Bike to work or Tour de Finance

Today is the start of the two month “Bike to work”-campaign in Norway. It’s arranged by the corporate sports, and is the largest national action with the aim of motivating people to move and be active.

Bike to work 2010

It’s a good campaign, and it seems to be quite popular in Oslo. There’s no doubt, Norwegians are competitive. And any chance to show strenght and/or win something will trigger the Norwegian adventurer…

But there’s one catch. Where will they bike?
Yesterday I tried out a couple of hundred meters of the famous (and notorious) Tour de Finance-road, going from the west to the centre of Oslo. It was indeed an interesting experience. For those of you not knowing anything about this stretch, it is the most used “bikepath” in Oslo. I say “bikepath”, cause it really isn’t. Large parts of the stretch are shared with pedestrians. You might think that shared is not to bad… but it most definitely is. Especially when you continuously meet groups like this:

Illustration photo. (But quite close to the truth...)

Last week someone presented the idea of making a four lane path along the “Tour de Finance”-distance, dividing bicyclists and pedestrians. After my experience yesterday, I think it would be the only reasonable thing to do! Give bicyclists space, and many many more will pedal to work.

Downtown cycling – Not for Everyman

Maybe it’s about time to make the streets cyclable, also for us without mountainbikes? Yes, it does vary across town, but too many places downtown looks like this…

Rough conditions at Tøyen.

Winter “Wonderland”

It’s about time to get out of the winter lair… I’ve had a way to long break, but now I’m finally settled in Oslo, and trying to get back on track, which seems to be harder than I thought. The winter has been snowy and colder than usual (this early in the wintertime), and all respect to those few I saw biking despite minus 20 earlier this month.

Yes, people do bicycle, and several norwegian newspapers report that the amount of year-round cyclists increase. Now even “normal” people hit the snowy streets. Well, they have to be somewhat tough to do so, and I admit I’m not one of them… Maybe it’s because of the lack of proper gear, but another issue is the bad snow shoveling of bicycle lanes in the city. The few lanes that actually exist usually serve as disposal for snow, or even car parking, and lack of space makes people insecure. To get more people to concider winter cycling, the streets must be cleared, and not only in favor of the cars…

Would you even consider your bicycle?

60’s bicycle safety… right? right

This quite strange and morbid little movie was made to encourage bicycle safety in 1963. It speaks for itself I’d say… and it’s definitely worth a watch. Enjoy!

One got fat (USA, 1963)
– by Edward Everett Horton