Copenhagen First Assignment

Our first assignment was to rent a bike and follow someone for 20 minutes.  I'm not going to lie, renting the bike seemed easy enough but following someone without making them feel like I was a creeper seemed a little tricky. But first things first, having a bit of jet lag, I needed some caffeine. I found a little coffee shop down the street from my hotel which to my surprise had a shared courtyard with the neighboring businesses/buildings.  I have been surprised at the number of amazing courtyards among buildings. They seem to provide such a sense of community, whether the courtyard is in the form of an eating area, playground, park, or a combination of all.

                         

Going to a coffee/pastry shop in the morning has become a habit for better or worse.  I of course have had to try various Danish pastries.

                     While speaking to a few local students as I was enjoying my pastry, I found some quite interesting tidbits of information about driving. The most interesting driving law to me which can make driving, cycling, and walking quite different than in the States is that in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Denmark, car drivers are automatically responsible for collisions with cyclists or pedestrians.  This would explain why drivers here are so careful.

In Denmark, the minimum age to drive a car is 18 years old, and it can cost over $1,000. You may however start to learn to drive 3 months before your 18th birthday.  The legal minimum requirement for all new drivers in Denmark with a driving school is:

• 7 hours of traffic-related first-aid lessons
• 28 theory lessons
• 4 practical maneuver lessons on a track: 
• Driving in a figure 8
• Setting/stopping off by the road
• Driving forward/backward with measured braking
• Reversing and turning
• Parking in bays
• 3 point turns
• Forward and reverse slalom
• Braking hard without locking the wheels
• 16 driving lessons in traffic
• 4 lessons on an advanced slippery track
• Driving on a slippery track at speeds of 30KMH (18.6MPH)- 70KMH (43.5MPH)
• Skills such as road holding and loads, speed, braking length, regaining control after skidding, and keeping control after driving over a high edge

These requirements may also explain how well people drive here.

While I was on my way back to rent my bike, I observed a small street sweeper which explains the clean bike paths.

OK, back to my assignment. Renting my bike did end up being an easy task as they were available through my hotel. I grabbed my bike and went to the closest busy street, found my person to follow and I was off. I'm not sure if I succeeded in not being a creeper because after about 4 turns she pulled off to the side (I hope that wasn't the case). I had to follow a few more people to successfully get my 20 minutes of following in but I was pleasantly surprised that I ended where I was hoping to and that was the circle bridge.

  

                                                                                                        (Water Photo credit: Dave Roth)

Later in the day, I caught up with the whole crew (19 students, 2 other professionals (Cas and Dave), Ben (from Austin Adventures who takes very good care of us), Professor Marc and his wife Mindy (who also take very good care of us).