So far so good, you may think, unless you have braved the potholes, parked trucks and construction debris that obstruct those lanes, many of which appear to have been designed by someone who has never seen a bicycle, let alone ridden one. London cyclists swap horror stories of dysfunctional cycle routes that end without warning or maroon them on the wrong side of the road, though few can be more perilous than a new lane on Bethnal Green Road, which is blocked by a streetlight — anyone rash enough to use the lane has to brake sharply to avoid crashing into it.

Luckily for Copenhagen’s cyclists, their system has been more thoughtfully designed. The capital is a compact, reasonably flat city that is naturally bike-friendly, and even its old cycle routes are wider and better maintained than London’s. More than a third of Copenhageners already bike to work or school, mainly on short journeys of an average of five kilometers, or three miles. The roads are still jammed with cars, mostly driven in from the suburbs, and the public transport system is congested.

The solution, or so the city’s traffic planners hope, is to encourage people to cycle for longer distances by creating the cycling equivalent of freeways, which will provide fast, direct routes of up to 22 kilometers into the center. A total of 28 highways are planned, providing 495 kilometers of dedicated bike tracks. The first one from the western suburb of Albertslund opened in April 2012, followed a year later by the second, from Farum, northwest of the city. Nine routes are under construction and should be completed by 2015 at a cost of 208 million krone, or $36 million, divided equally between central and local government.

What are the Super Highways like? Judging by my experience of the Farum route, they’re great. Impressive though the air pumps, footrests and angled trash cans are, the biggest thrill was pedaling through the “green waves” of uninterrupted green traffic lights, which have been programmed to prioritize cyclists over cars. It was also cheering to see bikers chatting while cycling two or three abreast in “Conversation Lanes.” Like most urban bikers, I usually value the practical benefits of cycling, as a speedy means of transport and convenient form of exercise, but the Farum route made it as pleasurable as zipping along empty country lanes.