24 September 2012
Last Day of Summer
It's official now. Autumn has replaced summer in Copenhagen. But just before the skies and rain took over I rushed out and caught a final glimpse of Copenhagen's summer cycling goodness. Enjoy!
The rider above reminded me of former French Punk Rock'er Plastic Bertrand. Below candid color match.
Viewing one of the many open-water harbour baths in central Copenhagen.
Hot pants with an amazing pair of cork plateau shoes!
You know its true love when he pushes you all the way over the hill...
Happy Cycling!
22 September 2012
Young at Heart
Being cycle chic has nothing to do with your age. And everything to do with how young you feel at heart.
Bikes help lots of people live an active and healthy life – without ever having to think about going to the gym or doing special exercises.
Most importantly the joy and fun of riding your bicycle never stops.
So hop on the joy ride! It’s never too late.
Happy Cycling!
20 September 2012
Budapest Here We Come
Budapest, you beautiful thing. We're coming to see you today. Get your game face on. The Cycle Chic Bloggers Conference is about to start. Hosted by our good friends at Hungary Cycle Chic.
Labels:
budapest,
cycle chic breakfast,
cycle chic event,
fashion show,
hungary
19 September 2012
IBM's Short History of Cycle Chic
We were well pleased to see this infographic show up today. Richard over at Cyclelicio.us let us know about it. He got it via Karl over at Jaunty Angle.
IBM - of all companies - decided to track Cycle Chic in this short history, as a part of their Smarter Planet marketing intiative "Birth of a Trend". Click on the graphic where it says to, in order to go to the next slide.
We knew all this, of course. We're doing it almost every day and our Cycle Chic Republic continues to grow. Tomorrow we're leaving for Budapest for the annual Cycle Chic Blogger's Conference (where we'll host a massive Cycle Chic Breakfast for the Citizen Cyclists of the city, as well as a Fashion Show on Saturday) and Cycle Chic continues to blossom.
Dapper IBM Repairman in the 1950s on his Worksman Cargo Bike.
Everywhere - and I seriously mean everywhere - that I travel to speak about urban cycling, designing cities for bicycles and all manner of conferences and events I invariably meet people who come up to say hello and to thank us for the blog. As a rule, it is women who do so, which is fantastic.
The one person I remember best was a young woman in Brazil who, after one of my keynotes, came up to say that Cycle Chic was the reason she bought a bicycle and now cycles in her city. It choked me up. As do our testimonials every time I read them.
IBM has their methods and it's great to see the tech side of the evolution. We also have a list of press mentions which also serves as a timeline evolution of the movement/brand.
Scroll to the bottom for the first mention of Cycle Chic, in a Copenhagen magazine, and then scroll up to see how it grew and continues to grow. Worth mentioning that last year we started losing track of the press mentions so 2011 and 2012 are thinner, but that's because it went really crazy.
Who knows where Cycle Chic will end up. The ultimate goal is that it no longer needs to exist because cycling has been reestablished on the urban landscape as transport and is normalised like it is in Copenhagen and the Netherlands.
We're not there yet but we're working on it. Inspiring women to ride - the majority of readers has always been women here (and over half of the bloggers in our Republic are women) as well as on the Facebook group - and men as well.
We love our jobs and all of you who are inspired by this blog are inspiring to us. You define us in so many ways.
Thank you for cycling. On behalf of all of us who have been active on this blog; Me, Mary, Lars, Marie, Franz-Michael, Andreas, et al.
Labels:
biking in a suit,
cargo bike culture,
history,
press
17 September 2012
Riding the Bull
Riding your Beach Cruiser bike in style can take a little practice because you are handling an unwieldy oversized bullhorn-shaped bar. On the other hand for shear looks Beach Cruiser bars surely help you glide majestically through the city.
No rush here.
Enjoying the bare essentials of cycling. No gears, no basket.
And a dedicated follower of fashion…
Happy Cycling!
15 September 2012
Freedom on Wheels
Denmark is possibly the best country in the World for kids. And Danish kids are – like the Danes – the happiest in the World. They enjoy tremendous freedom of movement and bicycles play a large part in making that possible.
From around 12 years old, most children are allowed to bike around town to school, with friends or wherever they need to go.
And even at night you can see young girls biking alone through Copenhagen’s streets.
It makes growing up in Denmark very special. Only a handful of other countries can offer the same freedom and independence.
Happy Cycling!
10 September 2012
Happiness on Wheels
Before the big family event there is of course all the days spent in hopefully happy expectation. Fortunately being two in one is no reason to give up your daily ride.
Most women can continue to bike until the very last weeks.
