reboot by bicycle

If this is your first visit to Copenhagen, you will find, perhaps to your surprise and delight, that it is truly a city of bicycles. Cycles and cyclists are everywhere, from all walks of life, of all ages. There are special bicycle lanes (and traffic lights) on most streets. If you're a cyclist from elsewhere you will feel accepted here as perhaps nowhere else.

RENTING A BICYCLE

The easiest place to rent a cycle is Central Station, the main rail terminal right downtown. The name of the rental place is København Cykler to find it just follow the signs in the station: it's on the far side downstairs. You can find more information at copenhagen-bikes.dk/ If you don't have too much luggage when you arrive in the city, you can pick up a bicycle right when you arrive.

I recommend that you opt for the "with basket" option when you rent -- it's only an extra 10 DKK for the whole rental period, and it's a really convenient place to dump stuff.

CYCLE PARKING AND NOT GETTING YOUR BIKE STOLEN

You'll find parking for bicycles almost everywhere, and it's easy to figure out the local practice just by looking where other bikes are parked. If you're renting an apartment or staying a a hotel, you might want to ask around for the best place to park so you're not interfering with others.

I'm not an expert here, but my casual observations of the scene suggest that the most common way to lock a bike in place is with a built-in "through the tire" like. You just pull up to where you want to park and then release the lock which inserts a little bar through the rear wheel, making it harder to take the bike away (although still possible in theory, as you're not actually locking it *to* anything).

The only issue I've ever heard about bike crime being an problem is around Central Station.

FREE PUBLIC BICYCLES

When you're in the downtown core of Copenhagen, you will find freely available City Bikes at stands in front of public buildings, metro stations and other locations. Learn more at www.bycyklen.dk/ To use a free bike you simply insert a 20 DKK coin into the mechanism on top of the handles, remove the locking bolt, and ride away.

Note, however, that the "City Bike Zone" does *not* include the area where reboot is held; there's a map that shows the boundaries on each bike. So you can't get all the way to reboot on a free bike.

BICYCLE SAFETY

Although trends are changing, you will find that almost nobody in Copenhagen wears a bicycle helmet. I'm not sure if you can rent one, so if this a concern to you, you might want to bring your own.

As a longtime cycle city, you'll find that Copenhagen has a cycle culture that might be unlike what you experience at home. I found that the common hand signals were different for example (here in Canada we signal "right" with an upward L of the left hand; in Copenhagen "right" is signaled with an outstretched right hand).

Perhaps the best advice I can give is to be a keen observer of what others are doing. You'll quickly find out what the expected practice is at intersections, for making right and left turns (left turns especially involve an interesting "hook" move). And when you're riding, whether on cycle lanes or on streets without them, always be aware of the cars and cycles and pedestrians around you. If you adopt a sort of "active" mindset you'll do okay.

GETTING TO KEDELHALLEN

The reboot venue at Kedelhallen is actually located in the municipality of Frederiksberg, which is so invisibly connected to Copenhagen as to appear, for most intents and purposes, part of the city. This will not be a problem for you, as Kedelhallen is an easy 20 min. ride from almost anywhere you might be staying.

The map at www.findvej.dk/Nyelandsvej75A,2000 will show you where the Kedelhallen is located. As you cycle closer to the venue, you'll want to get yourself to Nordre Fasanvej; turn onto Gustav Johannsens Vej and down just a bit you'll find the entrance to Kedelhallen. The easiest way to locate yourself generally once you're in the area is to head for the big smokestacks -- Kedelhallen is right under them.