Copenhagen and bikes
The thing you notice in Copenhagen is the bikes. Next to the outdoor cafes, there are always bikes; because that is how people get to the outdoor cafes of course.
Frederiksberg Alle in Copenhagen: Think St Kilda Rd.
“Everybody in Copenhagen has three bikes”, we were told on the city walking tour; “they have the bike for riding at home, the bike for riding at work, and the bike they forgot where they left it.”
It is not true though that everybody rides their bike all the way from home to work every day. If it were, the Metro and the S Bahn would not be as popular as they are. You can get an inkling of one thing that is happening by observing the forest of bikes outside any typical station.
Outside Frederiksberg Metro Station
The classic problem of traveling to work in any city is not just the train trip; it is the problem of getting from home to the station, then from the destination station to the office, all in a reasonable time. Not everybody can live within 10 minutes’ walk of the station, and the office is rarely so close to a station either. But everybody can live within 10 minutes bicycle ride of a station, so there is a solution. One sea of bikes at the station is waiting for their owners to return from work so they can ride home. At the station near the office there is the other bike, the one left for riding from the station to the office. This one waits overnight as its owner sleeps.
Then there is the sea of bikes outside Copenhagen Central station not fully explained by office or home commutes. There are not that many people working or living in central Copenhagen. But Copenhageners are practical people who value their beers on a Friday night. The good bars and restaurants are not necessarily so close to the station either. So here we can find the Friday (or any other) night bikes left at the central (or maybe another) station in anticipation of going out for beers at a favourite spot.
This is bike culture in Copenhagen. Everybody does not need to ride bikes, (though it seems that everyone above the age of about 3 does), there is an excellent network of buses and the buses are well patronised. But after working late at the office or coming home late after beers, waiting half an hour for a bus to or from a station can be a pain.
I’m sure there are people in Copenhagen with even more than 3 bikes.
