Comedian, writer and former mayor of Reykjavík JÓN GNARR, writes a weekly column for the weekend issue of Fréttablaðið, Iceland's most read newspaper and we publish an English version here at Iceland Insider.
I have had a bicycle for the most part of my life. Like most people I rode a lot as a kid, but after I got my driver’s license I put my bike aside and did not cycle for many years. I then started riding my bike again as a grown man. The reason was first and foremost financial. This was shortly before the turn of the century.
I then lived in Grafarvogur. I was working at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Ward of the National Hospital at Flókagata street. It was an interesting job, but the salary wasn’t good. I had four school-age kids at the time. I had bought and owned many pitiful jalopies. As the children grew in number, I needed bigger and more expensive cars. I could not afford driving to and from work. I could not afford another car. The buses were infrequent and impractical. So I decided to try bicycling.
For a whole year, I rode my bike downtown from Húsahverfið neighbourhood five times a week and back in the evening. This was physically hard to begin with, but then I got used to it. I started going everywhere on my bike. I rode my bike to meetings and to go downtown. I even did my shopping and took the groceries home on my bike. I lost a lot of weight and I have probably never been as fit as then. I saved money and lived a healthy life.
This was perfect in every way, except one: it was quite dangerous to ride a bike in Reykjavík. There were no bike paths and you were usually forced to cycle on streets with heavy traffic. I was often in great danger, especially on Miklabraut. I was a part of an environment that did not allow for people like me. I often had small mishaps, but fortunately only one serious accident. It happened when a driver decided to turn right in front of me without giving a signal. I crashed into the car, flew over it and landed on the street. I was wearing a helmet. But it did not save my hands and legs. My expensive cycling jacket was ruined. I was scraped and bruised, and couldn’t go to work for a few days. But I could blame myself for this. What was I thinking, riding a bike in Reykjavík? Why couldn’t I just buy another car like ordinary people?
A Conscious Widening of the Arse
In retrospect, I should probably have worn protective clothing like the one worn by contestants in motocross. Then again, this would probably never have happened if I had lived in a city that recognized cycling as a viable and healthy way of travel, where drivers show cyclists consideration and respect. This would probably not have happened if the driver had turned on the indicator light. But this is Reykjavík. The people are kept in the clutches of the private car. They are dependent on it. It is a good thing for those who sell cars and gasoline, but costly for those who have to use cars.
Cars are expensive and it is expensive to run them. They take up a lot of space, they pollute the air and cause accidents. Spending much time sitting in a car causes obesity. But we are used to good things. There is no limit to how short a distance we are willing to drive. We drive to the swimming pool and gym, and we drive our kids to sports practices. It is so self-evident and natural to drive that we don’t even think about how dangerous it is. I often wonder what it takes for people to stop driving and looking at their phone at the same time.
Climbing Esja on Four Inch Heels
Transportation is a little bit like shoes. Most people have good shoes they use every day, and dress shoes they use less frequently. The dress shoes are nicer than the ordinary ones, but also more expensive. In this metaphor, dress shoes are private cars and street shoes are walking and cycling.
Our transport culture has been completely on the wrong track. It is efficient for few and unpractical for most. We are like people who work in their garden in dress shoes and climb the mountain Esja on high heels. This is such nonsense. And to maintain that those who object to this crap are enemies of the car is completely wrong. It is like saying that those who walk around in comfortable street shoes do so because they hate dress shoes. Fortunately, this is changing. More and more people see the advantage of cycling over driving because it is both cheaper and healthier.
Reykjavík, like most other cities, works hard at making cycle paths to respond to this development. Car dealers and gas stations are, naturally, worried. They don’t profit from bicycles. So they keep pointing out how dangerous this is. They don’t do it themselves, but by financing pressure groups. Here, the use of helmets is a popular matter of concern. And yet, in most cities where bicycling is an accepted and obvious way of transportation you see few people with helmets. Copenhagen is a good example. I am one of those who insist on being able to ride a bike around the city without being in mortal danger because of people who don’t give turning signals or are texting while driving.
This has to change. I don’t ride with a helmet, and usually I wear my dress shoes.
