensen is a modern company and their latest gimmick is a bicycle. Like Chanel, Gucci, Acme, Puma, Wood Wood before them.

The collaboration with Sögreni is not surprising. There are many design similarities. I have a post about Sögreni bikes and another one about Sögreni accessories over at Copenhagenize.com.

The bicycle is, like so many other luxury brands, a Limited Edition. While the bike's frame is brushed steel, it certainly signals visually and aesthetically Georg Jensen's trademark silverware. And silver? You can't have a Georg Jensen bike without SOME silver. Ding ding. It's the bike bell. Silver-plated in sterling silver.

The bicycle will sell for 28,000 kroner - which is €3750 - and will be available at Georg Jensen shops in the USA, Taiwan, Australia and Denmark.

Gimmick? Yep. Sleek, gorgeous Danish design? Yep. On my Christmas wish list? Nah. I'll stick with my bike. Accessible luxury.


From the other end of the planet, New Zealand, comes Frocks on Bikes. It's a movement aimed at "bringing about the momentum for better cycle routes in our city, and demonstrate that there is a groundswell of people wanting to ride. To lure SUV drivers to thinking that actually, bikes are a more sexy and fabulous way to get around."

Right down Copenhagen Cycle Chic street. See more photos on Flickr.

Down to Earth

View from a bike lane. Headphones, sealskin jacket and a woolen hat passing by.


This photo, to me, is quite Danish. On my way home last Saturday I rode past the venue for the European Film Awards - the European Oscars. Inside there are loads of stars. Despite this fact, there were only maybe 10-15 curious people hanging out, waiting for a glimpse or autographs or photos, plus some photographers.

The red carpet rolls out but it ends at the bike lane. Nothing stops the bikes, not even glamour or celebrity. While I was taking some photographs an elderly gentleman came out and a man rushed to hail down a private car for him, which rolled up in a jiffy. The driver hopped out and hurried around to open the door for him. Only to ask him to wait a moment as a bicycle rode past. He looked confused that he, a man of distinction and status, was asked to wait for a bicycle. I loved that moment.

In the photo above a rather well-known film director signs an autograph for a young boy as a cyclist rolls past, completely unimpressed. All very down to earth.


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, a Christiania bike rolls past a symphony of commercial light on the City Hall Square.

Umbrella Moods

The umbrella and the bicycle go hand in hand, as they have since the invention of the bicycle. I like these two shots. Winter. Nordic. Mood.



I particularly like the two first shots because they remind me of one of the photographers I admire the most. Daido Moriyama. He has a couple of bicycle shots in his fantastic reperatoire, including the one above. Not surprising, since he is Japanese.


And then there are these two evergreens of mine. Both available as postcards at our online boutique.

Aerial Cycle Chic and a Telling Quote

A new angle on Cycle Chic. I was atop some buildings last August, shooting some footage for an upcoming film about cycling in Copenhagen for the city's Bicycle Office. I snapped some stills while I was at it.

This stretch was in the process of being renovated, thus the odd scribbles on the asphalt.

Simplicity. Bicycle. Copenhagener. Bicycle Symbol.

I just finished a fantastic novel - The Impressionist, by Hari Kunzru. Nothing to do about bicycles, but part of it takes place in Oxford in the early 1920's. This passage is splendid and as you can see on this blog, it is history repeating itself.

"Then, all of a sudden, something rare and signifigant happens. Like one of those minor celestial bodies whose trajectory requires slide rules and conversion tables to calculate, Johnathan, homeless particle, undergoes a collision. It is an event which changes everything, for ever.

"It begins with a bell, and the sound of a chain in need of oil. Turning the corner outside the Ashmolean Museum is a bicycle, and on the bicycle is a girl. Bridgeman steps out of her way, and for a moment she looks him straight in the eye. Blue eyes. His world turns syrupy and slow-flowing. She is wearing a white summer dress, and over it an academic gown. On her head is a wide-brimmed hat, with yellow silk flowers around the crown.

"As she wobbles towards Cornmarket, he confirms that she is beautiful, and a string section materializes in his forebrain, drenching him in grand and stylized emotion. Beneath the hat her cheeks are flushed with the effort of cycling, and as her feet work the pedals the white cotton of her dress stretches with the line of her thighs, taut and slack, taut and slack."
From Excerpt from 'The Impressionist' by Hari Kunzru.

Except for the academic gown, this scene could take place on any - every - street corner in Copenhagen. 365 days a year.

Nighty Night

On the way home from football training, at a red light, a blur of doubling bikeness zips past.

Felix was catching snowflakes on his tongue outside our flat before we went in. I waited until the next cyclist rode past before shooting.

I couldn't see what the approaching cyclist looked like, it was too dark. Not surprising that the first bike going past is a big pinky one with a splendidly filled, flowery basket and a Copenhagener chatting on the mobile, wearing a skirt and stockings. It turned out to be a rather surrealistic shot.

