The City of Copenhagen owns 2200 specially designed city bikes. The bikes are placed in racks all over the city, and can be picked up by anyone in return for a one-coin deposit and used for sightseeing or other purposes. It’s a wonderful service, but there is a drawback: Each bike weighs 25 kilos, and the tires are made of solid rubber.

In the summer 2005 I decided to cycle the 3500 kilometers from Copenhagen to Istanbul in Turkey on such a bike. My mission was to find the goodness in people on my way through Europe.