I didn’t bike much in Odense because I was tired after the bike touring. I felt safe when I came into Odense on our first day together as a bike group. I also liked how it was easy to bike in the public squares and near the walking streets, because the cars were so far away from you. You had space to explore and didn’t feel like the cars would run into you. Compared to Copenhagen, I thought that biking was easier in Odense. This is because in Copenhagen there is less room to mess up. Many people are biking and in a rush. If you hesitate, it’s likely that someone will run into you. It was also a lot more crowded on the bike paths in Copenhagen than it was in Odense. I didn’t notice any biking campaigns or cycling playgrounds myself when exploring the city, but it sounds like they were common, due to the presentation we listened to on the first day in Odense.
For lessons to bring back to mid-sized U.S. cities, I would encourage them to use more pedestrian and cyclist only bridges. I really enjoyed the bridge near our hostel that we took to get to the food storage carts. It was safe and easy to use. I would also encourage more traffic lights that are just meant for cyclists. I see these on 13th in Eugene, but haven’t noticed them in any other places in the United States. I also would encourage more walking only streets. I really liked the area near the Hans Christian Andersen museum, as it was quiet and had a lot of places that were pedestrian and bike only. I think streets like this encourage a better sense of community, support the local economy, and help to limit pollution through less CO2 emissions. Lastly, I would suggest more bike paths through parks. I didn’t have time to explore the bike path in the park where we held our meeting with Robert and Catherine, but I really liked the idea of it. That park was also beautiful and a great place for families to recreate, as it was right near the water and easy to get to.
Below are two photos from streets in Odense I walked on.
