The Life-Sized City Blog

Photo: Mads Odgaard Norway's Statoil is a major oil company in Scandinavia and they have many petrol stations in Denmark. My friend Mads took these photos of a Statoil station in Copenhagen that has clearly accepted - dare one say embraced - the bicycle culture here in the City of Cyclists. In no uncertain terms Statoil has reserved space for cyclists to fix, tune-up or pump their bicycles at this Bicycle Care station. The sign, above, reads: "Dear Cyclist, You can care for your bicycle here. You can pump and wash your bicycle and, inside the shop, you're welcome to borrow a free bicycle care kit with oil, tire levers, allen keys, etc.  Enjoy. Statoil" I simply don't know how to make that text any nicer. Photo: Mads Odgaard In the centre of the bicycle pictogram is a rack that folds down so you can hang your bicycle on it while repairing, caring, whatever. An air hose is on the right and, on the left, a dispenser with paper towels and plastic ...

There was a tweet today from a gentleman named Ben Hammersley on Twitter : The bicycle pump in Copenhagen airport's baggage hall is an epic sign of civilization. Cheers me up every time. So here's a photo we found of it via azubcz on Picasa . It's one of those details in Copenhagen's bicycle culture that we just haven't gotten around to featuring. So here's the perfect opportunity. Used for bicycles, of course, but many prams have chunky tires as well and I've used it when arriving home with a pram, to top up the air for the journey home on the Metro. It's all in the details.

Spotted in the Danish town of Fredericia. A bicyle pump and a DIY repair workshop with tools. For use by the public. Great bicycle symbolism on the urban landscape. Oh and while we're at it... that old myth about Denmark being flat... you're confusing us with the Netherlands. Copenhagen, certainly, is nice and even with only a few hills but farther west you'll find some decent topography. Like in Fredericia. Citizen Cyclists crawl up this hill on bicycles like they've done for 125 years. Oh, and coast happily down, too, of course. In fact, in the Danish national anthem, the hills and valleys are praised. A friend of mine, Tom, went on a cycle holiday in northern Jutland and the hills surprised the hell out of him ... Denmark's second city, Aarhus, is pretty similar to most of Portland or Seattle. And yet they have over 25% modal share for bicycles.

Danish State Railways [DSB] have been doing some good things for bicycles this year. First they made it free to take your bicycle on the S-Trains serving Greater Copenhagen . Now it seems that people transporting their bicycles by train can exploit their travel time a little more effectively. DSB had a competition for customers where ideas for how to improve service were sent in. Four customers had the same idea and it was the idea that won. Placing bicycle pumps in the existing bicycle compartments. Not bad. Not bad at all. The pumps will be installed in the new year. In addition, DSB are doubling the capacity of the so-called flex compartments to allow for even more bicycle capacity. At left: A bicycle/pram/wheelchair compartment on a Copenhagen S-train. At right: the flexible wheel holders hold the back wheel and allow for swaying movement. When DSB announced that bicycles were now free on S-trains, they put up this tunnel on Nørrebrogade - the busiest bicycle stre...