It’s been way too long since I last did one of my From the Blogroll installments. I’d like to present you with one of my favourite blogs: Copenhagen Cycle Chic.
I first stumbled upon it because an old fellow comp. lit. student of mine was one of its contributors, but I’ve been a daily reader ever since. Mainly a photo blog, CCC captures the style of Copenhagen bicyclists and, in the process, the blog presents the world with one of the things that make me truly proud to be a Copenhagener: Our strong-lived bicycle culture. Bicycle-riding doesn’t have to be a sport, and you don’t have to be dressed up in clumsy helmets and expensive bicycle gear in order to go for a ride, CCC argues. You can ride your bike to work, to cafés or to see friends, and still look every bit as chic and fashionable as if you were going by car or by train. CCC makes this point by way of truly great photograhps and obviously a keen sense of the aesthetic value of the bicycle as motif, with its elegant wheels and nifty mechanics, cooperating so beautifully with the bicyclists bodily movements.
More than that, I think the blog does a great job at capturing the passing of the seasons in Copenhagen. The weather is a very popular topic of conversation for us Danes, and the passing of the season, although an annually recurring event, is an important part of our culture.
Here are four blog entries from Copenhagen Cycle Chic that capture this tendency particularly well:
Winter
I especially like the bicyclist in the first picture of this entry: All wrapped up and looking more like a cocoon than a human being, yet stubbornly pedalling away. (For another wonderful winter bicycle photo, see The Bicyclist, braving a blizzard with a smile)
Spring
Spring light, a pretty young bicycle maiden, and an H.G. Wells eulogy
Summer
A Marilyn Monroesque moment on a bicyclicious Copenhagen summer’s day
Autumn
Golden autumn afternoon at the bicycle lanes
Here’s a photo from my own flickr photostream, inspired by CCC, which I snapped in January last year, trying to capture that bleak January atmosphere:
If you’d like to get into the Copenhagen Cycle Chic style yourself, here‘s the Copenhagen Cycle Chic Manifesto!
