We’re lucky in Copenhagen that just about every street has a bike path on both sides of the road. These make travel around the city a breeze and you can easily get from one side of Copenhagen to the other in half an hour or less. (Yes, it’s a giant metropolis) But if you are coming to live here, or even just to cycle around on your holiday, here are the rules of the road I have picked up over almost a year’s cycling. It’s vital you follow them:
The Copenhagen Cycling Rules
1. Always wear your iPod. You get fined if you don’t. You also get discount bike servicing at bike retailers if you wear big earphones.
2. When entering from a side street, look hard to see if there are any other cyclists coming. If there are, look them in the eye and merge out anyway – let them work out the rest.
3. Cycle slowly and let everyone pass you but once you catch up at the red traffic lights, swerve around them all so you are in front again for when the lights turn green. Other cyclists love it when you do this.
4. Unless it is a major intersection – and sometimes even then – amber means pedal for your life to get across, even if you haven’t quite made it onto the crossing yet.
5. A red light at an intersection only means stop if there’re so many cars coming there’s no way you could get across and live.
6. Talk as much as you want on your mobile telephone and meander from one side of the path to the other – especially in peak hour. The politi encourage it.
7. Pedestrians are trash. If they inadvertently step onto the bike path (usually a tourist) take your week’s frustration out on them verbally. That way, they learn who’s boss.
8. If you see a friend walking on the footpath, stop immediately and talk to them. Don’t bother lifting your bike up 10cms onto the footpath. You won’t cause any crashes.
9. If a bus stops to pick up passengers, slow down a tad but DO NOT stop completely, even if old ladies and women with prams are disembarking. It’s your path, not theirs.
10. Ring your bell frequently to let others know you have one. After all, you paid for it.
6 comments:
This is brilliant... thanks for writing this! I'll make sure to follow all these rules on my next trip to Cph to visit Mac. ;-)
Hahaha, right to the point.
The first time I took a bike ride in Copenhagen I was scared to death with these mob-like bike riders (pardon me, the last time I rode a bike was when I was 12 years old) so I ditched my bike and decided to get a bus card
Hilarious. Chuck bikes from our house to work (6km one way) each day in southern jutland. It is more popular for mopeds to use the bike path than bikes. And although it may not be common in Copenhagen, it's common for mopeds to go 65km/hr on the bike path.
C&H: I know. The same happens here with the mopeds. They're either pizza deliverers or, dare I say something politically incorrect, people who should be using the pedal variety of bikes :)
Oh yeah. The same in Amsterdam, except that on the bike lanes we have: tiny cars, long bikes with a huge box in front, motorized chairs for disabled people, tandems and every other (hardly) imaginable thing with at least one wheel. I'm curious to try Copenhagen with my extensive experience :)
Rachel is right... sheer brilliance!
And I got to ring my bell at someone the other day... FIRST TIME! I was a bell ringing virgin! But not anymore! :o)
Post a Comment