Waiting for red light in Copenhagen can easily become an exercise in poise and grace. There's no hurry. The light will change soon enough and being in a hurry is sooo 1990's. Keep your foot down, girl. It signals not only style but power. Let the cars have their run. Your turn is coming up shortly. The cute little bicycle traffic light on the left turn lane of the bicycle lane will soon turn green and you'll be scooting over the Copenhagen Blue in no time.
I've actually heard of many, many weddings in Denmark featuring a cargo bike, I've just never taken a photo of one. So thanks to Michelle, who attended a wedding a couple of weeks back and documented this Danish bicycle tradition for me... and, well... you.
She rented a cargo bike from the good people at Baisikeli [where you should rent your bicycles when YOU come to Copenhagen] and together with her daughter, they decorated it for the bride and groom and their daughter. They rolled away from the church to the reception on three easy wheels.
Langebro, or Long Bridge, is the main bridge over Copenhagen's harbour and around 20-25,000 cyclists cross it each day in both directions.
Personally, I find water to be an important factor when I travel to and from work. If I don't pass by a body of water, whether a coastline, a harbour, a lake or just a pond, something is lacking.
All of these Copenhageners are crossing Langebro and they are all glancing to the right. Just like I do. Just like many people do. For no reason other than looking at the harbour. A sub-conscious desire to see the aesthetic qualities of... water. The different colours, the different seasons, the different reflections.
It's quite a nice feature on a morning commute. So what are these Copenhageners looking at?
For the better part of about six months I stopped in the middle of the bridge and took a photo or two of the harbour. Almost every weekday. So this is what they're looking at:
Operating your cell phone while zipping down the bike lanes seem to a basic skill around here. The girls/women in particular are masters of this refined bit of multitasking. The fact that these two shots were taken only 30 seconds apart, speaks something of how common this practice is.
Speaking of basic skills: For those who are just entering cycle chic-ness, we have the excellent Traffic Playground (Trafiklegepladsen). A scaled down street scenario, complete with traffic lights and road signs. The little ones love it, as you may sense from this shot of Olga. Three wheel chic chick :-)
A pair of Copenhageners move through the intersection on the King's New Square. Sharply dressed for business, the bicycle provides them with a quick and effortless way to get about town. To meetings as well as to and from work. We're left wondering. Are they a couple or colleagues? The same applies to girlfriends cycling through the city. Are they heading for the beach or a café?
Matthew Brackett, editor of the excellent urban planning magazine Spacing.ca, was in Copenhagen earlier this year and I met up with him for a chat. You can see the interview with him right here. He blogged about his journey to the Danish capital on the Spacing.ca blog and he sent me these wonderful photos taken while he was here. These retro mini-bikes, as we call them in Danish, are frightfully hot at the moment in Copenhagen among the young female demographic. The Triobike is often referred to as the Mercedes of cargo bikes.
Summertime is double time in Copenhagen. Mostly it's on cargo bikes, but when you need to get somewhere and have a friend, there's only one way to go. And if you don't have a friend handy, just carry some massive bags from a toy shop.
They say that you should never combine dots and stripes. Except when cycling on the Copenhagen bicycle infrastructure, of course. Social mobility. Red lights are the perfect opportunity to chat with friends.
After a brief intermission (summer holidays + broken bone) I am back on track, but now on a set of new wheels aka Bullit Blubird ´71. Here shown with interim child seat (I just grabbed the car seat and strapped it on) and young girl sound asleep. I am going to have a *much* more elegant child seat accompanied by side panels and top cover, but Larry vs Harry has just developed these, so I will have to wait a couple of weeks. Until then, this is what it looks like from riders p.o.v.:
And yes, all that just because of a 1 minute ride on Mikaels white Bullit, haha. Ok, now back to the street life.
Here's a splendid shot taken by one of our readers, Mario, from Italy. Classic Cycle Chic rolling past the vintage sign for the Tivoli amusement park. The park opened in 1843 and is a main tourist attraction. Walt Disney visited in the 1940's and was instantly inspired to go home and build Disneyland. Here's a photo from inside during the Christmas fair. A classic bicycle used in a display. For some more photos of Tivoli sans bicyclette, click here.
