The Decisive moment

Sometimes when I click the shutter I just “know” it was the very right moment. It feels great every time it happens. So here are a few pictures that made me happy.

In the first one I admired her confident style when suddenly the wind played with her hair. Below, the many Golden colors all seem to complement each other.




I saw this girl struggling with crisscross winds as she slowly passed between two high rises and I knew I just had to try to frame it.



Fascinated by the contrast between her commanding attitude and the girly T-shirt underneath her leather jacket.



Sometimes its personal beyond explanation – I just love how he fits into the street scenery!



Happy Cycling!

Oslo Cycle Chic

Sharing the tram lanes

Copenhagenize is doing a bit of work in Norway, so we got a glimpse at some of their Cycle Chic'ness. Not bad at all, Oslo.

Traffic calming: making Oslo more user-friendly for the 99%.


Part beach cruiser, part Raleigh Chopper, meet Oslo's city bike.

London Towne

In T-5 hours, Mikael is presenting at Chelsea's Old Town Hall in London.  Until he returns to CC HQ, here are a few of the ladies and gentlemen from our London archives.

Designed in London, I'd argue there are just as many Bromptons on any given street as there are tea shops.

Boris Bikes

Keep Calm and Ride On.

Friendly Ride

We love it when friends visit.  We also love sticking them in the front of the company trioBike and cruising them around town for their first impression of Copenhagen.

New York, New York

Living in Copenhagen, I've gotten quite confident about my urban skills.  Having mastered the metro system - all two lines; having learned to survive the headwinds and people swirling around on the cycle tracks - all nicely paved and signed; I was ready.

New York City, here we come.

It was not quite what I remembered.  Each subway station does not come fully equipped with subway maps or helpful personnel.  Distances on maps are not closer than they appear.

So, we did the natural thing for two Copenhageners in New York and rented bikes.  First trip was a tour of Brooklyn, from Park Slope to Downtown to Williamsburg with all sorts of foodie stops in between, with our friend Doug Gordon who runs Brooklyn Spoke.

The day we decided to rent bikes.

Fortunately, for the ride, and the sake of the outdoor ice cream festival pit stop, it stopped raining after approximately one cafe latte.

Brooklyn lanes on the left and surprisingly calm Manhattan street on the right.

Sure there are potholes deep enough to make a hangover from two days ago instantly reappear.  And sure the lanes are a bit reminiscent of playing hopscotch on two wheels, but I'll be damned if that wasn't the most absolutely wonderful way to get around and to experience New York City. 

According to my friend Anna, and go to for all things New York, it's also arguably now one of the fastest ways to get around.

Brooklyn Bridge

Word is this level of the Bridge is going to be widened to give more space to both pedestrians and cyclists.

Until next time, thanks for the ride New York.

Here's a video Mikael made back in 2009 - Bicycle Bridges in NYC:

Bicycle Bridges from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

Friends

I just happen to love this photo. That's Philip on the left, holding hands with Joni from Amsterdam Cycle Chic and that's Aron from Hungarian Cycle Chic up front.

Ah, Budapest.

Monochrome Reprise

Let's see if we can keep B/W photography in fashion with some Copenhagen Cycle Chic riders looking as fabulous as ever. Enjoy!




Sunset scenery.



Magnificent curly hair.



B/W glasses for a B/W picture.



Happy Cycling!

Throttle Away

To regain momentum just after stopping a lot of riders prefer to stand up and let their body weight do most of the pedal pushing. A beautiful and delicate combination of balance and power!




Towering over the the traffic...



...extending into a long glide.



Or just a fun way to vary your ride.



Happy Cycling!

Hungarian Role Models

We get to meet so many inspiring women and men when Cycle Chic heads out into the world. Not least in Budapest, on the occasion of the Cycle Chic Conference last week.

Above is a wonderful and amazing lady. None other than Júlia Király - the Deputy-Governor of the Hungarian Central Bank. She rolled past the Bicycle Breakfast and we had a good chat about cycling in Budapest and Cycle Chic. What a role model Júlia is.


Meanwhile, elsewhere in Budapest, we bumped into Rebeka Szabó outside a restaurant. Rebeka is an MP in the Hungarian Parliament for the Green Party. She was out for dinner with her partner - both on bicycles, of course.

My kind of MP. Cycle Chic in a nutshell. Regular citizen on a regular bike, contributing to the development of a liveable city.

Wildest Place in Town

It’s usually the Zoo. But the big cats magnificent furs inspire all sorts of cycling Copenhagen copy-cats. Above a cosy warm Faux-Ozelot jacket for winter and below summer cool tights.




Leopard skirt for a Rumble in the Jungle?



Jaguar scarf.



Leopard shoes.



Happy Cycling!

Cornered

Sleek and majestic Copenhagen’s cyclists elegantly glide through one comer after the other.

Some with a determined swing like the girl above. Others more leisurely with a slight lean to the side as below.




When I was a boy I would make very dramatic turns to impress the girls.



I’m not sure if it ever impressed any of them. But in the end I could put the bike so far to the side that the pedal would scratch the asphalt even when fully raised.



Needless to say it ended with a spectacular crash – in front of a girl I really wanted to impress. Since then I adopted a more moderate style not unlike the gentleman below.



Happy Cycling!

Cycle Chic Bloggers Conference - Budapest

This just in from Cycle Chic Conference 2012: Budapest is Cycle Chic'tastic.  Ok, this isn't exactly "just in" as we've gotten to know Budapest for a while now from blogger Aron Halasz' Hungarian Cycle Chic, but last weekend we got to experience this bicycle lovely city firsthand.

The Budapest conference kicked off Friday morning with a breakfast for people cycling on their way to work, which also launched Budapest's bike to work week.

- 7 breakfast stands located in Budapest
- 14 total in Hungary
- 50 kilos of carrot bread at every station
- an equal amount of coffee
- no hungry cyclists in Hungary



Accompanying the breakfast was a photo shoot.  With the breakfast right next to the Opera House, it was not a bad backdrop for a photo shoot.  Not bad at all.


Many thank yous to János László and the Hungarian Cyclists' Club for arranging the bike breakfast...

And of course to Áron from Budapest Cycle Chic for arranging, well, everything... 

Last year's conference was in Barcelona where we hosted the first ever Cycle Chic Breakfast. Meeting all kinds of inspiring people, experiencing all sorts of inspiring cities, and witnessing the bicycle movement happen in cities around the world. Budapest was no exception - it was filled with warm, wonderful, and inspiring moments.  That we're going to be blogging the rest of this week :-)