Comedian, writer and former mayor of Reykjavík JÓN GNARR, writes a weekly column for the weekend issue of Fréttablaðið, Iceland's most read newspaper and we publish an English version here at Iceland Insider.
I have had a bicycle for the most part of my life. Like most people I rode a lot as a kid, but after I got my driver’s license I put my bike aside and did not cycle for many years. I then started riding my bike again as a grown man. The reason was first and foremost financial. This was shortly before the turn of the century.
I then lived in Grafarvogur. I was working at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Ward of the National Hospital at Flókagata street. It was an interesting job, but the salary wasn’t good. I had four school-age kids at the time. I had bought and owned many pitiful jalopies. As the children grew in number, I needed bigger and more expensive cars. I could not afford driving to and from work. I could not afford another car. The buses were infrequent and impractical. So I decided to try bicycling.
For a whole year, I rode my bike downtown from Húsahverfið neighbourhood five times a week and back in the evening. This was physically hard to begin with, but then I got used to it. I started going everywhere on my bike. I rode my bike to meetings and to go downtown. I even did my shopping and took the groceries home on my bike. I lost a lot of weight and I have probably never been as fit as then. I saved money and lived a healthy life.
This was perfect in every way, except one: it was quite dangerous to ride a bike in Reykjavík. There were no bike paths and you were usually forced to cycle on streets with heavy traffic. I was often in great danger, especially on Miklabraut. I was a part of an environment that did not allow for people like me. I often had small mishaps, but fortunately only one serious accident. It happened when a driver decided to turn right in front of me without giving a signal. I crashed into the car, flew over it and landed on the street. I was wearing a helmet. But it did not save my hands and legs. My expensive cycling jacket was ruined. I was scraped and bruised, and couldn’t go to work for a few days. But I could blame myself for this. What was I thinking, riding a bike in Reykjavík? Why couldn’t I just buy another car like ordinary people?
A Conscious Widening of the Arse
In retrospect, I should probably have worn protective clothing like the one worn by contestants in motocross. Then again, this would probably never have happened if I had lived in a city that recognized cycling as a viable and healthy way of travel, where drivers show cyclists consideration and respect. This would probably not have happened if the driver had turned on the indicator light. But this is Reykjavík. The people are kept in the clutches of the private car. They are dependent on it. It is a good thing for those who sell cars and gasoline, but costly for those who have to use cars.
Cars are expensive and it is expensive to run them. They take up a lot of space, they pollute the air and cause accidents. Spending much time sitting in a car causes obesity. But we are used to good things. There is no limit to how short a distance we are willing to drive. We drive to the swimming pool and gym, and we drive our kids to sports practices. It is so self-evident and natural to drive that we don’t even think about how dangerous it is. I often wonder what it takes for people to stop driving and looking at their phone at the same time.
Climbing Esja on Four Inch Heels
Transportation is a little bit like shoes. Most people have good shoes they use every day, and dress shoes they use less frequently. The dress shoes are nicer than the ordinary ones, but also more expensive. In this metaphor, dress shoes are private cars and street shoes are walking and cycling.
Our transport culture has been completely on the wrong track. It is efficient for few and unpractical for most. We are like people who work in their garden in dress shoes and climb the mountain Esja on high heels. This is such nonsense. And to maintain that those who object to this crap are enemies of the car is completely wrong. It is like saying that those who walk around in comfortable street shoes do so because they hate dress shoes. Fortunately, this is changing. More and more people see the advantage of cycling over driving because it is both cheaper and healthier.
Reykjavík, like most other cities, works hard at making cycle paths to respond to this development. Car dealers and gas stations are, naturally, worried. They don’t profit from bicycles. So they keep pointing out how dangerous this is. They don’t do it themselves, but by financing pressure groups. Here, the use of helmets is a popular matter of concern. And yet, in most cities where bicycling is an accepted and obvious way of transportation you see few people with helmets. Copenhagen is a good example. I am one of those who insist on being able to ride a bike around the city without being in mortal danger because of people who don’t give turning signals or are texting while driving.
This has to change. I don’t ride with a helmet, and usually I wear my dress shoes.
