After a week in Scandinavia, I am in love. Not with a tall, blond Swede, mind you, but with the bike culture here. Coming from New York, where cyclists risk their lives every day dodging manic cab and truck drivers, I was thrilled to escape to Stockholm and Copenhagen. Here, drivers actually stop at stop signs. They also refrain from honking when cyclists and pedestrians cross and intersection. Every major street has wide bike lanes, and most of the time they are painted blue or are slightly elevated to distinguish them even more.

In Copenhagen, cyclists even get their own traffic lights. On almost every street there are lines of parked bikes, since about half the population rides on a given day. Subway stations need to have a section of elevated bike parking to meet demand.

Dressed in everyday clothes, I don’t feel like a fish out of water like I do in the US. Here, people don’t believe they must dress in sweatpants or spandex outfits like Tour de France racers just to ride a bike. For Scandinavians, bikes are primarily a mode of transportation, not a mode of weight loss. Young moms pedal toddlers around in stylish jeans and wool coats. Businessmen wear their suits and plop briefcases in a bike basket. Ladies-who-lunch types ride cruisers with heels on, dangling purses from handlebars. When you spend as much time riding Scandinavians do, why not look good while you’re at it?

Maybe having such a high rate of alternative transportation is why the cities have crisp, fresh air. And why even at the height of rush hour the city centers have almost no congestion. And why Americans like me wonder how easy it would be to become expats here.

- by Diana Kuan of Indietrekker fame