Originally Posted by
zenolee
I spent 5 days in Copenhagen. I was too intimidated to use a bicycle. In the center, it's a highway with seemingly lots of unwritten rules about passing, signaling, etc. As a tourist it would have been chaos, not knowing where I'm going. The cyclists all had agendas and destinations while I would have just been going haphazardly and interfering with the locals.
I will try next time though.
Careful there or you’ll have some guy come along and tell you that you are an embittered old man who only wants to be a hermit who also knows nothing about bicycling because you haven’t ridden in enough countries.
Originally Posted by
nuxx
@
zenolee I hear what you're saying... it's a bit like being a straggling tourist on the sidewalks in New York or Tokyo you're gonna piss of a lot of more proficient pedestrians... when you're in a busy space where people conduct their daily lives, as you describe certain behaviour is expected and you learn to read the flow. By all means everyone don't adhere to the customs in CPH, but trust that they're frowned upon as well. Here's a basic rundown:
A complete guide to bicycle etiquette in Copenhagen. ...it's really not too challenging - as a rule of thumb, if you keep to the side and remember to signal before you suddenly stop - you'll probably do okay. Those of us who go fast are very used to slow and or inexperienced bikers in our city... out of pure self interest we'll avoid collisions just fine
The problem isn’t the bicycle traffic, necessarily, but the way in which people romanticize places like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, or just those countries in general. Just as you wouldn’t classify New York and Tokyo as “walking nirvana”, you shouldn’t necessarily classify those places as “cycling nirvanas”. Yes, there are a lot of bikes and a lot of bicycle infrastructure but that’s part of the problem...a very large part.
To be clear, I’m not saying to
not ride there but you should go with your eyes open and informed. It takes nerves of steel and not a small amount of skill to ride in those kinds of crowds, especially if you aren’t used to riding in those kinds of crowds. In my experience, few people who are used to riding in the US...and those who consider these places to be cycling nirvanas...are used to riding in that kind of traffic.