‘hopping right in’ to the copenhagen bike culture…
A couple of weeks back I got an email from Julie Hirschfeld — who owns Adeline Adeline in TriBeCa — saying that she was planning a quick trip to Copenhagen for a little ‘research’ and was wondering if I was in town and up for meeting. I’ll never pass up the chance to steal some time with a visiting American when I’m in Copenhagen — but since Julie is one of the coolest people in the bike industry in the States, I was even more eager to show her the city and its crazy bike culture.
I told her I would get her and her sister, Sasha, at the airport and bring them to their hotel in the Vesterbro neighborhood of Copenhagen. Meanwhile, I had devised a plan in my head for the perfect pick up scenario…
Julie and Sasha arrived early in the morning. Since I don’t own a car, the ‘pick up’ was not really your typical ‘I’ll keep looping through the terminal, so call me when you get your bags and I’ll try to avoid being scooted away from the pick up zone by the angry State Trooper’. Instead, we hopped on the Metro and took the 8 minute ride into Christianshavn where I gave them a two options for the final leg to the hotel:
- Hop on a bus
- Hop in the box — yes, two adults and luggage in the bike.
The initial reaction was one of disbelief — ‘Is he serious?’ was the non verbal reaction that was communicated. But after a bit of coaxing and reassurance that it would not be difficult for me to cart them around, they agreed to get in. I also mentioned that this was quite normal in Copenhagen and that on many occasions I carry a fair amount more human cargo in the box than this. Take for example this photo of my wife, her father, and Kristian all riding in the box while we are ascending the highest peak in Copenhagen — the Langebro Bridge.
The fit wasn’t even all that bad — I removed the bench so that they could use there luggage as a seat and we headed off towards the hotel. Not even two minutes into the ride, they were both laughing, pointing, and taking pictures of the Copenhagen bike scene. I was at the helm pointing out various landmarks and answering questions like, ‘What kind of bike is that?’ It was the perfect intro in the world-class Copenhagen bike culture, and I was glad that Julie and Sasha agreed to ‘hop right into it’.
Upon arrival at the hotel, they were told that the room might not be ready for another six hours. Perfect — more time to play tour guide. At this point the idea of riding in the box was a fun one and they hopped back in and we headed out for some more sightseeing.
A jaunt through Vesterbro — the hip, urban neighborhood — then over the cycling bridge to Island Brygge — which I call the Brooklyn of Copenhagen — we skirted the harbor canal and ended back up in Christianshavn. From there, we decided it was time for Christiania. Fortunately the sun was shining and Julie had brushed up on Christiania before she arrived — she read my post and asked if we would be entering Christiania through the backdoor. But of course!
I did a bit more storytelling as we headed off the beaten path and just prior to entering the Pusher Street fray, we stopped in at Morgenstedet (The Morning Place) for a good meal and a bit of ‘hygge’. Sitting in the side garden of the restaurant, the periphery of Christiania’s ‘commercial’ zone was in plain view. So there were, as always, an eclectic cast of characters, roaming dogs off the leash, and a whole host of Christiania Bikes weaving about — all making for an interesting mealtime spectacle.
The final stop before ‘re-entering the EU’ (so says the sign above the exit to Christiania) was at the old Christiania Bikes factory where we popped in for a peak. As I mentioned in the last Christiania post, the old factory still serves as a retail outlet for the bikes, and the interior hasn’t changed much since the early days in the mid 1980s, so there is an air of nostalgia when you step foot inside.
At this point in time it was nearly time to head back to the hotel, so we headed to my shop in Islands Brygge and I hooked them up with a few vintage Danish bikes and set them free…
We met up a few more times over the next few days and then they were off — I suppose the next time I’ll see Julie will be when I pop into her shop, but until then I’ll look forward to her Copenhagen blog post — she promised!
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Posted on: Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Posted in: news
Tags: adults as passengers, cargo bike, christiania, copenhagen