Malmo Cycling
Incorrect spelling of Malmo but i don’t have a swedish keyboard, sorry, but anyway, cycling in malmo was an absolute pleasure, only had a day there i took my rental bike from copenhagen on the train with me, which allowed me to see much more of the city than i could have hoped for.
Spotted this beauty in the heart of town, these bikes are awesome for transporting everything from furniture to people to pets, everything. The owner of this bike has managed to transport a coffee table and a shelf system of the like with space underneath for other goods..
Great intersection here and underpass underneath one of the main roads in the south of Malmo..
One of my favourite shots of the day, the bicycle parking here is great, this is located right next to one of the train stations, no car parking in sight and a pathway between main roads only accessible by bicycles and pedestrians..
A fantastic friendly way of advertising, spotted a few different types of these, where companies go out and place a seat cover for rain protection..
Heaps of these handy rails everywhere at the majority of major intersections i came across, helpful for the cyclist to rest and to take off, also creating a buffer between the bike lane and pedestrian path..
At every set of lights there are little boxes to press a button to notify the lights that there is a cyclist waiting, making it quicker to move safely through intersections, also handy to rest on and use to take off
A floating bicycle parking island, just awesome, space for at least hundreds of bicycles with a staircase and guided rail to help role bikes up and down the platform..
The infrastructure is great with segregated bicycle lanes along most of the roads, although in a lot of cases its a single bicycle lanes for users travelling in both directions, and some where its a lane on either side, being my first time in the city it did become a bit confusing trying to stay on the lanes as i wasn’t sure where there were lanes and side to be on, I’m sure for the locals its no problem at all, but a few signs here and there could have made it a little bit easier
These rails are such a great invention, something that just makes your everyday commute that little bit easier, they aren’t at every intersection but on most of the big ones. These rails are really handy when stopped at lights, if you’re the cyclist on the right you are able to rest your arm and foot without having to dismount, and taking off is a little less awkward as your able to help take off by pushing on the rail. They also create a nice buffer between cyclists and pedestrians at intersections where the two are together..
A lot of this happening, no motor vehicles allowed through the street, but bicycles, go for it. You can pretty much go down any street on a bicycle, except for at least Store Kongensgade, one of the main streets in town, we found that out the hard way…
One of the great things is that you don’t need to lock your bike to a pole or anything, just lock the wheel to the frame and your set, similar to australia, I’m sure that there are thefts here and there but you can feel pretty safe and confident just using the built in fender locks, and off you go. unlike london where you need to lock up almost every component to a proper facility..
a lot of these types of stalls around, pancakes made on bicycle back, also spotted a fairy floss/cotton candy store on bike back around the Nyhavn area..
Who says you can’t take the family on an outing by bicycle, very lucky to capture this as the child at front was blowing a kiss to the people on the busy bridge around Norrebro on a sunny afternoon. These christiania bikes are the bomb, so good for transporting multiple people or large goods by bicycle, born and bred right in the freetown of copenhagen. The flat land and wide paths make it very simple to use these bikes which is why there are so many, i would love to own something like this but in Australian cities, in particular Brisbane, it would not be practical with the lack of bicycle infrastructure and many hills, i also would not like to know how long one would last before getting taken out by a car/truck/bus, cause it would not be long.
Now this is what you call bicycle parking, two tiered where you can pull down the top level slots to easily roll your bike up, lock the bike to itself and/or to the rack itself. It would be great to know the figure of how many cars could be parked in the same space, i would guess something along the lines of 10 bikes to every car, 10 times more efficient than car parking, not to mention the benefits that cycling has on the environment and your health compared to driving..
The Danish have there bicycle infrastructure down pat, every possible spot where a bicycles drop down from a path to another surface they have installed ramps to make for a much smoother transition. This photo is a bit blurred as it was taken on the move..
Another shot of the helpful rails at a busy intersection
Just your average number of commuters held up for a moment before taking a left along the busy road, the number of riders here is phenomenal, I’ve seen one near accident and that was because someone turned right without indicating at all, while they were only just in front of a cyclist who was behind them to their right. Another point about cycling here, i didn’t manage to capture a shot of, indicating, in australia its not that common, i guess that because of the lack of numbers of cyclists and the shitty infrastructure its felt not to be necessary, but riding a bike here you need to think left your in a car, you need to indicate when turning, need to place your hand up when stopping to notify people, and this simple system works so well. People do occasionally run a red light and turn right on red lights along foot paths, but i think if its within reason and they don’t get in anyones way, why not?
One of the better shots taken just because of the light, just your average commuter bike with someone cruising along the bridge going from Norrebro to the city
These bulitt bikes are dope, they look awesome and can be used like the christiania bikes to carry people and goods, although they are a better fit for riding on roads and would be more practical in many cities around the world because they are a lot slimmer, I didn’t get the chance to ride either but from observation it seemed that people on the bulitts moved a lot faster and used a higher gear, compared to the box bikes that looked they were ridden in the equivalent of 1st gear all the time, also making the bulitts more practical in international cities..
Everything is just set out so well, the lines on the road at intersections make it so easy for large numbers of cyclists to move through them safely and quickly, the lights are done really well where in a few locations the bicycle light goes green before the main one to allow cyclists to get a safe start moving through the intersection..
This was on one of the main roads heading north out of the city centre. Great buffer between not only the traffic but the parked cars as well, filled with trees and space for bicycle parking, its nice just to see the parked cars used as a buffer between traffic but this space adds a nice touch, no chance of getting doored by un unaware passenger in the vehicle, the only potential problem you have is with pedestrians crossing the bike path, just awesome..
not only can you transport goods and people on the box bikes but also pets, dogs love the wind in their face and enjoy the ride just as much as any person..
anyway who thinks they need to drive to the liquor store to transport beer home think again, this guy is transporting 2 cases of tinnies by bicycle with ease..
a rainy saturday afternoon at 8 degrees and still over 5000 people have gone into and out of town by bicycle, in brisbane with the same weather that number would be at about 20 tops..
Probably my favourite shot of a cyclist that i took, good weather, good lighting, good location, danish people commuting by bicycle, and that beard, look at it… thats a beard.. it also shows another great thing about commuting by bicycle, the social aspect, you can easily chat to someone while on the go, or just throw your headphones on, either way. You can see here that he’s explaining something interesting because of the hand gestures and he has an awesome beard.. 
The first thing i noticed was the bike share they have here, Velo’v. There are stations everywhere and they are being used everywhere by everyone, kids using them to get to school, adults using them to get to work and others using them for fun. 
Heres the ride i used for the day to go for a leisurely cycle through the town and the park north of the city. Very comfortable and easy to adjust to your preferred size. There were a few stations where every bike that was parked there was completely trashed, flat tires, cracked rims and some where the wheel had been bent into a right angle. That made it a little more difficult to find a working bike but there were stations located everywhere around town. 
A few of these along the river, separated lanes for cyclists to enjoy a smooth riding along the water..
Very clear bike lanes along the main roads, also great that bikes can go anywhere, do one way streets and shared use of bus lanes, not separated though which makes that little bit less appealing to less confident riders.
