Cycling in Sweden

Si_Walker · Post by **Si_Walker** » 21 Apr 2012 08:14

I went to Sweden (Lund) recently to see my son and grandson and thought you might be interested in the Swedish cycling scene. Lund is a relatively small town in the south of the country about 40mins rail journey across the Oresund bring from Copenhagen. When Lund university is quiet the population is about 100,000, however when the students are studying it swells to twice this. In this small town (about the size of Sutton Coldfield) there are 25 bike shops, the cycles mainly have 3 gears (Sturmey Archer style) and have no back brake lever. The rear brake is operated by putting some reverse pressure on the pedal, which can be hazardous during familiarisation, suddenly stopping unexpectedly until you realise your holding the pedals still! I nearly fell off a couple of time when turning corners. Many cycles have a built in rear lock that enables a bar to slide under the wheel rim to lock on the opposite side, but a D lock is recommended to be extra secure. Few people wear helmets as the risk of an accident is much lower and it is surprising what you seek people do, speaking on the telephone being one whilst hurtling down the cycle way. Most Swedish cycles have a front wheel hub which has a built in dynamo to power a front light. The rear is a standard battery powered red lamp. I did see a Trek bike in this style in a shop window, presumably built for the Swedish market

The number of cycles that are parked around the town is incredible, on every corner you will find 10-20 parked bikes and at the rail station there are literally hundreds parked row by row. Many must have been abandoned as they were quite rusty, one was spotted with a helmet full of autumn leaves (possibly doubling up a birds nest !). We hired a couple of bikes for 3 days (no weekend hire available) this cost us 8 Krona which is about £8, the equivalent of just over a £1 a day per bike. We cycled out to Lomma on the east coast which was about 10Km, the whole distance was ridden on cycle lanes that run by the side of the road and is traffic free. The infrastructure is well geared (no pun intended) towards the cyclist. All cars give way to the cyclist crossing the road via a cyclist / pedestrian crossing. Where the cycle paths are restricted the pavement is wide and divided into cycles one side and pedestrians the other. There is a hierarchy of importance for the car driver with the pedestrian being first, followed by cyclist and then car.

We go fairly regularly to Sweden, for anyone thinking of going for holiday, its well worth the visit. Stockholm is also wonderful, the rail service is fantastic being clean, on time and fast. The downside, it can be a bit pricey to eat out and alcohol is rather expensive, but the food is of a very high standard.

Here are some of the cycle related pictures.

A typical Swedish bike (note no rear brake and dynamo front hub)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950823968

Bike park at Lund Station

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950819362

Yet more bikes only 100 yards away from the previous picture! Note the child seats for transporting the nipper to nursery.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950837936

The local Postal service ‘domestique’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950821358

Transport for the children

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950826386

Helmet nest- abandoned cycles are fairly common, many with bits missing or bent.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950838624

The local railway service including snow plough! - 1st class is in the bucket

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20091289@N00/6950836720

Hope you found it interesting!

Post by **CakeStop** » 21 Apr 2012 16:21

Wow, looks like they enjoy a healthy lifestyle out there. What's the ratio of bikes to cars within the town?

Neil Compton · Post by **Neil Compton** » 21 Apr 2012 18:15

Nice pics and nice write up. Not long before i head off to Holland and Germany and i'm expecting things to be similar there.

Si_Walker · Post by **Si_Walker** » 21 Apr 2012 18:33

There are literally hundreds of bikes to one car, however most of them stationary in the bike parks. I guess every one who is capable if riding a bike has one judging by the numbers parked outside the houses and flats. For bikes on the road, my impression was it was evens in the town, and in the 'pedestriansed' parts, bikes compete with pedestrians. Out in the suburbs, in some places, you're lucky to see 1 person every 5 mins, walking cycling or otherwise, it is a different world and much less conjested than in the UK, it is almost surreal at times, but very pleasant. Still for a country of a population of 8 milliion and if turned upside down it would stretch almost to the 'foot' of Italy, that is not surprising.

David Cole · Post by **David Cole** » 21 Apr 2012 18:53

Intersesting write-up with some nice photos. There is obviously a very different attitude to cycling and cyclists over there

Dave