OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 32

(Where, Oh Where? )

SIGHTSEEING

ON TWO WHEELS

Want to add another element to a European overseas holiday?
Get on a bicycle and see life from the saddle, says Toni Krasicki.
anish people ride really fast, so if
you have to stop, make sure you
signal.’ I’m in one of the bicycle rental
shops in Copenhagen and I can’t help
eavesdropping on the staff member
giving a couple of British tourists a run
down on the do’s and don’ts of cycling in
the city of bikes. Tania, my Danish friend,
is as surprised as I am by the warning.
As it happens, hitting the Danish cycle
paths is nothing like the description I’d
heard. Let me put it this way – rather than
riding fast, the locals ride with purpose.
Actually 36 per cent of all Copenhageners
use treadlies to get about and that’s come
snow, rain, hail or shine! Offering more
than 300km of cycle paths, Copenhagen’s
political ambition is to be the world’s
leading bicycle city by 2015.
The city is comfortably pancake flat
and my fellow cyclists are well dressed,
meaning you’ll see more suits and
stilettos than lycra! Getting about on
battered three-speeds is the easiest and
quickest way to see the sights, whether
you’re taking a peek at Copenhagen’s
famous Little Mermaid or stopping at the
imposing Amalienborg Palace to watch
the changing of the guards. A few days in
the saddle will give you a chance to get
amongst the locals and burn off those
Danish ice-creams lavished in guf (akin
to raw meringue or soft creamy
marshmallow).
Surprisingly, Copenhagen doesn’t
have a lot of bike rental outlets, so make
sure you get in early if you need to rent
your wheels. Unfortunately the shared
bicycle scheme, where bike-docking
stations are situated throughout the city,
has been suspended; something about
too many bikes ending up in the bottom
of the canals and left abandoned outside
train stations, apparently.

‘D

32

JUNE 2014 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

In cities such as London, the Cycle
Hire Scheme (www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/
cycling/14808.aspx) has proved highly
successful. Launched in 2010, 8,000
‘Boris Bikes’ (named after London’s
Mayor Boris Johnson) were installed in
over 550 bike docking stations across the
city. So popular is the scheme, that most
of the docking stations I come across
during a recent visit have only one or two
bikes available. It’s a big improvement on
a London cycling experience I had back
in the 1990s, when I was pinned to the
kerb by a red double decker bus and
almost crushed between cabs during my
pedal-powered adventures.
If you’re not convinced the London
cabbies are going to give you a wide berth
or you need to build up the courage
before hitting the streets on two wheels,
then joining a bike tour such as those
offered by Fat Tire Bike’s (www.london.
fattirebiketours.com)
or
Urban
Adventures is a good way to get a feel of
the improved bike/car relationship. Fat
Tire Bike’s do a four hour Royal London
Bike Tour that winds through the Royal
Parks and goes as far as Trafalgar Square
and the Houses of Parliament. It’s heavy
on the stories, with lots of stops and a
little light on the cycling (which is good
to know in case you were hoping to burn
off some holiday calories!). Their River
Thames Bike Tour spends more time on
roads as it follows the main tourist
hotspots along the Thames, think London
Bridge, London Tower and The London
Eye. This may be a good introduction and
confidence booster if you want to take to
the streets on your own.
The beauty of Europe is that it’s easy
to utilise the extensive train system if you
decide to travel with your own bike. Take
Switzerland for instance; the whole