Earlier this week we celebrated a healthy funding injection to get six cycleway routes completed around Chch. While that is great news, it’s sobering to think that all of the 13 Major Cycleways were initially meant to have been completed …
Category: Cycle-centric ideas
Bright ideas about cycling
Biketober 2020 is coming – Volunteers Needed!
Springtime is looming, bringing with it daffodils, government elections, and (most importantly) Biketober 2020! Remember last year?
Despite some lockdown drama, the volunteer Biketober organising team have been keeping warm during these wintery months by preparing another action-packed October …
Flashback Friday: Can You Ride Two Abreast?
Cycling behaviour regularly seems to come into the public firing line; what’s often interesting is whether the perception of what riders are doing “wrong” actually matches the reality of the law (often not). Cycling two abreast is one of those …
Flashback Friday: New cycle training park in Bexley?
Talk earlier this week of a new cycle skills track happening at Somerfield School brings to mind other similar tracks around the city. Seven years ago, there was discussion about another one being proposed for Bexley; this article, originally from …
Flashback Friday: Coroner’s Cycling Inquest Hits Christchurch Soon
With all the growth in cycleways and cycling in Chch and New Zealand at the moment, it is pertinent to recall that a lot of the recent investment in cycling is due to the tragic events of nearly 10 years …
Flashback Friday: Cycling in Beijing
With our current inability to travel pretty much anywhere overseas, it’s a good time to reminisce on past trips instead. This post, originally from May 2013, recalls a time when my work took me to the traditional home of …
New Bike Database to help with stolen bikes
15 years ago I had my trusty old commuter bike stolen while I was at work (lesson from the day: buy a thicker lock…). I can tell you it’s a real nuisance to go through the hassle of insurance, …
Cycling and Trams
I’ve just finished working my way through Graham Stewart’s wonderful 1993 public tramway book “The End of the Penny Section” (yes, I’m an old public transport tragic from way back…). It tells the really interesting story of how trams …
Flashback Friday: Time for a Ciclovía in Christchurch?
The past couple of months have given us an interesting experiment into what happens when you effectively shut down streets from traffic and turn them over to people walking and biking instead. Under “normal” circumstances, you have to deliberately implement …
Chch cycling continues to rise
Another little piece of good news came out from City Council in the last day or so: the latest cycle count surveys back in March (pre-lockdown) showed very strong growth in the past year.
A regular annual survey of peak-hour …
Flashback Friday: Christchurch’s Riskiest Intersections for Cycling?
Before the cycleway programme started getting rolled out in Chch, the local media didn’t really help things by regularly coming up with various “cycle safety” angles for news items. This article, originally from Apr 2013, is a case in …
Support and use of cycling remains high in Christchurch
Once a year, Christchurch City Council undertake a Residents’ Survey where they seek feedback on what people think about a wide range of Council services, e.g. roading, rubbish, water. This year’s results are now out and, while the headline focus…
Flashback Friday: Christchurch cycling – Copenhagen style
When we look at some of the intricate Major Cycle Route layouts these days, it’s interesting to recall that it wasn’t that many years back when we had no local guidance for how to design these. National cycleway planning/design guidance…
Flashback Friday – Is Cycling Safe?
Seven years ago, we had one of those unfortunate situations when suddenly there were two cycle deaths in close proximity. They are thankfully rare but they do get many people questioning the relative safety of cycling. This article, originally posted …
Wanted: YOUR Lockdown Cycling Stories!
It’s been an interesting few weeks under COVID-19 lockdown, and generally everyone has been pretty good at following the rules and keeping themselves and others safe.
What has been really pleasing to see as well is the number of people …
Guest post: Trishaw wedding
Guest contributor Minnkey gives us a little cycle-related story about her wedding…
Just over 3 years ago, amongst other things, I started thinking about a bit of a unique way to turn up to my own wedding, preferably on some …
Flashback Friday – Clever Cycling Stuff: Hook Turn Boxes
If you do get out and about on your bike over this Easter weekend, you might come across a few of these handy green boxes at intersections. Back in Mar 2013 when I originally posted this, hook turns were still …
Flashback Friday: More Cycling in the News
The image of cycling in Christchurch (and New Zealand in general) has slowly changed over the years, from the perception of some strange “hobby” that a few enthusiasts do, to a more everyday activity undertaken by a wide range of …
Biking and COVID-19 in Christchurch
What a difference a week makes… this time last week, we were all discussing how to limit our interactions with others as we got on with our daily lives in a COVID-19 world, then suddenly: lockdown upon us and …
Guest Post: A Car Free Life
I guess many people right now might be learning to deal with a life without work, socialising, and many other things we take for granted. For Alastair Brown and his family, living without a car has been something they’ve dealt …