Be the Love Generation

A vélo à l'école (de la vie) by yoruse
A lovely little music video, as spotted by our reader, Michel.

Be the Love Generation. Skip school. Ride a bicycle. Flirt with girls all over the nation. And still be home in time for dinner.

Costa Rica Cycle Chic

My little brother was on holiday in Costa Rica recently. He sent us a pleasant collection of photos from the seaside town where he was staying. A place that is no stranger to the bicycle. And a place where beach cruisers are actually used on the beach. :-) 
 

Copenhagen Superdads

A lot of moms and dads are featured on this blog, and as Sunday is Fathers Day here in Denmark, this post is to celebrate all of our superdads.

More Multitaskers

Multitasking and looking fabulous while she does it.

Today, Andreas and I gave a Copenhagenize tour of the city and all its finest innovations. Afterwards, we had lunch on Queen Louise's Bridge and saw lots of cycle chic'sters. These multitasker photos are from the same spot, a few days ago.



The Bullitt Boom Box. You can see, and hear, this guy cycling all over Copenhagen. We got lucky as he parked his bicycle near us on the bridge, making it feel so perfectly summer.

They teach their children well here.

Bicycles and Skiis

Thanks to the wonders of internet technology, when this blog article goes live I'll be gently stirring in a hotel room at an altitude of 1644 m in the Italian town of Gressoney La Trinitè, ready to get out and ski.

What's more appropriate than some photos of bicycles and skiis? Our archives don't feature as many photos of skiis and bicycles as, say, dogs and bicycles but here are a few. Above, a gentleman heads over Queen Louise's Bridge in the chill carrying his skiis on his back.

Here's a girl rolling up and over Langebro (Long Bridge) a couple of years ago carrying her skiis. Despite Denmark's distinct lack of mountainous terrain, the Danes are keen skiers. Around 10% of the population ski regularly. You can find pistes just a couple of hours from Copenhagen, in Sweden, but most people travel to Norway, Sweden and the countries hosting the Alps.

Getting rid of unwanted skiis in Copenhagen also involves bicycles. Here's my cargo bike heading to a kids flea market in our neighbourhood where Felix sells his gear for fun and profit.

Here he is after setting up shop, using the cargo bike as a display to show off his wares. The skiis on the left and, since the kids are bigger now and we have cargo bikes, he sold the Bobike bike seat as well.

Oh Baby!

When a bicycle culture is mainstream, strong and thriving the bicycle is part of every stage of life. Cycling whilst pregant is recommended - just short of prescribed - by doctors in Denmark and I've heard a number of stories about women cycling to the hospital with contractions. Here's a previous post about cycling whilst pregant and you can also check out the Bicycles and Pregnancy tag.

This post is about how to transport the little ones around once they're out. Again, the bicycle is key in Copenhagen, as is the classic cargo bike. If you have kids in Copenhagen you either own a cargo bike or have considered buying one. In fact, 25% of all families with two or more kids own one. Either as primary transport in a car-free family or as a second car.

The child in the top photo has just mastered the art of sitting up it would seem.

But they aren't born sitting up, now are they? You still have to go about your daily business. Like my friend Søren, above, who used his cargo bike while on paternity leave. Yes, men in Denmark get a generous paternity leave. The cargo bike provides comfortable, pratical transport for getting around town with a baby.

Søren uses a classic Copenhagen solution. He takes the top half off of the baby's pram and merely sticks it in the cargo bay. Easy.


Here's another version of the same concept. Many parents also just use a car seat in the cargo bay.

This gentleman - also on paternity leave - had a clever combi-idea. He built a custom box for his Bullitt cargo bike and, on top, he placed the same click-system that is on the bottom half of the pram. So he just clicks the top half off the pram and clicks into onto the bicycle to transport his four-month old baby around by bicycle. Maintaining that all-important eye-contact if the youngster is awake.

This is a variation on the theme. A kids bike seat propped into the cargo bay. Add an adult friend and you're off around the city.

Or bring grandma along for the ride.

Nobody is saying you need a cargo bike. This gentleman was enjoying a casual Sunday bike ride in Mexico City with his sleepy kid on his back.

And this chap in Amsterdam has his infant on his front.

This is a similar solution using a classic Danish short john delivery bike, with the baby on the front rack.

Cargo Bike Tribute

I'm involved in a large project regarding cargo bikes in European cities. It's kicking off later in the spring, but I've been looking through my material and figured I'd salute the supermums and superdads who continue cycling with their kids on the Danish version of the SUV - the cargo bike.

Freiburg, Germany Junior Cycle Chic

One of our readers, Lee, sent us an email:

Greetings from Freiburg Germany. My family loves your site and I was wondering if you could post a photo of my daughter on her cool cruiser. She would get a kick out of it. Keep up the good work.

Our pleasure, Lee! Duly blogged! Thanks for sending us the shots.

Cycle Chic is Off to Rome

by Brittany Leigh Photography on Flickr.
I'm heading to Rome next week, to speak at a conference with my Four Goals for Promoting Urban Cycling talk. Here are some cycle chic photos from Flickr from the Italian capital. Definately looking forward to visiting the city. It's been a few years since I've been there.

Can anyone tell me where some good spots are to photograph cyclists in the city? Certain streets? The University? Please drop us a line in the comments.


by Chylle on Flickr.


by kiwiggy on flickr.


by Antonio H Foto Arte on Flickr

And then there's this photo, which wasn't 'shareable' on Flickr, but it's lovely.

Bicycle Trolley

Ride your bicycle, absolutely. Do it daily. But don't underestimate the possibilities of using the bicycle for all manner of transport. Like in this lovely photo taken in the Nouveau Bo-Bo neighbourhood of Vesterbro. Kids and their supermum heading home from kindergarten/school.

Café View

Whilst munching a delicious lunch at a corner café, these are some of the things I saw.

Supermums

Been a while since we've featured some Copenhagen Supermums.

They rule.

Even if they're from Catalonia... :-)

Berlin Copenhagen

Here we have three visitors to Copenhagen, who I photographed outside of Baisikeli Bike Rental. Margherita, Luca and Katarina from Berlin. They had just rented a cargo bike and were heading out to explore Copenhagen.