{"id":73,"date":"2011-07-18T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=73"},"modified":"2014-08-06T18:13:02","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T18:13:02","slug":"land-of-bicycles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2011\/07\/18\/land-of-bicycles\/","title":{"rendered":"Land of Bicycles"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the first things that struck a Mexican friend visiting me in Denmark, was the huge number of cykler <\/strong>(bikes, cykel <\/strong>in the singular, the c is pronounced like s) driving past her wherever she seemed to turn her head. M\u00e6nd <\/strong>(men) and kvinder <\/strong>(women) of all aldre <\/strong>(ages) were pedaling their sleek two-wheelers past street corners and junctions with an air of confident goal orientation that outshone fodg\u00e6ngere <\/strong>(pedestrians) as well as bilister <\/strong>(drivers of cars).<\/p>\n

While Denmark certainly cannot match the wheeled streams flowing through Chinese cities, bikes are prominent enough for a foreigner like my friend to see it as a \u201dland of bicycles\u201d. According to trafikliv.dk<\/a> there are about 5 million bicycles in Denmark, or about one for every adult Dane. In comparison, there are \u201djust\u201d about 2 million cars.<\/p>\n

Denmark\u2019s relatively flat landscape and small size make the country a biker\u2019s paradise. A lot of people cykler <\/strong>(go by bike) to work or school, and some even go on cykelferie <\/strong>(bicycle holiday). In a country where people generally don\u2019t have to struggle a lot to stay alive and where nature offers few obstacles, cycling can be an excellent way to get some motion <\/strong>(exercise).<\/p>\n

When Danish-Faroese comedian Jacob Haugaard made headlines around the world by becoming elected member of Folketinget <\/strong>(the Danish parliament) in 1994, one of his fanciful campaign pledges had been Mere medvind p\u00e5 cykelstierne<\/strong>. Mere <\/strong>means \u2019more\u2019, and medvind <\/strong>is a following wind of the kind that pushes you and your bike forward on the cykelstier<\/strong>, the many bicycle lanes that line roads all over Denmark. It is the opposite of modvind<\/strong>, the head wind that comes against you and threaten to toss you and your vehicle in the gr\u00f8ft <\/strong>(ditch). Haugaard\u2019s catchphrase could be paraphrased as \u201dBetter Wind Cooperation on the Bicycle Lanes\u201d.<\/p>\n

In addition to cykelstier, most Danish towns have several cykelstativer <\/strong>(bicycle racks), where bikes can be parked and locked outside public schools, railway stations and other frequently visited places. Major cities like \u00c5rhus and Copenhagen also offer bycykler <\/strong>(city bikes), which can be rented for free. (You\u2019ll need a coin to unlock them from their stands, though.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll finish with a quote from a children\u2019s song, Cykelsangen <\/em>by Poul Kj\u00f8ller:<\/p>\n

Jeg er s\u00e5 glad for min cykel<\/p>\n

Jeg kommer hurtigt rundt omkring<\/p>\n

Og det er fordi p\u00e5 en cykel<\/p>\n

S\u00e5 g\u00e5r det let som ingenting<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m so happy about my bike<\/p>\n

I get around quickly<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s because on a bike<\/p>\n

It goes easily as nothing<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n