The Life-Sized City Blog

You'd be excused for not having a clue what you're looking at right now. Innovation sometimes goes wrong, but at least the thought was a good, noble one. Bicycle racks outside Hedehusene Station, west of Copenhagen. I know about them and have seen them from the train to Roskilde countless times. There aren't many places that still have these bicycle racks anymore so when I rode to Roskilde for christmas (previous post) I stopped to take some photos. A rather overcomplicated attempt to provide covered parking for bicycles to protect them from the rain. I've never actually seen them in use, so I was suprised to see that four or five bicycles were parked underneath the plastic fantastic contraptions. A good idea that never fit in with the Danish desire for ease-of-use and convenience. If anyone knows when these racks were developed, please let us know in the comments.

These posters are up all over the city of Frederiksberg at the moment, where I live. They read, quite simply: "Idling your motor - Maximum 1 minute - When you idle your motor your car emits chemicals dangerous to health. Show consideration and turn off your motor." Hmm. Your car does it. Like it's alive and has a mind of it's own. Why, oh why, can it not just state that YOU emits dangerous chemcials when YOU idle your car? It's the motorist who is doing it, controlling the situation. Let's slap that responsibility on that motorist with a simple rewording, for god's sake. With THAT said, there have been rules in place for many years in Danish cities regarding how long you can idle your motor. They don't apply to traffic jams, but just when you're sitting there... um... idle. The regulations in Frederiksberg for this one minute limit have been in place since 1989, based on recommendations from the Environment Ministry back in 1982. Poll...

This year I decided to ride my bicycle to christmas. The kids were already with their mum down at grandma's house in Roskilde, west of Copenhagen, so I just needed to show up on the 24th, which is christmas in Denmark. Lovely sunshine that day, so I hopped on my Velorbis, wearing my respectable christmas clothes of course, and carrying a bag of presents on the front rack. I had just downloaded the Endomondo app for the smartphone , too. I don't normally have a clue how far I ride around the city - and don't know anyone in Copenhagen who does. I know how long it takes to get to places, not how many kilometres. But this app sounded like fun so I tracked the journey to Roskilde and the journey back again . The Endomondo app has an option for 'Cycling - Transport' which is great, even though they still call everything you do a 'workout'. I figured that riding 30 kilometres and averaging 20 km/h would get me there in about an hour and a half. It takes an h...

For one brilliant week in September 2011, the air pollution levels from car traffic in Copenhagen fell by a whopping 30%. The City of Copenhagen took a bold step in planning the Road Racing World Championships in cycling this year by deciding to close off most of the city centre to car traffic during the event. While most people have tried to calculate the massive boost the event had - and will have - on tourism, Copenhagen's brand and what not, it turns out the event improved the air quality for the citizens of the city. It didn't have anything directly to do with the professional cyclists racing around the city. The ban on cars in the city centre of Copenhagen meant that 60,000 cars and trucks were kept out and 75 streets were car-free. Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard during the World Championships. A few months before the event, I had an idea. I thought about the study done after 9/11 where temperatures were measured in the US for the five days that air traffic was...

Open publication - Free publishing - More bicycle Our friend and colleague Thomas Krag presented this paper early in the millenium and we've long since thought it appropriate to translate it into English. At long last we're happy to present it here. We used some of the findings in an earlier article here on the blog - Save a Street - With Bicycles ! There is often a conflict of interest between shoppers’ wishes regarding parking and the actual plans to calm traffic in the city, i.e. the efforts to promote bicycle traffic. In addition many retailers are of the opinion, that cyclists are not good customers. There are a good number of studies available regarding shopping and traffic behaviour, and attitudes towards the two, that can help bring some perspective into this discussion. This paper will deal with: - general trends in shop and retail development - current knowledge of relation between transport and shopping patterns - views and facts regarding types of cust...

No, it wasn't my Bullitt , unfortunately. But two weeks before the Bullitt got stolen, my other bike - pictured above - was nicked. It's a 1955 Swedish Crescent. Bloody irritating. Vintage bicycles are in high demand at the moment, fetching a high price. Bicycles that only three years ago wouldn't even garner a second glance by bicycle thieves are now targeted. I was sad to see it go but didn't bother blogging about it. However. A month or so ago, Hans from Larry vs Harry was standing with Claus, who works at Larry vs Harry. Hans spotted a bicycle rolling past and noticed that it was the Crescent. It's an incredibly unique bicycle and it's hard to miss. Hans mentioned it to Claus. Claus - the reigning Danish cargo bike champion by the way, we call him Copenhagenthighs - took matters into his own hands. He hopped onto his Bullitt and set off after the Man on the Crescent. He gave him a bit of a shock braking hard next to him and shouting "Where the...

Vis World's Most Northernly Cargo Bikes på et større kort Perhaps because we are snowballing towards winter we are focusing on northern climes at the moment here on the blog. We also have cargo bikes on the brain because of our work on the Cyclelogistics project. Whatever the case, we are obsessed by finding the world's most northernly cargo bike since blogging about the Christiania Bike in Greenland and the world's most northernly bike lane . Above is a map with the three contenders so far. Although based on coordinates, this first cargo bike is in the lead: Reykjavik, Iceland. Longjohn Cargo bike. From Alex Shepard on Flickr . Trondheim, Norway. Larry vs Harry 'Bullitt' cargo bike. While not as far north as Reykjavik, this may be the World's Most Northernly Bike Messenger... Thanks to Larry vs Harry for the photo. Nanortalik, Greenland. Christiania Cargo Bike. UPDATE: We got excited when Jan, in the comments, sent us off to Longjohn....

A friend of mine took this photo back in 2011 in  Nanortalik , Greenland of a citizen on his Christiania cargo bike . It was only a balmy -10 C at the time but getting around the town is easy peasy on human-powered wheels. Greenland is an area we haven't covered much here on this blog. We've noticed that many Danish online bike shops are keen to point out that they send to Greenland. Being a part of the Danish Kingdom , it's no surprise that bicycles play a role in Greenland. Seeing an iconic Christiania Bike 'up there' is just extra cool. So I was wondering. Could this be the world's most northerly cargo bike? The coordinates for Nanotalik are 60°08′31″N - 45°14′36″W. It probably isn't, as Nanotalik (meaning 'Place of the Polar Bears' in Kalaallisut) is on the southern tip of Greenland, which means cargo bikes in Uppsala, Sweden, just north of Stockholm are farther north. Not to mention other Swedish, Icelandic and Norwegian towns. I started ...