stinkyonions

So I thought I would give you wonderful forum readers and update on my travels to the wonderful world of Denmark and København to be exact. My bike made it over intact in a cardboard bike box since I didn't want to spend the dough on the fancy plastic ones. I almost got charged excess for it in Heathrow since British Airways effed up on weighing my luggage at LAX. None the less, it was rather nice to go on a ride my first night in town.

I have only spotted about 3 fixies and a million single speed bikes. It's a bike orgy on every street corner since you just put your bikes against the building and not locking my frame to something stationery always gets me. I do keep it in my room when I'm not riding it though. Out of the three fixies I saw two were from messengers working for Deadline and the other was working for the company that rocks green spandex, the name is slipping my head right now.

If you want to talk about efficiency on a bike, try riding here. I haven't ridden in Amsterdam but I can get around here faster than most of my friends can on public transportation which adds up in the end. Plus, you can't beat the thrill of thrashing the streets brakeless on a rainy day. (Today was awesome!) For the most part, my Danish friends think I'm crazy riding it but it's super practical. The largest hill I've found here was a 10 foot incline that lasted about 25 feet. IT MADE MY CALVES BURN!! The tallest point in the country is only 112m high and that's on the island of Børnholm, which I might go tour later. I would send pictures of my bike in battle mode (taped up to the max thanks to OneTin making me think correctly), but I don't have a place to jack my laptop in at my dorm nor on campus. That's where wireless access points come into the picture when I have time to go explore. None the less, riding fixed is still *****in' and only 100x better here since it's all flat and I can vrooom down the streets.

timmhaan

i'm jealous.

bombusben

have fun. it's a great town to be on a bike.

pitboss

Supportbraviking got a new haircut for your journey:

skitbraviking

Damn! I am jealous. I would love to ride that city.

Please keep the stories coming. And don't forget the pics!

Did you have a Carlsberg and a shrimp sandwich when you landed? If not, go have that combo now. That's the f*ckin' Scandinavian experience. Well not exactly. You must have 10 Carlsbergs and a half-bottom of akvavit. Skål!

stinkyonions

Nej, I haven't really had the chance yet since I am usually exhausted from 3 hours of Danish language instruction a day. The language is extremely hard to learn! It is on my list of things to eat though. the only bad thing really so far is living in the ugliest building in all of denmark and also having a kitchen that doesn't work. the international office won't really take us serious with our requests now since someone on our floor had their mom call and threaten to sue our housing director for fraud and have her arrested and stuff. now they just think we are all whiny americans. at least the cycling is fun to make up for the cruddy building we live in. i've just got used to riding in heavy rain and not really caring about getting wet now since it's too hard to avoid.

today i think i also did my dumbest move on my fixie. riding alongside tivoli gardens is fun since there are always buses to go between and it was raining. i had to swing to the left side since the right side was way to narrow and it must have been the narrowest path i have ever gone down. i was so close to the parked cars on the left that i clipped a mirror and my friend thought i was dead since i just "disappeared" between the cars. the one bad thing is they slam you HARD for not having lights or breaking the rules. so i have to be careful since it's about $40 a ticket for each light (front/rear) that are missing. pictures to come soon since we found a wireless signal to leech from.

skitbraviking

Yea, it's weird: for being such a liberal country, they do stick it to people for things like bike safey.

Bring on the pictures!

stinkyonions

Nej, I haven't really had the chance yet since I am usually exhausted from 3 hours of Danish language instruction a day. The language is extremely hard to learn! It is on my list of things to eat though. the only bad thing really so far is living in the ugliest building in all of denmark and also having a kitchen that doesn't work. the international office won't really take us serious with our requests now since someone on our floor had their mom call and threaten to sue our housing director for fraud and have her arrested and stuff. now they just think we are all whiny americans. at least the cycling is fun to make up for the cruddy building we live in. i've just got used to riding in heavy rain and not really caring about getting wet now since it's too hard to avoid.

today i think i also did my dumbest move on my fixie. riding alongside tivoli gardens is fun since there are always buses to go between and it was raining. i had to swing to the left side since the right side was way to narrow and it must have been the narrowest path i have ever gone down. i was so close to the parked cars on the left that i clipped a mirror and my friend thought i was dead since i just "disappeared" between the cars. the one bad thing is they slam you HARD for not having lights or breaking the rules. so i have to be careful since it's about $40 a ticket for each light (front/rear) that are missing. pictures to come soon since we found a wireless signal to leech from.

only-haley

Stinky -- tusind takk, det er veldig kult! Jeg er meget imponert. Danmark er dejlig. Jeg taler litt dansk -- vi snakkes. So, have you been anywhere else besides K-town? Are you an exchange student or something?

