Life On Bike Lane

City discovered with the eyes of an urban pedaller. It's fairness and faults. Amazing sceneries and astonishing moments one can only experience on a bicylce in a city.

[lifeonpedals]

The perspective of a pedaller

Swooping down the bike lane on a morning haze could be one of the most magical moments of the day. One of the best things on cycling is the breath of the fresh air the pedaller has to encounter (even if it would be freezingly could). The second best would be the scenery.

Sometimes the ground gets a bit tricky. But winter is no reason to stop cycling.

Sometimes the pedaller simply can’t see his or her nose. But anyway, one wouldn’t get the pleasure to enjoy different appearences of the city so tangibly sitting in a car. The pedallist really enjoys the journey.

[lifeonpedals]

Connoisseur of bikes

To find a perfectly matching bike can be a tricky exercise. When finding the one that fits your height and dimensions of body, hold on to it!

The world is full of different bicycle models. I dare to say that the best models for comfortable city ride can be found in the oldest cycling countries. Classical models with low frame and upright sitting position are still popular in Europe’s cycling capitals.

For me a decent city bike is stable, has low center of gravity and effortlessly rolling wheels. My own bike has been manufactured in Sweden sometimes in the 60′s and it still all right and beating many of the newer bikes with flying colours. It can easily carry even big amounts of cargo. And best of all it doesn’t stand out from the crowd. One of the biggest concerns of a urban cylicst is to become robbed. Bikes are being stolen everyday and too fancy ride could allure the thiefs.

But even countries of more fresh bicycle culture host some very autenthic and functional urban bicycle brands. Helsinki base Pelago makes the most chic bicycle models in Finland. It says alot that Pelago names its models after great cities and urban places. Who wouldn’t like to jump on her Brooklyn model bike and float smoothly throught the city congestion like a proper New Yorker?

[lifeonpedals]

Cycling is the traffic

At least in countries with not so long urban bicyling culture there is constant debate between car drivers and the bicyclists about who owns the street. Not all the cylcists are familiar with the traffic regualtion, due to lack of a drivers training, and not all the drivers are familiar with the cyclists’ road use rights. This causes unpleasent, even dangerous, situations.

Despite the hazardous encounters between bicyles and cars cycling isn’t as risky as commonly thought. According to European Cyclists’ Federation there’s just one death every 32 million kilometres.

Some basic rules are good to know before stepping on a pedal in any European city: In continental Europe a pedaler must keep to the right of the carriageway (to the left in the United Kingdom and Ireland) and give an appropriate arm signal when they wish to turn, says European Comission according to the Vienna Convention.

Giving a sign to your co-trafficers is essential. And one can really learn how to use them effiently by going to Copenhagen, the presumable capital of urban bicycling.

So many reasons to cycle

Maybe the most efficent way to encourage the citizens to bicycle is creating a proper infrastructure. In major European cities can already be found thousands of kilometers bike lanes, cycle tracks, bicycle paths and cycleways. 

And cycling really is good way to make positive impact on society: According to a research “cycling has a positive effect on emotional health – improving levels of well-being, self-confidence and tolerance to stress while reducing tiredness, difficulties with sleep and a range of medical symptoms.” Another research states that “Countries with the highest levels of cycling and walking generally have the lowest obesity rates” and “People cycling to work ‘mortality rate is 28% below the average population.”

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Cycle in style

Bicycle is the fastest, funniest, healthiest and most sustainable way to move around a city. Besides that it is absolutely chic. As the city cycling movement has grown in Western cities, urban pedallers have faced a new problem: How to bicycle everywhere AND still look good?

To see how the professionals do let’s look at the grand masters of city cycling: the Danes and the Dutch. Look at these girls and boys of Copenhagen Denmark! They really know how to stay chic while swinging themselves through the city. They don’t mind wearing a skirt or suit while pedalling flamboyantly through the city.

City cycling is all about getting around in seemingly casual style. Sitting in café table by the pavement can be best of the places spotting stylish urban pedallers.

If one wants to discover how the real urbanists cycle, one must travel to Amsterdam or Copenhagen. Both cities have more than 30 % of cycling modal share according to the European Cyclicts’ Federation. It means that over one third of all the trips made in the city has done with bicycles. It means a lot of everyday bicyclists and a lot of experience of functionality and comfortableness of urban cycling.