emiliaburkhart

On our bike tour with James in Copenhagen, he brought up how in US cities, biking is a subculture, whereas in Copenhagen, biking simply is the culture. For the rest of our ride, I sat with this idea and turned it over in my mind. Something that when said aloud seemed so simple and yet I hadn’t thought about it that way before— perhaps because I have only experienced cycling as a subculture. This trip is my first time in cities where cycling is truly the norm, and it sure feels good to be here.

Few bikes seen around the city are ‘fancy’; instead, most people ride standard Dutch-style bikes, which focus on function over form. It makes sense: if everyone in Copenhagen were constantly racing through the city on $10,000 bikes, it would be likened to everyone in San Francisco driving a Ferrari to after-school pickup. Words that come to mind include: absurd, flashy, and inefficient. The rusty, trusty (ish) Dutch bike in Scandinavia could be likened to a used sedan in the US— understated, subtle, and efficient. This isn’t to say that there are no fancy bikes in Denmark. Especially outside of Copenhagen, on the Cycling Super Highway to and from Hillerød, I saw many cyclists flying by on very high-end bikes.

Because bikes are part of a subculture in the US, one’s bike is more of a personal statement. As I have spent more time in this subculture/community, I have slowly built up a mental catalogue of bike frames, parts, styles, etc. I have learned to clean and maintain my own bike, and am able to share what I know with my friends so we all can ride smoothly together. After this program, I have plans to build up a bike for myself to ride around in San Francisco this summer, and I’ve gotten myself into some deep internet rabbit holes about gear ratios, cassettes, and basket mounting– all things I knew nothing about 2 years ago. While it is easy to get a little too caught up in the details, and begin sounding like a hipster bike dude, I have developed a keen eye for sexy bikes. I thought it was fitting to share some of my favorite bikes I saw in Copenhagen.