It sounds so promising. A network of dedicated cycle routes running through a city with air pumps to fix flat tires, footrests to lean on while taking breaks and trash cans that are specially angled so you can throw in empty water bottles without stopping.
听起来,这是一个颇为巧妙的设计:贯穿城市的专用自行车路网,提供轮胎打气泵、休息用的脚踏设施,连垃圾桶都特地调整了角度,在车上即可扔放空饮料瓶。

【注释1】Promising:有望成功的; 前景很好的。这里本想用“很有前景的”、“前景大好的”,但是感觉作者并没有这么真切的支持态度,也缺乏足够的事实论据。模糊处理为了“设计巧妙”,和下文也能对应起来。

【注释2】Footrest:脚凳,脚踏,但是具体是什么不好判断。Footrests to lean on 好理解但不好翻译,也没搜到画面,同样做了模糊处理。

【注释3 】Lean 把…靠 (在…上) Lean the plants against a wall and cover the roots with peat.
把这些植物靠在墙上,用泥炭盖住根部。

【注释4】Fix flat tires 没有再详细解释,个人感觉,打气泵就足够了,不用特别强调是没气的轮胎。

【注释5】Throw in 是 throw sth in 的结构调整,英语中很多词组有类似提前用法。此外 throw in 也有赠送的意思。If you buy a refrigerator, we will throw in a microwave oven. 如果你买一台电冰箱,我们免费赠送一台微波炉。

Best of all, you can cycle on those routes for long distances without having to make way for cars and trucks at junctions and traffic lights, according to the official description of the Cycle Super Highways, which are under construction here as part of the Danish capital’s efforts to become carbon-neutral by 2025.
据官方介绍,“超级自行车高速公路”项目设计的最大亮点是方便市民长距离骑行,不需要在道路交叉口或红绿灯前避让汽车、卡车。作为丹麦首都的在建项目,是该市为力争2025年之前实现碳中和采取的措施之一。

【注释6】Best of all,本来想照搬上面的“设计最巧妙之处”,为了避免重复改成了“最大亮点”。语言表达能力也不好,这种措辞也经常勉强写出来,隔天看又觉得幼稚。总之是个循环往复的过程,需要不断修改才能臻于完美。

【注释7】 According to the official description 提前了,因为我们平时看中文新闻,“据••••”这种表达往往是要放句首,让读者知道这消息哪里来的,可不可靠。

【注释8】carbon-neutral,碳中和,可以说的地方不多。平时留意下官方各类白皮书中英对照、联合国秘书长的一些讲话,有助于积累这些看似专业其实常见的词汇。

【注释9】which are under construction 本来想直接翻译的,改了好多次,改成“作为•••”,形式上变了不小,但是意义没有差别。当然句子的重点可能有些变化,有时候也是为了保持结构顺畅的必要牺牲。

Are they as good as they sound? These days it is hard to find a big city that doesn’t make grandiose claims to encourage cycling, and harder still to find one that fulfills them. Redesigning congested traffic systems to add bike lanes to overcrowded roads is fiendishly difficult, especially in historic cities with narrow cobbled streets like Copenhagen. But as its cycling program sounds so ambitious, I went there to try it.
但实际上真的像听起来这样好吗?近些年来,几乎所有大城市都在竞相高声提倡自行车出行,例外者少,完全推行的更是鲜有。要在原本人满为患的路网上新建自行车道,需要改造目前拥挤的交通系统,实施难度极大,特别是对于哥本哈根等有着狭窄砾石路的历史名城。不过,因为这个项目看上去如此规模宏大,我特地前去体验了一下。

【注释10】最后一句译得不好,暂时也不太确定。词典里有雄心勃勃的计划,总感觉很别扭。

【注释11】Grandiose /ˈɡrændɪˌəʊs/ 华而不实的。处理为“高声”,也不算太好。有版本译为“鼓吹”,感觉意思则有些过。The sad truth is that not one of Tim’s grandiose plans has even begun.
可悲的是,蒂姆那些华而不实的计划没有一项付诸实施。

【注释12】Fiendish /ˈfiːndɪʃ/ 巧妙的; 富有想象力的,非常棘手的,残忍的。
This figure is reached by a fiendishly clever equation.
这个数值是用及其巧妙的方程解出来的。
This was a fiendish act of wickedness.这是一种残忍邪恶的行为。

【注释13】cobble /‘kɔbl/ 圆石子,鹅卵石,大卵石,中砾石

Maybe I’d be less cynical if I lived in Amsterdam, Cologne or any other city with decent cycling facilities, but as a Londoner, I’ve learned the hard way to be suspicious whenever politicians promise to do anything bike-friendly. London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, is a keen cyclist, who issues policy papers with auspicious titles like “Cycling Revolution” and has continued his predecessor’s biking program by introducing a cycle-rental project and building new bike lanes.
如果是生活在阿姆斯特丹或科隆,或其他自行车配套设施完备的城市,我可能不会这么愤世嫉俗。但作为伦敦人,我从失望中积累了经验,无论何时政客承诺为自行车出行提供便利,我都会保持怀疑态度。伦敦市长鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)非常喜欢骑自行车,为此专门退出政策文件,“自行车革命”的名称寓意也非常美好。在前任市长的自行车项目基础上,鲍里斯又有延伸,引进了自行车租赁服务,同时新建了很多自行车道。

【注释14】 Predecessor /ˈpriːdɪˌsɛsə/ 前任,前一代
He maintained that he learned everything he knew from his predecessor.
他坚称他所知道的一切都是从他的前任那儿学到的。

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.
也许这样看来,感觉都还不错。但如果遇到坑坑洼洼的路面,停在路上的卡车,堵在途中的建筑垃圾,你可能就不这么想了。这些顺畅出行的障碍,似乎可以反映出设计者可能连自行车都没见过,更不用说骑过。在伦敦,骑自行车的人经常聊起车道通行受阻引发的惨痛经历,这些车道要么没有警示标志,要么会把行人困在相反方向上。不过,最危险的路线之一还是在贝斯纳尔格林路,那儿竟然有路灯横在路上,要避免撞到,非得紧急刹车不可。

【注释15】Pothole /ˈpɒtˌhəʊl/ ( potholes ) A pothole is a large hole in the surface of a road, caused by traffic and bad weather. 路面坑洞,坑洼,凹坑

【注释16】Maroon /məˈruːn/使无法逃脱,绛紫色的
maroon velvet curtains.
绛紫色的天鹅绒窗帘。
He was marooned for a year in Jamaica.
他在牙买加被困了一年。