A few weeks before my trip I was watching a show on cities by the sea. They did an episode on Copenhagen and were talking about how the city and all its outlying regions had been converted to an extensive biking network. As someone who does city biking I found this interesting and it somewhat prepared me for what I was about to encounter.

The extend to which the Copenhagen region has embraced the bike culture is near impossible to miss, it permeates to every single street and is what you will encounter the minute you leave your hotel lobby. It almost creates a hazard for someone unfamiliar as the throngs of rush hour bikers charge by.

Taking some regional trains what I found most remarkable was how biking had been completely integrated into the transit culture. Entire train carriages had been converted to bike carriages. Morning commuters brought their bikes on board and are able to bike from one part of the city or outlying region to another with the aid of integrated public transit

As the rail network runs to many outlying towns and even into Sweden it has a spillover effect as the biking culture is being adopted in many of these commuter towns integrating into the Copenhagen lifestyle. Wherever the rail network goes the bike culture extends with it.

The tv show I saw also talked about family buggies. A customized cart bicycle can be used to carry books, groceries, or even small children. There are also entrepreneurial businesses that use the cart as mobile caterers or other services

Starting from the construction of the bike lanes thought has been put into the needs of the cyclist, pedestrian, and driver. The tv show explained there are three slightly raised levels for each to delineate the space for each.

Similar to electric scooters in Xinjiang China, I found the streets to be much quieter with fewer cars on the road. The tv show explained fewer people own cars and people are experiencing increased health benefits from daily biking. The air is cleaner and I found the city is much quieter and tranquil. Bikes are much more flexible on routes and save the need for building more expensive subway lines (Copenhagen only has 1.5).

The city has wholeheartedly embraced the biking way of life. Its not just for the young as I saw people of every age group actively biking. Helmets are not mandatory as its become so everyday and there are so few cars now.

Amsterdam has always been known as the city of bicycles but Copenhagen by far surpasses that with the extent of their biking network and integration with public transit. You can live as far away as Malmo Sweden, take your bike on the train, bike around Copenhagen to work or school, and ride your bike on transit home.

Copenhagen has shown how a cold wet northern city can embrace biking, something Olivia Chow had been promoting in the recent Toronto Mayoral Election. I commented on one of her posts about how Copenhagen was successful in doing this with a similar northern climate. Some people reacted this was ridiculous and Toronto is not 'communist China'.

I didn't realize from the tv show the extent of Denmarks biking conversion. Had I known and factored it I would have spend a day biking around. Copenhagen is ideal for biking as its mostly flat with few hills..

The Copenhagen region is the most proactive bike city I have ever encountered in my travels and is a model that is being adopted by the entire region.

Yes a modern first world city can ditch cars and convert to 100% biking if leaders and citizens are both willing to make the effort and see it thru.

See also some of my other biking adventures

Budapest Biking (Hungary)
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-e ntries/londone7/27/1379795268/tpod.html

Biking Ankor Wat (Cambodia)
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-e ntries/londone7/19/1328610050/tpod.html

Biking Sun Moon Lake (Taiwan)
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-e ntries/londone7/24/1360093943/tpod.html

Biking Ganghwa Island (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-e ntries/londone7/1/1336934645/tpod.html

Daegu Rythm and Bike Festival (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1347818745/tpod.html
Biking Gyeongju (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-e ntries/londone7/1/1369688935/tpod.html

50km Ride for Heart (Toronto)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/28/1401739817/tpod.html