MKRG

Translated: Stinky --You are leader of ugly cult! You impose your mullet. Denmark is sad. They want you to dance -- with snakes.



I don't speak danish very well.

only-haley

Mwahahaha...quit giving away my secret message cult=cool, impose=impressed, mullet=quite, sad=lovely, dance=danish, snakes=talk

Jumbo

The green spandex-rockers rocks!!!
stinkyonions -> Check out these sites and see you at global gutz?

https://www.mweb.dk/cbma/
https://www.cph-fxt.ownsthis.com/intro.html

stinkyonions

only-haley,
i have only been to roskilde outside of ktown and it wasn't for the festival. i am here learning danish over summer (3 hours a day) and taking courses in fall at the university.

jumbo,
are you a courier here? i have seen so few fixies but i'm riding around on a taped up yellow khs and bullhorns with my bartap peeling off from a shabby wrap job and all the rain. global gutz looks really cool and i think i can "miss" school for a few days. any other information would be gladly appreciated. i tried emailing fish from that website before i left and got no reply. more people to ride with is always fun as the students in my dormitory don't like riding like bats out of hell.

skitbraviking

Det are mycket interassant att kan jag förstor så mycket dansk. Kan du förstor mig?

skitbraviking

veldigt kul sidor

only-haley

Jep, jeg forstår det. Er du svensk? Jeg lært lit norsk og dansk på højskole men jeg er amerikansk. Hvor bor du i Chicago? Jeg er fra Bucktown.

stinkyonions

if i could read more, i´d reply. but today is only my 7th day of danish instruction, so can´t say too much. i can however say cool things like 'jeg kan spille guitar' og 'jeg kommer fra Berkeley i Californien.' so exciting!!!

i'll try and put some pictures up this weekend of my bike in warrior city mode.

skitbraviking

Jävla bra! Jag var föd i chicago men jag är svensk också. Nu bor jag i Roscoe Village, bara ett americansk mil från dig. Skulle vi cycle någon gång?

skitbraviking

Did you get drunk with Danish women, yet?

pitboss

Hey! Ik dronk mijn fiets en toen de sandwich van het doornhaaienkatje. Ben I een boom? 6 handen en een o.k. voet? Trainstops en tanden!

stinkyonions

nope. i don't know enough danish yet to soundly remotely decent. i guess i could get buy with english, but drinks are soooo hefty here. i should just fill up my messenger bag and lure the ladies out of the bars with free drinks. or just try the, "hey, i ride brakeless" line.

skitbraviking

I wouldn't try this. They are very practical people. They may just think you are stupid.

This on the other hand may work. Stop by the systembolaget (or however they say it in Danish) and buy yourself some booze and then lure them back to your room. Danish women (and people in general) are fun loving types. Drinking will make you many friends/sex partners.

BTW: Did you get to the Roskilde Fest?

Jumbo

Yeah i'm one of those messengers rocking green spandex, we are a couple on fixies, and allmost all of the deadline couriers are fixed.
Havent seen you around, but there are not many khs around town so i should be able to recognice you if i see you. I'm riding a light blue schrøder with yelllow front tire.

If you want to meet the cph fix scene then the global gutz would be the place to do it.
It's gonna take place the evening and night between friday 16 and saturday 17 juli and we are going to be riding like bats out of hell.
Check https://www.mweb.dk/cbma/ for updates.
The goal is 21 km - 5 checpoints within 1/2 an hour.

stinkyonions

the funny thing is, i think you may have been the first fixie i saw riding around when i was riding through nyhavn one day. i saw a green guy riding a blue fixie down there when i was riding through to get somewhere.

it sounds like a blast and i am totally done. i would really like to meet more people in general since our whole floor is american kids. i can meet americans all day at home. plus the danes i have met so far are way cooler anyways. i guess it's time i start studying maps of the city or just try to wheelsuck someone the whole time since i've only been here for a week and i'd be bound to get lost. i'll just be t he rookie with the map.

stinkyonions

i finally did my first metric century on sunday. the funny thing is i always seem to ride much further on my track bike and the scenery along the coast sucked me in. then it started to pour for about an hour and i decided to keep riding. it's so nice being sooooooo flat here since a fixed gear is both practical for commuting and longer rides. it just makes you more of a hardass when you get tired and need to finish. i met a courier, fish, on the streets last week and it's funny how riding a fixie makes you noticed by a small percentage of people. it's like a worldwide family where ever you may be.

things to purchase:
spd pedals since míne broke before i left
bartape since i did an ass job on my homebrew bullhorns before leaving