Jeg kan godt lide ride min cykel

"I like to ride my bicycle"

Before I went to Italy, I had ridden my bicycle twice. The tires were a little bit flat so I borrowed my roommates tire pump and accidentally let all of the air out of my back tire because the nozzle didn't fit the valve. Oops. So I was relying soley on the metro. However on March 6 my monthly pass ran out so instead of paying 320kr (about $60 CAD) I decided that I needed to fill up my tires and start biking.

This proved to be a little bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I returned from Rome on Monday March 8 and risked not having a pass on the way to class that night. On Tuesday I stayed in and had a relaxing evening with my friends. It turns out that while I was gone, two of them got caught on the metro without a pass and had to pay a 600kr (about $115CAD) fine. I:
a) didn't want to get caught and have to pay that; and,
b) don't think that I could lie about my name and address in order to get out of the fine like one of the girls did.

My roommates told me that there was no bicycle repair shop (and thus tire pump) anywhere near to where we lived. So, on Wednesday morning I took my bike with me to the metro so that I could bring it into the city to get the tires pumped up. I went at 8.30, however bikes are not allowed on the metro from 7.00-9.00 and I had to get to class so I was forced to leave my bike behind, flat tires and all.

Wednesdays are my busy days; I have class from 9.15-11, 13.15-4, and 17.15-20 so I was unable to pump my tires up. But in my evening Danish language class, one of the German exchange students told me about a bicycle repair shop close to where we live - looks like the exchange students know more than the Danes!

Bright and early on Thursday I went to Aarhus (the second biggest city in Denmark) and didn't get back until Sunday evening so again, no time to pump up my bike tires. Finally, this morning, after about a week of excuses and failed attempts to fix my bike, I left my flat a little earlier and walked to the bike shop, pumped up the tires, and biked to class.

Surprisingly, it only took about 37 minutes to get to class - it's quicker than the metro! It may sound silly, but it felt so liberating to be biking around the city! It was very empowering to know that I could go wherever I wanted and didn't have to wait for the public transit (and that I was faster than the public transit). And it also felt very Danish. They have special bike lanes, special bike lights, and special machines to count the number of cyclists passing through the city.

This picture is a few weeks old; now the weather is beautiful and sunny and there is NO SNOW!

After class, on my way back to Amager, I was biking during the 'rush hour'. It felt so strange, biking next to dozens of other cyclists. I had always seen them, but never actually been with them. It was like we were some sort of gang - all 20 of us stopping at the light and while we were waiting another 15 join us, and then all 35 of us all start cycling at the same time. It is really an amazing cultural experience!