‘City of Bicycles’ book will examine Copenhagen bike culture

Cover

A new book coming from Copenhagen titled, City of Bicycles will take an in-depth look at that famous bike city’s culture. I’m really looking forward to this because most of what I know about Copenhagen is more of the infrastructure, policy and planning side of things.

‘City of Bicycles’ is due for release on October 28th and is published by Nyt Nordisk Forlag, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Here’s the press release from the publisher:

City of Bicycles by Cecilia Vanman, photography by Robin Maddock

In Copenhagen everybody cycles. His Royal Highness Frederik, the Danish crown prince, can be spotted regularly riding his children around in a cargo bicycle, and it is completely normal to see politicians parking their bicycles outside the Parliament building, or a famous actor riding around town with shopping bags balancing on the handlebars.

Girlfriends in high heels push their pedals while they talk intimately side- by-side. With one hand on the handlebars bike riders send text messages, hold phone conversations, drink take-away coffees, enjoy their music, and transport dogs, kids and full shopping bags. Copenhageners practically live on their bikes and they express their style and individuality through their choice of bicycle and the way they customize it. Their city is filled to the brim with bicycle makers, shops, self-builders, collectors, bicycle types and subcultures of all sorts.

In City of Bicycles Cecilia Vanman vividly describes the multifaceted Copenhagen bicycle culture with all that it entails. Her stories are accompanied by stunning images of the cycling capital captured by the celebrated British photographer Robin Maddock.

Find out why Copenhageners are so in love with their bikes and see them portrayed in the streets with their favorite two wheels: cargo bikes, fixies, classic racers, tourers, velomobiles, home built/new/vintage and on it goes – Copenhagen holds the whole spectrum. Bikes are everywhere, all day, every day, year round.

Read about the legendary bicycles makes of the hippie town Christiania and meet the city’s bespoke bike makers. See their creations that reflect the designers’ personal predilections and satisfy customers’ tastes across the spectrum from whimsy to deluxe to space age technology and back again to utter practicality and reliability.

The tight knit courier culture of today is also portrayed, as is that of the original couriers, the ‘Swayers’, who ruled Copenhagen streets for four decades. Learn about Copenhagen customization, the bike blogger who kick started a bicycle revolution, the collectors, the self-builders and the world’s most expensive bicycle – made in Copenhagen.

See the bicycle as art, check out the punk knights who joust on giant bikes and close the book again with the conviction that Copenhageners truly are the most cyclo-centric city dwellers on the planet.