Video: Copenhagen shows us the little details that help make it a great cycling city - reminds us we've a long way to go

We all know Copenhagen is a great place for cycling. Indeed barely a week goes by when someone doesn't rub it in our faces a little bit. 

Copenhagen recently pipped Amsterdam to the post to be named the best cycling city in the world according to the Copenhagenize index, thanks in part, Copenhagenize says, to the election of Morten Kabell as department for transport mayor.

Ever wonder what they have got that we don't - other than miles of continuous, safe, dedicated bike infrastructure and a legal system that protects the most vulnerable road users? Well, now you can find out, in this video by Gottlieb Paludan Architects - and they say it's the little details, as well as the big ideas, that count.

Thanks to political vision and serious investment in infrastructure not only are bike bridges a standard piece of infrastructure, and growing in number, they've got a lot of smaller details that make cycling as easy as possible for everyone.

The Gottlieb Paludan Architects' video shows us foot rests at bike traffic lights so those on bicycles don't have to leave the saddle. Bike riders can avoid stopping at all where 'green waves', a string of green lights along the bike path, allow them to pace themselves between lights, so they get to the next green light just in time.

Because so many Copenhagen families travel by cargo bike (without fear of intimidation), they even get their own parking spaces on the street.

Bike use in the city increased from 36% to 45% between 2012 and 2014, a modal shift Copenhagenize say has never happened anywhere. The reason, Copenhagenize says, is because biking is made the easiest option, with driving "was rendered incredibly difficult" by the upgrading of heating pipes, laid under the roads, that closed many streets off to motor traffic.

They even have rubbish bins tilted at an angle (pictured) so you can play trash basketball as you cycle. Life really is good when you're Danish.