HAVING BEEN FIRST INTRODUCED TO THE DANISH...

[Michael Grove]

   MINDSIGHT of Common-Sense-Openness, during my Air Traffic & Area Radar

   training at Hurn Airport and Sopley Radar, as a consequence of meeting and

   getting involved with a group of English Language Students from Denmark

   and once travelled to Copenhagen in my first Beetle registration 826EAF,

   having been invited as a guest of a family whose father had once driven for

   the Porsche Racing Team, who subsequently invited me in his role of Clerk

   of the Course, to a Roskilde Ring Race-Day. An experience that provided

   confirmation of that which I had already been made well aware of, namely the

   integrated quality of the 'Thinking • Design and Manufacturing Process'.

    At the time when I made such a ferry journey, in my 826EAF VW Beetle,

    there was a £50 pound limit on the amount of money which we were allowed 

    to take out of the country, as I boarded the ferry at Harwich bound for

    Bremerhaven, and hence a drive through Germany to Travemünde, rather

    than, spending my cash on petrol to take the longer, alas more scenic route 

    by road alone to Copenhagen.

[Michael Grove]

A startled intake of breath and the swoosh of a passing line of bikes is a common experience for visitors during their first few hours in Copenhagen. The city, now synonymous with its year-round cycling culture, has raised bike lanes so broad and distinct that it’s not uncommon for visitors to mistake them for sidewalks. Cycling, and the environmentally friendly changes to the city it brings, are baked into Danish culture.

This includes bicycle training for young children in many Danish schools, and the belief that, in the words of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation: “Children ride bikes when adults create the opportunities”. The result is a city where virtually everyone cycles because everything is safely accessible.