More rare, statistically, is the shiny thing on her head. Not surprisingly, the majority of Copenhageners, when polled, say that they feel safe and secure in the traffic. Fortunately for the minority, they have the security blanket that is Cykelhjelm.org - or the English cousin at Cyclehelmets.org - to reassure them about cycling in one of the world's safest cycling nations. I'm currently researching a documentary about the concept of a Culture of Fear and "moral panic" - the latter phrase being used to describe 'a widespread, irrational scare brought about by a lack of scientific or general education among the public, intrinsic human biases in the assessment of risk, a lack of rational thinking, misinformation, and giving too much weight to rumour.'
It's all very interesting research. But I digress...


The next cyclist that rolled past through the snowflakes. There are no reports of how many snowflakes Felix ended up melting on his tongue.

In the comments of the previous post with night shots I mentioned that using the flash was for wimps... :-) but shooting snowflakes is one of the few exceptions to that rule. They light up like fairies and that's lovely.

Symphony of Light

Cyclists heading home in dark evening, guided by a symphony of diffuse light.


City Hall Square. The lights, the rain, the bicycle.

The Copenhagen Straddle

The Copenhagen Straddle performed to perfection. Complete with Barbie boots, a lovely Swedish Crescent bicycle and a sparkly hat. Winter don't get dis girl down.
See more straddlin', tiptoein', straightbackin' et al in the Red Light Posture Series.

Chopperliciousness

Like most kids, Felix knows what he likes. He spotted a new 'old school' bike outside his school and was rather determined to have one just like it. Colourful beach cruisers are all the rage if you're a teenage girl and if you're a boy between 7 and 15-ish, these retro style bikes are 'must haves'. New ones cost between 2500-3000 DKK - [€330-€400], whether they are Raleigh or Schwinn or whatever. He also knows what pose to strike whilst seated up the Chopper.

The bike above, however, was rescued from a bike auction by my mates at Baisikeli, who send used Danish bikes to Africa. It's a Raleigh Chopper, which Raleigh started reproducing in 2004, after 25 years. I used to have one just like it in the mid-1970's so I'm loving it that the Boy was itching for one, too. Not to mention the fact that I didn't have to fork over 2500 kroner.

What better way to get it home than strapping it onto my Velorbis Long John. Felix will have to grow into the Chopper - shouldn't take long - but he already zips around the back yard. He has another bike for everyday use but he's looking forward to cruising the bike lanes on the Chopper.

Crepusculous Copenhagen

Motion Notion

Between a Car and a Hard Thing.

Stockholm Cycle Chic & Practical Chic

Javisst! A spot of Stockholm Cycle Chic. Thanks to Paul for recording the life of Cycle Chic in the Swedish capital. By Swedish standards, Stockholm lags behind Sweden's third largest city, Malmö, with regards to the number of people on bikes but the numbers are increasing. Greater Stockholm has about 700 km of bike lanes and paths.

Here is an earlier post about Stockholm Cycle Chic from a visit I made earlier this year. Tak så mycka, Paul!

Practical Chic

Here's Jill Keto, from her blog Practical Chic - Surviving the Recession in Style. A little splash of Copenhagen Cycle Chic from 'over there'. Classic Copenhagen basket and cracking outfit.

Happy?

Believe me when I say that it surprises even us that Denmark has topped the World's Happiest People surveys for the past 20 years. Go figure. But if there ever was a photo that sums up this claim, Lars took it last week. A broad smile on a snow-covered Copenhagener riding her bike.

Jeremy Clarkson, writing in The Times, has a humourous take on this Happy Nation lark:

So let’s say you live in Birmingham and, in a quest for happiness, you move to Copenhagen. On day one, you look at the little mermaid in the harbour. On day two, you have a snoop round Hans Christian Andersen’s house and on day four, having found nothing to do on day three, you go to the Oresund bridge . . . and jump off it.

What does it all mean, all these surveys about wealthiest cities, most liveable cities, least corrupt nations, most trusting nations?

Not a hell of a lot, unless your working for the tourist board. We don't walk around, pumping our arms in the air, pointer finger outstretched, shouting "DK! DK! DK!!! We're Number One!!" Our football fans are not hooligans, they'e called Roligans - 'Rolig' meaning 'calm'. We certainly don't walk or ride around remarking how happy each other looks on this fine day or saying how much we trust each other. We bitch about the weather like anywhere else. But we'll still stick a cheesy plastic bag on our bike seat when it rains or get a kick out of a homemade solution for non-slip pedals [scroll down in the post]. and get good cosiness value out of candles.

Oh, we buy more candles than any other nation. THAT statistic says more than any other about the simple pleasures. The Danish concept of 'hygge', or cosiness is more telling than any think tank survey. Many languages have a similar word for it - Danes will often say that it is untranslatable but that's not true - but the concept that hanging out at home or at a café is cosy and that it is more than enough sums it all up.

Look Both Ways

Crossing the Road Chic.

Wordling Copenhagen

Sometimes one can get really weary from looking into a computer all day... But a cool way to get a graphic overview over a lump of text is to Wordle it.

Here is Copenhagen Cycle Chic wordled in different ways:


Meanwhile, on the bike lanes of Copenhagen, yet another Copenhageness is pedalling her way to a party -



- and a dressed-up type makes sure his chic leather bag doesn't slide off the back rack.