And are as chic to follow as always.
Later it may be time to consider a cargo-bike.
Happy Cycling!
8 September 2012
From Critical Mass to Cycle Chic in Budapest
Sometimes sudden news brings completely mixed feelings. This year's Cycle Chic Blogger's Conference will be held in Budapest in September. Heaps of events like a Cycle Chic breakfast for the Citizen Cyclists of the city, a fashion show, the conference and... the legendary critical mass ride held twice a year in the city. Nobody does a mass ride like the Hungarians. They can average 20,000 people on bicycles and have even hit the lofty heights of 50,000 and 80,000.
It was going to be one of the highlights of the weekend.
The organisers, however, have just decided to cancel the ride. Many people are disappointed but in their statement they say that Budapest has now reached a point of being a bicycle city with many daily cyclists. They cancelled it because they want the focus to now be on the amazing work done by the Hungarian Cyclists’ Club - Magyar Kerékpárosklub. The NGO needs more support in order to continue it's work and the critical mass organisers wished to place focus on the NGO by cancelling. What an accolade for the Hungarian Cyclists' Club, who are legendary for their positive promotion of cycling.
Budapest is one of the poster children cities for what they have achieved in just five or six years. They are legends.
The critical mass in Budapest, like in many European cities, is far removed from the North American versions. It is a celebration of urban cycling and a powerful tool towards pushing for a more liveable city with more bicycles, rather than a sub-culture peacocking through the streets, irritating the other citizens and doing little to win hearts and minds. Indeed, the critical mass ride in Prague changed it's name in order to disassociate itself with the negative North American brand.
In Budapest, politicians join in, people from all walks of life ride. It became an accepted and even anticipated event in the life of the city.
Back to the conflicting emotions. The ride will be sorely missed and we hope that it returns again. However, in their official statement, they explained their cancellation by saying;
"Even more powerful new engines have emerged: The Cycle Chic Movement, which is successful in increasing ridership and breaking down stereotypes with greater visual impact in the city."
One of the most humbling things to read in almost six years of Cycle Chic. Stunningly so. The most successful "critical mass" bike rides in the world handing over the reins to Cycle Chic.
It must be said that Hungarian Cycle Chic is a flagship among the members of our Cycle Chic Republic. Operating out of the Hungarian Cyclists' Club, they have been instrumental in mainstreaming urban cycling in Budapest.
I have been at meetings with them discussing our sociological, anthropological and marketing approaches. Despite the massive responsibility handed over by critical mass, if there is anyone in Hungary who can do the job, it's the Cycle Chic team in Budapest, as well as the Hungarian Cyclists' Club.
If your city had just half of the vision that the advocates have in Budapest, you'd be ten times farther along the road to mainstreaming urban cycling. That's how brilliant they are.
Here's hoping that the mass ride will return. And that we can live up to their expectations whether they do or not.
Budapest Critical Mass Sept 2009 from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.
Here's a film I shot during the critical mass bike ride in 2009.
I love Budapest. I bike Budapest. from Cyclechic hu on Vimeo.
Here's a film made by Hungarian Cycle Chic.
More from Budapest:
Bike Love Street Signage
Hungarian Bike to Work ads
The Specials
Not all bikes are alike. With more riders bicycle diversity is on the rise. Above a beautiful hand built semi-closed reclining model from Copenhagen. And below an electrical monocycle I spotted in Beijing.
The World’s largest frame for the World’s tallest man? New York – of course…
This multi rider bike can be found in many large cities. It’s a great way to get around with if you are a group. The latest fad in this cycle type are the Dutch/German “Beer Bikes” with even more riders – and a bar!
There are more and more of these tri-bikes around Copenhagen. Helping elderly people get around town and exercising at the same time.
Happy Cycling!
7 September 2012
City of Cyclists
I've missed this film. I didn't know until just now. It's been ages since I've seen it. Copenhagenize Consulting was asked to produce a film for The City of Copenhagen promoting our bicycle culture. I filmed this over a month all over the city, with additional footage during the winter. We had the song written especially for it. I never get tired of watching it. The diversity of our mainstream bicycle culture in three or so minutes.
6 September 2012
5 September 2012
Bits and Pieces
It ain't urban cycling... it's ballet. Posture #2 from The Red Light Posture Series... Which posture do YOU use at red lights?
Pipe-smokin' bike ridin'.
Red light conversation.
Eternal spring.
Heeled momentum.
Like every Danish mother will say if a kid complains about the rain... "you're not made of sugar..."
Thanks to The Good Web Guide for choosing us as Blog of the Month!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)