Cycling in Copenhagen

We’ve had the pleasure of biking in Copenhagen this past week, spend two days on bikes borrowed from our Danish family. The bike locks are built into the rear wheel design, with a key which sets a lock around the rear wheel (you can see Trina working her lock in the lower row middle photo). Our Danish cousins, Ulrik and Bente bike to work every day, and have done so for decades, rain or shine. They have both winter and summer bikes with excellent lights, brakes and gearing systems. As you can see from various photos, bikes are parked by the hundreds at railroad stations and public meeting areas. Commuters will take their bikes onto the commuter trains (as seen in several of the photos) with specially designed/dedicated train compartments for bikes and bicyclists. Very few Danes wear bike helmuts, which seemed strange to us, as we always wear helmuts in USA. But the cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles are all very aware of bikes, and give right-of-way to bicyclists. I asked Ulrik about this and he explained that most drivers also are bikers and thus know about bike right-of-way, which is also granted by the laws of the city and land. We also had the delight of biking around Copenhagen with my brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Lisa Robinson, in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. They came to Copenhagen on Tom’s business, and happened to be there at the same time we were present. They rented bikes and we spend the day cruising Copenhagen, enjoying some of the fabulous sights, sounds and tastes of this grand city (see next blog post for Copenhagen highlights), including Nyhavn harbor and the Lego store. Finally, we biked to pick up our family’s children from their first day of school. Yes, school begins in early August for Danes! Even their 5 year old daughter biked to and from school, about a mile each way. She and her Mom did wear a helmut. The Danes love biking, as a way to commute, as a way of life, as a way of health. Here’s to Danish love for biking. If you own a bike, perhaps it is time to take it out of the garage, and go out for a ride.