Biker girls get on your bikes and travel in style!

Bicycles are the latest hot fashion accessory according to some print and online fashion publications. Bike fashionista’s are showing up in Vogue, the Sartorialist and Glamour magazine. Tons of blogs are also celebrating fashion on wheels, and one of the coolest bike blogs comes from the world’s most bikeable city: Copenhagen Cycle Chic.

When I think about women, bikes and style I can’t help but remember rock band Queen’s ‘cheeky’ song “Bicycle Race” Here are a few lines of the lyrics:

I want to ride my bicycle.

I want to ride my bike.

I want to ride it where I like.

It looks like women agree with Queen and are riding their bikes where and how they like, except they’ve added in some great fashion style instead of going bare bottomed! Vogue recently featured top trends in bicycle fashions showing us what the chic cyclists are wearing while pedaling pretty. Cities worldwide are also getting in on the new hot bicycling culture and offering public bikes for touring around the town.

Here is what we consider to be the world’s top five fashionable travel destinations where you can find a bike to accessorize your style!

1. Velocouture in Paris

   The city of romance is madly in love with its bike sharing program, Velib, making it the must have accessory in Paris. After all, what can be more stylish than riding along the Seine with a baguette, some yummy cheese and a bottle of wine in your basket all set for an afternoon picnic? Paris is passionate about Velib bikes, and with around 20,000 bicycles in ‘circulation’, it is now the largest system of its kind in the world. Viva la bicyclette!

2. Chic cycling in Europe’s capital of cool – Copenhagen!

   Bicycles are everywhere in Copenhagen, combine that with cool Nordic looks and you have beauty on bikes. The city, in its efforts to promote biking riding to city visitors, launched ByCykler Kobenhaven (City Bikes), the world’s first bike sharing program in 1995 with 1,000 bicycles. Riders pay a refundable deposit at one of 110 special bike stands and have unlimited use of a bike within the downtown area during the summer months.

3. See Montreal en vélo

   Montreal, Canada’s fashion capital, is home to the much loved Bixi, a bike share program that is has become the bike program of choice for other cities throughout the world, the most recent being London’s newly launched Barclay’s Cycle Hire. Montreal’s Bixi program is North America’s largest bike sharing system and was ranked by Time Magazine as the 19th best invention in their 50 Best Inventions of 2008.

   Tamy Pepin, our Montreal Getaway expert, takes you on a Bixi tour of the city.

4. Boris Bikes in Londontown

   Imagine this: Biking along Oxford Street, carefully avoiding, if possible, the throngs of shoppers, whilst astride a Burberry plaid bike that perfectly matches your Burberry scarf. Oh Burberry, please make this dream come true!

   London has just launched their bike sharing program but alas, not a plaid bike is anywhere to been seen. Nicknamed after London’s mayor Boris Johnson, Boris Bikes/Barclay’s Cycle Hire began operating on 30 July 2010. At launch there were 315 bicycle docking stations and 5,000 bicycles available in central London.

5. BikeMi in Milan

   Do Jimmy Choo’s and bicycles go together? In Milan, I’m sure they do. Milan, Italy’s center of fashion and design, launched BikMi, its bike share program, in 2008. Cycling is a hot option in this compact city, with expansion planned this year to bring a total of 5000 bicycles available to show off the newest fashion trends on the streets instead of the runway!

Mikael Colville-Anderson, creator of Copenhagen Cycle Chic talks about Bike Couture at the Dublin Cycle Chic Fashion Show.

Dublin Cycle Chic – Fashion Show from DCTV on Vimeo.

The Santa Barbara Bike Fashion Show: Great Style on Bikes

Santa Barbara Bike Fashion Show from Christa Clark Jones on Vimeo.