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РусскийVladimir and Peter:
Last night we stoped in Helsinborg. This is the last Swedish town on our route. Today we are leaving for Denmark. It’s will take us just 20 minutes on ferry craft. Later we’ll write a full-scale report about Sweden. And now a small «Hi!» to all:
A week before we promised to tell the name of a lucky one, who got the second bicycle, raffled in Linkoping. So, the whole video-version of the draw is available on this public source. The winner should connect with Maxim Kruchkov to clear up where to get the prize :)
Tomorrow morning – here, in Copenhagen – we meet with the representative of Gehl Architects, probably the most cool organization ever, that makes towns more convenient for cyclers. And they will help us to raffle one more bicycle. This time it’s a stylie Giant Simple Seven.
The first bicycle found its owner!
Read what Sergey wrote in his LJ :)
Next week we’ll present the second bicycle. Topper «cruisers» from Giant are already waiting. Have an eye to them! :)
Look for the details in our competition post.
Today’s story is about our way from Stockholm to Lincheping. The distance is not too big but it took us over 3 days to cover it. The area around Stockholm is quite uneven and we often had to ride off and on the hills. Besides the track was winding along the main road E4. Also sometimes we couldn’t make out where to go because there’s the whole net of bicycle tracks. Plus the rain. The rain was the most vexing thing. Nevertheless we still were faster than cars – exit from the city was blocked with giant traffic jam.
Before I start I’ll tell about some new stuff. Firstly, we have our own web-channel on youtube.com, so you can subscribe. We upload piles of videos there including those made in motion. By the way may be you haven’t noticed but now we have the route-map which we try to update daily. Soon we’ll add some photos and materials that we shot during our trip. There’ll be interactive index.
Note: we drew the second bike together with the first one so the winner will be announced in a few days. But the Giant bikes which photos you can see in the list of terms for the contest are still waiting. I guess we’ll draw them in Copenhagen, in a couple of days.
Hi! Yesterday we began our journey after lunch and we have crossed 120 km. It was a great journey and even road. I guess we have reached the plain area. We have ridden about 480 km in general. It is 130 km left to reach next country. The average speed we have taken in Sweden is about 17,5 km in hour. The maximum speed was 52 km in hour. The total period of our riding is 27 hours and 10 minutes But today we won’t go anywhere. It is raining and windy outside the window. So it is time to write texts and post videos in the Web. But we have one question left. We have a lot of video and photos. It is really difficult to post everything. Maybe you can tell us what is more interesting for you? What would you like to read about? What would you like to see? The rest you’ll definetely see at exposition in Moscow and in movie we are about to create after coming back home.
Our favorite magazine Monocle has published a column about our project: http://www.monocle.com/monocolumn/2010/08/04/i-want-to-ride-my-bicycle/
I want to ride my bicycle
August 4, 2010 — Moscow
Writer: Shaun WalkerMost Muscovites feel that getting on a bike in this city is little short of lunacy, and not without good reason. This week, the temperature is hovering around 37C, and an acrid smog is hanging over the city from burning peat bog fires. For months in winter, it’s icy cold and the roads are treacherous. And throughout the year, Moscow’s streets are polluted, jammed and full of motorists who take a Social Darwinist approach to driving.
In short, it’s a cyclist’s worst nightmare. Nevertheless, a small but growing number of young Russians are trying to promote the bicycle as the obvious alternative to sitting for hours in the city’s traffic jams or riding its packed metro system.Vladimir Kumov is one of the founders of “Let’s Bike it!”, an action group that is planning a series of “flash mobs” and demonstrations on bikes over the summer to promote cycling, as well as seminars and lectures that invite leading urban planners to Moscow to discuss how the city can become more bike-friendly. Ultimately, while Moscow might be a long way away from a decent cycle lane network, the goal is to get the government interested in funding the rise of cycle culture.
“I studied in Buenos Aires for three months and was amazed at how quickly they’d transformed the city and made it bike-friendly,” says Kumov. “There’s no reason we couldn’t do the same thing in Moscow.”
He admits, however, that the challenges are great. At the moment, even genuine cycling fanatics find being on two wheels in Moscow hard going. “I cycle all the time in London but Moscow is an utter disgrace for cycling,” says Thomas Marshall, a British investment banker who has lived in the Russian capital for the past two years and frequently takes part in cycle races across the world.
“Cycling to work is impossible – you’d have to have a death wish to try. I once took my bike on the metro to go out of town, but only managed to get it through the gates after having several whistles blown at me and being practically assaulted by the babushkas who guard the station.”
The activists are lobbying the Moscow government to make life easier for cyclists. One thing they are working on is persuading the metro authorities that bikes should indeed be allowed underground. Another small step would be having bike racks installed outside metro stations and education institutions. The administration of one district of the city has agreed to a programme next year that should see studies done of how cycling could be promoted and how much funding is required, says Kumov.
As for the vagaries of the Russian climate, Kumov insists that it’s no big deal. “Of course it’s harder to cycle in winter but in Copenhagen people cycle all year round, and I’ve even been to Rovaniemi in northern Finland in winter; it was minus 27C and loads of people were cycling.”
Shaun Walker is Monocle’s Moscow correspondent
Vladimir and Peter:
We are in Linchoping now. We have rode 250 km through Sweden and are in the travel rythm practically, and even have time to edit photos and do our business. Very soon we will tell and show everything, really! We stay in Lina’s flat. She is a consultant in municipality and she plans Linkoping and Norrkoping. Her boyfriend is also in love with bicycles. He’s got 6 of them! In general, they are those we asked to help us to present the bikes :) Two cool Challenger Westwood at once. The whole Europe ride bikes like that, or, well, practically the whole Europe.
At the video guys say a few words about treir relations with bikes and choose the winners. Lina’s lucky hand gives the first bike to Sergey Khabarov from Moscow region. And the second bike... second bike will leave a week later:)
Maxim Kruchkov will tell you how to receive it, you need to connect with him after the wednesday. Or he will call you by himself.
There are several other bikes in the drawing so you can also take part into it. The conditions are the same, and more interesting tasks will appear soon. Good luck to you all! And congratulations to Sergey! Let it bike together!
Vladimir and Peter:
Hello! We are now in Sodertalje, a small town in Sweden. While getting used to travel by bicycle and to the routine we have not enough time for everything, but we’re improving little by little. For a start here is a short review on bikes in Helsinki. By the way there are nearly 750 kilometers of bicycle lanes in the Finnish capital and that allows cyclists to go almost everywhere.
Zelenograd is one of the Moscow districts, which is situated in the suburbs of the city. At the same time it bears no resemblance to one another. This city comes up with one idea of improvement convenience after another.
As well it concerns bicycles. For example Moscow State Institute of Electronic Engineering (MIET) installed first Bicycle Park for student five years ago. Now it has four parks which are in popular demand.
