Author Archives: jm

The Nørreport Station

The Nørreport Station, Copenhagen (Denmark) is a clear example of how to transform a chaotic area full of cars into an awarded place for people and bicycles which offers services for about 350,000 people per day today. This train station was built in 1916 and connected the medieval downtown with the neighbor of Nørrebro. It was a comfortable square until cars appeared.

In 2009, the council ordered a study to two different architecture companies. Conclusions were the same: too much car traffic and an extremely difficult place for pedestrians. Thus, an urgent remodeling was needed. Paths on snow made by people walking and cycling gave clues about how to deal with it. Specifically, station entrances, covered spaces and bike parking locations were inspired by cold. These facts determined the most favorable, natural fluxes for people.

In 2015, the remodeling was completed thanks to the impressive 2,500 bikes parking. Interestingly, this massive bike parking is slightly lower than the rest of the train station so that one can have a look of the set and a better place hierarchy. In addition, tourists’ jaws drop with the amazing view. Moreover, buildings in the square are made with rounded shaped glass which increases clarity and a sense of safety.

As a result, the Nørreport Station won the Danish Lighting award, the European award on Urban Public Place and the Copenhagen Best Urban Context Place in 2016; the Landezine Landscape International award in 2017; the Civic Trust award in 2018.

Critical Mass songs

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An important part of the Critical Mass and most of the citizen demonstrations is music. Music and songs enhance spirit and turn people into good mood. As it comes to the Critical Mass in Valencia (Spain), here you have some songs and their translations into English. I know they do not sound as funny as in Spanish, but this way you can get an idea of their messages:

– No cuesta un duro

y pone el culo duro:

It doesn’t cost a penny

and gets your butt hard

– La bici en el trasero

y no en el trastero:

Bike in butt

and not in storage rooms

– Mi bicicleta no la cambiaría

ni por la moto de la policía:

I wouldn’t change my bike

even by the police motorbike

– La vida en la bici es la vida mejor

la vida en la bici es la vida mejor

sin gastar

sin contaminar

poooor la calzada mejor

Life on bike is the best life

life on bike is the best life

without wasting

without polluting

beeeeter on roads

– Tanto coche

es un derroche

So many cars

are a waste

– Los coches oficiales

que vayan a pedales

Should the official cars

go on pedals

– Viva la bici

la hay donde quiera que vas

viva la bici

es lo que nos gusta más

con más gente a favor de bicis en cada pueblo y nación

habrían menos coches y motos

y menos contaminación

Long life bike

it’s everywhere you go

long life bike

that’s what we like the most

with more people in favor of bike in every village and country

there would’ve been less cars and motorbikes

and less pollution

– Carril coche ya

por toda la ciudad

Car lines now

all along the city

Ciclosferia 2023

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As I wrote about it, the first Ciclosferia took place in Valencia, Spain, in 2022. This urban bicycle exhibition continues to be placed in Valencia in 2023. Indeed, it is going to be opened on April from 21st to 23rd. This is a great opportunity to enjoy urban cycling since you will take into contact with bike brands, shops, workshops, bike activists and many more. You will test bikes, garment and components novelties if you want. Moreover, four music concerts will make this party more pleasant and finally, a Brompton bicycle will be raffled.

If you are going to be closed to or in Valencia these days, this is an impressive plan to spend the weekend.

Bielas Salvajes

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Bielas Salvajes (Wild Rods in English) is a Spanish group of passionate, bike activists women which emerged in Saragossa back in 2014. Their main target is to contribute to develop an egalitarian space in which each and every say has the same value since the males say is somewhat dominant in some urban bike groups. Indeed, more than 70 people have accessed to the bicycle in Saragossa thanks to Bielas Salvajes since it was created.

They combine two main ways of using their bikes: going to work and enjoying routes outside the city. As it comes to urban biking, they propose the Safe Routes in which women who start pedaling for working are encouraged, given tips and recommended the safest paths.

Bielas Salvajes was the pioneer group of bike women and as time went by more groups with similar characteristics emerged in Spain such as Mulleres Bicivisíbeis (in Vigo), the group Cicliques (in Barcelona) or the Lavapiés Ciclist Club (in Madrid).

Openbike

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Most of us enjoyed putting together toys pieces when we were young or joined machine parts when adults. Now, imagine you could make the same with bicycles provided you do not work in a production line. Would not it be marvelous? Well, you can do it thanks to the Openbike project.

Raquel Ares and Iñaki Albistur are the founders of Arquimaña (Basque Country, Spain), an architecture study with digital manufacturing workshop since 2010. The idea under Arquimaña is simple and powerful: To create original bicycles from wood, plastic or aluminum, and by using common tools that you can find in a digital manufacturing workshop such as 3D impression or CNC cutting. Besides, they opt to free design, so whoever wants to contribute is welcomed.

Knowledge is the inner source of the Openbike project. Thus, what you need to do is go to the webpage project, select the REV bike model you want, download information and e-handbooks, and start creating your new bicycle. Arquimaña also encourages to modify the REV models so that more original vehicles are created and share with the Openbike project. Hence, the community increases month after month. If you access the webpage project, you will see all the REV models are built in wood. This way your bike will be more environmentally friendly.

Women and bikes

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Women represents more than half of human population, still their percentage in total bikers is less than half. Why is that?

