Fall has cemented its stay in Copenhagen with consistent frosty temperatures and drizzly overcast skies, yet the amount of hearty Danes pedaling by on bikes for their daily commutes has not diminished. And so, when in Denmark, I am determined to do as the Danish do.
I pry my eyes open each morning to see cloudy skies and another less-than-ideal weather prediction on my iPhone screen. But I still bundle myself up, march out of my dorm, and hop on my bike. I’m not miserable, just numb, like any dazed student (on any form of transportation) trying to make it to her 8:30 a.m. class. I pump my legs without really thinking about it and shiver at the cold rain pelting my exposed skin. Then something happens—I have to swerve around a stray pedestrian, dodge an abandoned shoe in the road, or screech my brakes for a too-quick-to-turn-red stoplight.
And suddenly, I’m awake. I can feel my heart pounding and my blood flowing to warm up my once-shivering body. My cheeks are flushed and my breath hot and my hair wild, and I feel more than ready to take on whatever this day throws at me. I’m biking through this weather, for goodness’ sake. I can make it through my morning lecture! My bike ride to class, though sometimes soggy, is invigorating. No wonder these Danes do it.
Of course, this isn’t really the reason why Danes bike. This isn’t really the reason why I bike, either. Quite simply, biking is the fastest and most convenient way to get anywhere in Copenhagen, even with a shoddy weather forecast. And most people are going to do what is presented to them as the easiest thing to do.
One of my professors hates it when the word “cyclist” is used to refer to a Copenhagen commuter. She says it implies they are biking to bike, when they are truly just biking to commute. Though the society-wide health and environmental benefits from biking are great, one’s daily decision to hop on a bike simply comes down to the question “Do I even have time for anything else?” By building bike-friendly infrastructure, Copenhagen city planners have invited citizens to do what is good for their health and their planet, all while providing them with the most convenient transportation option.
That’s why it’s sometimes frustrating to hear people remark about how Copenhagen’s biking norm could never take hold in most U.S. cities. If U.S. cities were built with the sectioned-off, safe, and connected bike paths that I see in Copenhagen, I believe that many more people would find themselves pedaling their way to work. And while hills, which are absent in Denmark, are a valid obstacle to many commuting in the United States, I have learned the hard way that wind can be more of a thigh-burner than an incline. If American cities welcomed commuters to travel by bike, rather than deterred them from doing so with their poorly paved paths and risky roads, then we could also reap the societal health and environmental benefits created by the mass switch to bicycle urbanism.
As I biked to school today, I pedaled past an old man on an electric wheelchair. He whizzed along in the bike lane, the wind whipping through the few tufts of hair he had left on his head, his speed stretching out the big smile already plastered across his face. It’s amazing to see who thrives when streets welcome more than just the car-driving commuter. I can’t wait to see what wakes me up on my ride tomorrow.
Opens in a new window