Copenhagen Cycle Chic
An Interview With Mikael Colville-Andersen and Aaron Bateman, Creators of the Copenhagen Girls on Bikes Blog.
Photography: Mikael Colville-Anderson
Co-creator of the blog Copenhagen Girls on Bikes, Mikael Colville Anderson, a Danish film director is quick to point out that photographing stylish women on bikes is just a part of his interest in Copenhagen’s cycling culture. His other bike culture blog, Cycliciousness, contains statistics, background, and many more photographs of Copenhagen bike culture. As to why he started photographing stylish cyclists, Mikeael says: “The number of shots I was taking increased exponentially when I started seeing what I had never noticed before, namely the vast amount of stylish cyclists on the bike lanes of this city.” It’s unclear whether cyclists are becoming more fashion-conscious, whether fashionable people are now choosing to ride bikes, or whether we are suddenly noticing what had been there all along. What is clear is that ‘Cycle Chic’ is hot, not only in Copenhagen, but in cities around the globe. Momentum spoke to Mikael and the blog’s co-creator, Aaron Bateman, a transplanted copywriter from the UK.
What kind of response have you received about your cycleliciousness & copenhagen girls on bikes blogs?
Mikael: It’s kind of surprising how it’s taken off. For our European visitors it is generally “Ah, Europe! What a wonderful cultural snapshot of daily life in a European capital....” For our visitors from countries without any real bike culture like USA, UK, Canada, Australia, etc., it is generally, “Dude!!! That is amazing!!! Where’s all the lycra? How can they DO that?” It is a real eye opener for many about how developed bike culture is in Copenhagen and other European cities. As though they have just been let in on a big secret.
Aaron: The interest our blog has generated has prompted me to explore the scene a lot more, and I’m learning stuff every day and coming across amazing people doing great things in the name of spreading the cycling message. While Cycleliciousness hasn’t taken off in the same way as Copenhagen Girls on Bikes, we think it shows that we’re genuinely committed to the bigger issues, and not just a couple of dudes riding round taking pictures of pretty girls.
What inspired you to photograph women on bikes?
Mikael: It’s a part of my daily life. It is what I see when I ride to work or the supermarket. I am constantly amazed to see EVERYTHING about the bike culture here. Danish and European women just happen to be stylish. It’s elegant, it’s classy. It’s Europe. And, I’m a man. I enjoy looking at aesthetically pleasing women. If I lived in a forest, I’d probably take pictures of the nicest trees.
Aaron: My quality of life improved dramatically when I moved to Copenhagen. Instead of standing like cattle in an overcrowded train carriage, or stewing in a traffic jam every morning, I jump on my bike and pedal into work through this beautiful city. Every trip is exhilarating. I feel alive, healthy and content. Visually, the sight of pretty people on bikes never fails to move me.
What potential do your images have to inspire and change the world?
Mikael: I get the impression that a lot of bike advocates live in a bubble in the city they inhabit and don’t have an overview of the good ideas and interesting initiatives that are in other places or being tested in other parts of the world. Like everything else, global ideas can be useful on a local level. Copenhagen’s bike culture is a century in the making, with heavy emphasis in the decades since 1945. Bringing images and ideas to the world from the self-proclaimed World’s Best Cycling City can make others realize what is possible, and what heights can be achieved. It may seem like a long way off from a militant cyclist battling with angry car drivers along the curbs of an American city, but working towards the dream is easier when you can see how a real city with real bike culture works.
It’s all inspiration. We get so many encouraging words from cyclists around the world who wish to work towards “Copenhagenizing” their cities. Lycra-clad cyclists with expensive gear and an unwritten membership in an inaccessible subculture do little for bike advocacy. If we can show how millions of European cyclists ride their bikes every day in normal stylish clothes, then perhaps we can encourage people in other countries to ride in normal clothes. And on normal, sensible bikes instead of expensive ones.
What can North Americans learn about everyday city biking from looking at your blogs?
Mikael: “If you build it, they will come... And they don’t have to dress funny in stinky lycra when they arrive.”
In many countries cycling is a “movement” with environmental overtones. But if people just got on their bikes and rode, instead of being “activists,” the bike culture will grow much quicker. In Copenhagen and other European cities, it’s just a way of life. We just get on with it. No bells and whistles, just transport.
Aaron: Denmark is flat and small compared to America and cycling is ingrained in the national consciousness. It will take a supreme effort from the powers that be to ever achieve something comparable in my opinion. But who knows, maybe one day they won’t have a choice.
Copenhagen Girls on Bikes
http://copenhagengirlsonbikes.blogspot.com/
Cycleliciousness
http://cycleliciousness.blogspot.com/
Click to enlarge...
----------
