The Life-Sized City Blog

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I recieved a text message from Christian (at left, above) saying that he had spotted my red stolen Bullitt in his backyard in the Nørrebro neighbourhood. I called him instantly. (I mean INSTANTLY) and we went over the details on the bike. There was no question it was The Missing Bullitt. My friend Andreas and I hopped onto our bikes and flew off from Copenhagenize Consulting's offices in the centre of Copenhagen to meet up with Christian. Sure enough, there it was. My primary means of transport. Not locked to anything, with just a cheap wire lock through the wheel and frame. Christian had locked it with his own lock to the railing, just in case. The guy who nicked it peeled a few of the stickers off - the Bike Portland ones, the Cycle Chic one, but left the main stickers on the sides intact. DUH! The little seat where my daughter sits on the crossbar was gone, as was the wheel lock, but that's about it. Almost completely as I last saw ...

On a visit to Budapest last week I was taken on a tour of the oldest velodrome in Europe that is still in use. Millenáris in Budapest , from 1896. It was fantastic to hear the entire history of the place from the chap behind the bike above, Péter Tarapcsák. Indeed a storied velodrome. Kristof from KMSZ was my guide and interpreter. One interesting thing was that in the 1970's and 1980's, there were many different national teams who used the velodrome for training, up to the Olympics in Moscow '80, for example, but also other international competitions. Western nations had trouble getting visas for most Eastern Bloc countries, but not Hungary. As a result there were many times that Americans, Cubans, East Germans et al were gathered in one place at the height of the Cold War. The mood was festive and sport was prioritised over politics. The bike above is for racing behind motorbikes. Certain things were lost in translation in the storytelling, but Henry from Workcycles str...

Last November I blogged about The World's First Fixie Cargo Bike - my Coolville Bullitt by Larry vs Harry . Some photos dropped into the inbox this morning from Andreas in Stockholm. After reading about the bike on Copenhagenize.com, he decided that he simply must own it. So he hopped on the X2000 express train to Copenhagen and bought it. There was little argument. He was itching for it. Finally I get to see my baby in the Swedish capital, where Andreas is a bike messenger. Thanks for the photos, Andreas, you madman! :-) Andreas also participated in the 14th European Cycle Messenger Championships 2009 and came in 5th on his Bullitt in the cargo bike race. Here's a little film from the ECMC 09 with focus on the cargo bike category. Damn, I wish I could have been there.