It is clear that lack of bike infrastructures, mainly bike lines and their width, affects this behavior. Additional improvement on streets are also needed such as better lighting or perhaps excessive speed of actors which share common space. But, among all what makes it difficult for women is society. Yes, society because they suffer machismo, verbal aggression and even sexual harassment. If I ride my bicycle, nobody says me “You go on sidewalk!”, and I feel strong enough to recriminate a male car driver if he makes a dangerous maneuver which endangers my life. Moreover, lack of opportunities to learn how to ride a bike in the past influences it today. Besides, sadly who dedicates more time in tasks such as taking care of people, buying in the supermarket and housework are women which let them less free time for themselves in comparison with men.

As it comes to human behavior, what I see would increase the percentage of women on bikes is women empowering. So women, please, please, please do not mind to idiots, defend your space, ride your bikes in the middle of a car line because bicycles are traffic.

Secure cities and egalitarian societies will boom bike women.

The bike footprint

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Protecting the environment is urgent and challenging for human beings as numerous international administrations have been demonstrating, although there are still some dumb who denied it. Some firms are taken it seriously by doing specific actions, changing processes, looking for green providers, etc., while some others practice the greenwashing in order to try their customers believe they are green. What is important is not words or advertising, what really matters is deeds.

If we take into account the whole lifecycle of a bike, that way of transport contaminates even if we consider a traditional bicycle (ebikes pollute more). Think in the raw materials it needs, the industrial processes, logistics and so on. However, some companies are taking steps to fight against climate change. Trek Bicycle is implementing actions to diminish their footprint. Firstly, they hire a consultant firm to know its carbon footprint at worldwide level: 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ yearly. They discovered that pedaling 692 km in bike instead of in car compensates the carbon footprint of that bicycle. Secondly, once knowing these figures they cudgeled their brains and determined the 10 commandment of sustainability:

Get bigger the use of bicycles
Increase shared bicycles
Ban plastic in packaging
Build and protect new environmentally friendly paths
Create production factories with zero residues
Augment the use of alternative, green materials
Reduce the business trips
Boom the use of renewable energies
Group deliveries to stores
Diminish the use of airplane

From a firm point of view, I would personally add additional points like use green materials like wood, or recycled ones. Finally, public organizations and governments should strain to create and improve bike infrastructures.

Shimanami Kaido

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Is there a place in which you can cross a see without stopping pedaling? Yes, there is at least one with an amazing infrastructure which allows it. Concretely, it is located in Japan and the inner see is called Seto. Throughout 70 km and 8 islands, you can enjoy impressive landscapes and the local culture. It was inaugurated in 1979 and connects the island of Honshu, which contains Tokyo among other cities, on the North with Shikoku on the South. The path crosses other islands (Mukaishima, Innoshima, Ikuchi, Omi, Hakata and Oshima) in between.

In some places bicycles share space with cars in wide, two-way, physically separated lines whereas in others exclusive sections for bikes make happy bikers. Other dedicated infrastructures like access ramps complete the bike like.

But pedaling is not the only pleasure of these islands. Cycle-tourists also appreciate nature and Japanese cuisine and they sometimes opt for spending days in deep knowing every island they ride on by spending time contemplating the docks and orchard fields.

Some tips:

You can make the Shimanami Kaido with your own bicycle or you can hire one in the cities of Onomichi or Imabari since both are tourist oriented
Moreover, there is a shared bike service between islands called Shinamami Rental Bike
As it comes to weather, the Winter is really cold and windy. Summer is warm and humid, and typhoons should appear at the end of August and in September. Thus, Spring and Autumn are the most interesting seasons in which to pedal the Shimanami Kaido
Be aware of the train Japanese law if you need to use this way of transport
If you want something livelier, try the Cycling Shimanami. The organization proposes a non-competitive ride from 30 to 140 km in which thousands of people pedal as a mass. 7,000 people was the limit of the last edition back on the October 30, 2022

Blanca Fernández

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Blanca Fernández, Irún, Spain, has been living in London for more than four decades. She started long rides on bicycles back in 2015. First, she pedaled on a Surly Long Haul Trucker and crossed Romania, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, the country Georgia, Armenia and finally the planned Iran. Here, she discover the Pamir mountainous area which is one of the high mountain most impressive of Asia. At the beginning of this journey, she did not have any idea on how or when to reach her target, though she new the travel would lasting. Why? Because she affirms she always wanted more in each and every ride she had done. Moreover, she had the clear idea that the most important is not the start and the end of a ride, but rather what is between them.

Thus, she did not stop in the Pamir mountainous area. She continued to China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. She experienced heavy rains, snow, windy days, but no climate conditions stopped her. Two years, 22,000 km, 23 countries, 687 days in total until she went back to London as a result of the Brexit. Her daughters asked her to come due to red tape and so did her. However, in march 2018 she kept on cycling in order to cover Africa from The Cairo, Egypt. Then, she rode on Sudan, Uganda, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Benin and Morocco. Differences in languages were easily overcame by proper gestures. What amazes her is meeting people from distant lands and share views and ideas. At the moment of writing this post, she has pedaled for more than 44,000 km.

Aware supermarkets

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Urban mobility has been changing from a model based almost exclusively on cars to a more sustainable one with special attention to bicycles. Regarding sustainability, every person who lives in cities in the most advanced countries realizes small changes at diverse levels such as urban architecture, streets, infrastructures, pieces of news, companies which want a better future for everybody, you name it. It is one interesting aspect the fact that some supermarkets have introduced bike facilities in their site boundaries by adding bicycle racks. This way bikers are attracted to buy in those bike-friendly supermarkets. After all, there is only the need to change one or two car parking by, preferably, inverted U shape bike racks.