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.

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...

Copenhagenize is pleased to be involved in the creation and design of a bike event that will take place in conjunction with the Roskilde Festival and Roskilde Municipality on June 26th, 2011. Rock Ur Bike will take place on Sunday, June 26th. Roskilde Festival starts on June 30th but the camping areas open on June 25th and warm up music starts on the Sunday, to entertain the tens of thousands of festival-goers. It is a simple celebration of the bicycle as an integral part of society. As the poster says, "Pimp your bike and ride show-off through the city!". The ride is inspired by the crazy bike goodness at Burning Man festival in the USA. Roskilde Festival, since its inception in 1971 , has become one of Europe's largest music festivals, with 80,000 people taking part, not to mention over 20,000 volunteers. The City of Roskilde is a bit older. A thousand years older, give or take. This year the city has a bicycle campaign to promote cycling called Roskilde ...

I like details like this. Even when you have a big, bad-ass book featuring all the Best Practice for bicycle infrastructure - ( How many cars on that street each day? What's the speed limit? Right... turn to page 86 for your bicycle lane, please ) - there is often the need and possibility for details that fit one particular spot. It's where bicycle traffic planners get to be creative. This bicycle turn lane is in the Danish city of Roskilde, outside the train station. Like every other Danish city, there are bike lanes. Separated or painted, depending on the traffic volume. Most traffic here continues straight on but there are those who need to turn left. Take out a little piece of sidewalk and wiggle in a turn lane. Sweet. This one features a button for the cyclist to press when they need to turn. There's no irritating waiting time, it's a quick, efficient process. Perfect for Citizen Cyclists on their way through the town.