Experience riding bike in Denmark or Netherlands without actually going there

Here’s a really nice idea – a website, Cyclodeo, that enables you to virtually experience what it’s like to ride a bike through streets in the Netherlands or Denmark, countries regularly highlighted as ones with an approach towards cycling that others should emulate.

The website, which currently covers the Danish capital Copenhagen and the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Helmond, was devised by Samir Bendida.

Click on one of the thumbnail pictures on the map – or click on the ‘coverage’ button to bring up the network covered – and it launches a YouTube video with footage recorded by handlebar cameras.

The videos give a clear idea of how planners have looked to engineer out conflict, wherever possible, between cyclists and motor vehicles where possible, as well as between bike riders and pedestrians.

A map that appears to the left of the video in question shows the route being followed, as well as an indication of where the bike is at any particular point.

There are plans to launch similar sites for New York City and an as yet unrevealed major European capital, according to this blog post on Forbes.com by Justin Gerdes, a California-based journalist who used to live in Copenhagen.