Better Biking

 For the most part this trip we have been biking in either large cities with well-established networks or in rural areas. Nijmegen and Odense were good opportunities to see what good bike infrastructure looks like on a slightly smaller scale. With these smaller cities it is easier to envision how we could implement what they have into American cities. Not everything is as crazy as it seems in Utrecht or Copenhagen.  The most surprising insight I have gleaned from our meetings with city officials and planners has been that the citizens in Denmark and the Netherlands can be just as resistant to cycling infrastructure implementation as they are in the US. This fact alone is enough to give me hope that we could potentially have something similar bike-wise to what they have here. It is easy to look at places like Denmark and the Netherlands and decide that the US could absolutely never have anything close to what they have here because it is "just different", but from what I have ...

 A few days ago we were on our way back to our lodgings from Nijmegen and Nina and I were thinking that we would like to see what the healthcare system is like here in the Netherlands. We brainstormed and decided that the best way to do this would be to roughhouse on our bikes to the point where we would lose control of ourselves and crash to the pavement, hopefully injuring ourselves in the process. So we did just that, and Nina sustained a really excellent face laceration and I managed to escape with nothing more than a scraped knee and a bruised ego.  After initial impact, Nina and I were sitting on the side of the road, waiting for one of the trip leaders, Floris, to come rescue us. We were quite the sight with Nina's head gushing blood, and our bikes strewn around us, yet none of the passerby's even glanced our way. We were prepared to remain on the curb for the next 20 minutes while Floris was on his way, but after about two minutes, this rather severe older Dutch woman ...

I don't consider myself a cyclist, but I do love using my bike as my main tool to get from point A to point B. The past few days, we have been doing some longer distance rides and it has been a highly satisfying and enjoyable experience. I have never done a long distance ride before, as most of my trips are just around an urban setting, so the thought of doing three days of 28 mile rides was a bit intimidating, but I was excited at the opportunity to push myself and try a new style of biking.  When we left Copenhagen for the countryside, we took two trains, and on a side note, this was the most pleasant train experience I've ever had. The station was clean and beautiful, and the train car was also clean and very comfortable. There was designated places to put your bike and luggage, and it all felt very futuristic and precise. The trains have a very regular schedule that factor in waiting for other trains to pass, so that you don't have unexpected delays. For longer land tra...

When you imagine great bike infrastructure, it is easy to think of bike superhighways and bike bridges, but what makes Copenhagen and other great biking cities so amazing is all of the tiny details that they incorporate and make the expected norm. At the end of the day its about making a cyclist feel like they belong in the city and are not an afterthought, and the micro-infrastructure measures that Copenhagen takes makes all the difference.  Instead of listing out all of the things Copenhagen has that make biking so beautiful, I will instead take you on a little bike journey.  I am getting ready to leave my hostel and go for a ride around town and I unlock my bike with a key that inserts into the built-in back wheel lock, making it easy to park anywhere around town.  (Image taken from Dutch Bike Bits on google) The bike parking is located around the back of the hostel on an elevated deck, and I have to go down a flight of stairs to get to the street. Luckily, there is a ...

The summer solace is no big deal back in the United States, but here, it sparked one of the largest public celebrations I have seen to date. There were bonfires being set all over the city and revelers filled the streets. It was like the entire city was having a giant party that puts the fourth of July to shame. I went to the Reffen area with a group of fellow students to take part in the celebrations and it was fantastic. The Reffen street market where everything was taking place was constructed from repurposed shipping containers which gave the whole thing a steam-punk sort of vibe. There were a dozen or so food vendors, one of which provided me with absolutely the best ravioli I have ever had, and another with the strongest sangria to touch my lips.  The whole event was a perfect example of how a city can create a space for people that is really visually appealing and attractive, without spending a huge amount of money to construct a whole new structure. I find it also interesti...

 To recap the last several days I have three main takeaways from Copenhagen: One, everyone is beautiful. I have not seen a single person who could not be a model as their fallback career if something went arigh for them. Two, biking is king but you have to know what you're doing or a (beautiful) local will yell at you. Three, it does not matter where you are going, what street you go down, anywhere you pass through will feel safe and be absolutely stunning. I will continue to rant about the perfection of this place in a future post (or two), but for this one I want to talk specifically about the playground touring activity that we did yesterday (6/23). Copenhagen is all about freedom of movement for both adults and kids.The bike is the most useful tool to promote this idea as it is extremely versatile and easy to use and in Copenhagen biking is usually the fastest mode of transportation for getting anywhere in the city. So because it is so easy and safe to move in the city here, ki...

 Less than 24 hours into my stay in Denmark and I already feel that my life has been changed forever. I came into this trip expecting beautiful bikeways and idyllic scenery, but my first day yesterday definitely blew my expectations out of the water. When I finally touched town after 12 hours of travel (8 of which I spent next to a small and vomiting child) the first thing I noticed out the window was the bike lane. In America you are lucky if you can figure out and coordinate getting to and from the airport quickly and easily via public transportation, but at the Copenhagen airport there were at least five (well marked) modes of transit to and from baggage claim-- train, metro, bus, bike, and rideshare. The bike lane was pristine, protected, and heavily used. I quickly observed that all bikeways in the city are this way.  Our first assignment upon receiving our bikes at the hostel was to go out into the city and follow around a cyclist, observing the way they navigate. It was...