Day 10 - Copenhagen.

Most of my trips are only about this long and I generally keep a pretty full agenda. This one is only about half done though. Departure from Russia was routine and the two-hour time change helped me get into Denmark at a reasonable hour, about 3 pm. The train ride from the airport to city center is easy and quick and the trains are neat and clean (this is in stark contrast to getting to and from the airport in St. Petersburg). The hotel is next to the train station and that's about all that can be said about it. It's a place to throw the bags down and go out on the town.

Copenhagen seems somewhat akin to Amsterdam but more spacious, cleaner and more comfortable. By virtue of that it also seems to lack some of the edge that Amsterdam has. What I really like is the pedestrian streets, open squares with benches, lots of sidewalk restaurants and plenty of people on the streets who generally seem relaxed and happy. The city is clearly alive but not hyper or showy. I somehow get the feeling it lives on its own terms. I like it.

I walked around some, found a place to purchase an electric shaver (my pre-departure disaster back home limited my packing), then decided to take an obligatory canal tour and walked up to the pier 10 minutes before the last tour departs. Perfect. The weather is very pleasant, cloudless but not hot, no wind. The canals are much fewer in number than in Amsterdam but are more open and lined with boats. The Nyhavn in particular is really cool and the embankments have sidewalk cafes and restaurants almost the entire length.

The harbor itself though interesting is less picturesque so no pictures worth posting. After the tour I couldn't resist a lazy meal of venison and a glass of cabernet at a sidewalk restaurant in Nyhavn. Then a long meandering walk back to the hotel, punctuated by a contemplative pause in an open city square. There are several large parks in the center, all immaculately maintained and clean. At 10 pm (helped by late summer light) there are lots of people just sitting around talking on blankets with bottles of wine and beer. There is no trash and the atmosphere is very casual and easy. Can't say I've ever seen anything quite like this before. Pretty cool. After St. Petersburg the clean air is a real treat, too.

At night the scene changes a bit. There are still lots of people out well past midnight and generally the atmosphere is subdued. But it becomes apparent that the hotel is in a somewhat seedy part of town. Unfortunately instead of sitting in windows like in Amsterdam, at least in this particular area the women stand on street corners and proposition passers-by, sometimes grabbing them by the sleeve or by the hand. This can be quite annoying but can generally be avoided by walking at a determined pace and not looking in their direction. It also seems confined to just a couple streets around the hotel and train station. I didn't stay out long, returning to the hotel before 1 am to try and get some sleep finally.

Day 11.

This is where the car-oriented second half of the trip begins but actually the day started with a stroll around Copenhagen. The city is very bicycle-friendly and the morning commute has a great deal of bike traffic in dedicated lanes.

The sign above was for what seemed like a fairly normal shop so somehow I don't think it was intended with its English meaning :) Midway through the walk a relaxing break in one of the gardens then back to the hotel to catch the train to Laven, a small village which is my next destination.

Laven is home to Mikkel Steen Pedersen who has designed and built a performance car that is in spirit similar to my dp1 - the Roadrazer. He started his project about the same time as I did and we have been communicating via email for a while, exchanging some information and ideas. He has already built a carbon chassis using the SPRINT technology that I have been considering for mine and so this trip was a great opportunity to meet, talk cars and see firsthand what is involved in working with the material. Laven is a tiny village in the countryside and the train takes some 3 hours to Skanderborg (a good opportunity to get some work done) where I change to a local train for the remainder of the trip. The latter is particularly neat, it is basically a very large diesel tram and you can hear the automatic gearbox go through gears as it pulls away from a station.

The Danish countryside is very tidy and picturesque but not really picture-friendly, in that it is nice to look at but a photo of it would be boring. All farmland and rolling hills. At the station there is a somewhat odd but cool statue by a local artist. Accoring to Mikkel it is something to do with an old Nordic myth but he didn't have any more details than that.

After introductions and some time talking over lunch we walked over to the Roadrazer facility. It's housed in a cool all-brick building that is both functional and has some old-world charm to it. Unfortunately due to logistics and other issues there was no complete car available to see or drive, but I did check out the facility and we talked a lot about materials, manufacturing methods, design issues and such. Mikkel's suspension design is quite clever, using aluminum extrusions and load-bearing inserts to carry the forces. It just bolts together with no welding and is quite light. There will definitely be more information exchange. Our cars are alike in some ways but are very different in the specific implemention and we have similar vision for future evolution of our respective designs. Overall, a very useful visit.

In a corner of the shop, a three-wheel prototype that Mikkel used to validate dimensions and concepts. It uses the back end of a motorcycle attached to a frame made of aluminum extrusions and honeycomb sandwich. Quite a difference between prototype and final car and a good illustration of the learning curve one goes through with this type of design. I also got a chance to actually try and lay up a piece of the SPRINT material in a mold. Very valuable to see the issues first-hand and as a result I'll be looking at some other technologies that Mikkel has researched.

The life in the countryside is quiet and relaxing and having wireless Internet access I realized I could live and work in a place like this just as easily as I do at home. Considering that most of my communication with the world is via Web, email and cellphone, I could actually spend a month here and few people (including clients, relatives and some friends) would know the difference. Technology really has enabled ultimate mobility. Nice as it is here though, other things await and tomorrow it's on to Amsterdam for the start of the MINI festival. On the way there through London I will meet up with M who will join me for some car-related adventures.