Copenhagenize Rides San Francisco Critical Mass

I'm way behind on so many things. I finally had the chance to edit this little film that I shot in San Francisco in October 2009. By fantastic coincedence, my lecture tour was on the same day as the Halloween Critical Mass bicycle ride.

I took part with some friends, riding my Biomega borrowed from the W Hotel.

I was meant to borrow a Danish Bullitt cargo bike from Erik Zo, who was kind enough to offer it to me, but not knowing where I'd end up in the course of the evening, or with whom and what not, I decided against it. I didn't want to be the man who got the bike stolen. :-) In lieu of borrowing the bike, Erik gave me a lift from the lecture back to my hotel.

The bicyle ride was quite brilliant, I must admit. It was definately more 'in your face' compared to the critical mass I was in in Budapest in September, but it certainly wasn't aggressive at all. The whole Halloween angle, with people dressed up in crazy costumes added to the festival atmosphere.

There were loads of people riding bicycles. Anybody know the number? I haven't been able to find the estimate.

The music in the video is by a friend of mine, Andy, in the UK. Atlum Schema is the name. Check it out at www.atlumschema.co.uk. This song of his seems to fit the video so perfectly.

Bike Helmet Protest in Melbourne

I had a brilliant week in Melbourne as a guest of the State of Design Festival . Loads of interviews and events that all culminated with my keynote speech on the Saturday. There was, however, an event on the Saturday morning - July 26, 2010 - that was extremely interesting to be a part of. A group of citizens, rallied together by filmmaker and bicycle advocate Mike Rubbo , decided to go for a bicycle ride together on Melbourne's new bike share system bikes. A splendid idea. Melbourne's bike share system is shiny new, although unlike most cities in the world with a bike share programme, only 70-odd people are using them each day. In Dublin, by contrast, there are over 30,000 subscribers. Not to mention the cracking successes in Paris, Barcelona, Seville and most of the over 100 cities with such systems. So, a group of people, many of them Copenhagenize.com readers, fancy a bike ride. Sounds lovely enough. They met up at the bike racks at Melbourne University. Hired the bikes wi

IKEA Idea With Velorbis Bikes

Photo: Per Wadskjaer for IKEA IKEA of Denmark is now starting a new concept at their Danish stores. They did a bit of market research and found that roughly 25% of their customers rode their bikes to the stores or took public transport - even though most of then are located outside the cities in large commerical centres - some call them Big Box Districts - which are located outside the city centre. In Copenhagen we have two IKEAs. One is about 10 km from the city centre, the other is about 20 km. I, myself, have made the former trip several times on my 3-speed, carrying all manner of cumbersome goods home to the nest. It's great to learn that so many other IKEA customers ride their bikes out there, too. Doesn't surprise me, really, that so many Danes ride to such lengths for such purposes. But it is cool that IKEA respects the fact by launching a concept that celebrates the fact. And remember kids! Cyclists make better shoppers than motorists! Photo: Per Wadskjaer for IKEA IKE

A Walking Helmet is a Good Helmet

At long last logic prevails. A new campaign has hit the streets of Denmark, thanks to the visionaries at The Danish Road Safety Council [Sikker Trafik] and Trygfonden [an insurance company]. Intense promotion of walking helmets for pedestrians has begun. This logic has been sorely missed. These two organisations have happily promoted bike helmets but pedestrians suffer just as many head injuries, if not more. This Danish campaign poster reads: "A walking helmet is a good helmet" "Traffic safety isn't just for cyclists. The pedestrians of Denmark actually have a higher risk of head injury. The Danish Road Safety Council recommends walking helmets for pedestrians and other good folk in high risk groups." The slogan is catchy in Danish since it kind of rhymes. All in all it's a brilliant project. Let's save some lives. The new walking helmets will be available in the Danish Cyclists Union's [Dansk cyklist forbund] shop. Although, as the

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