Tag: Overseas learnings

Flashback Friday: Cycling in Bristol

Any time that someone claims their city is too hilly for lots of cycling (and conversely, that’s why everyone bikes in Chch…) I invariably think about all of the hilly cities I have visited around the world that somehow buck …

Flashback Friday: Study Abroad – First Stop: London

Remember that thing called overseas travel? Long before Covid, it was a thing apparently… And back in my previous university job it was a regular thing to visit places overseas to check out their transport systems (call it a busman’s …

Flashback Friday: Last stop Boston – and Reflections on US Cycling

As Covid omicron threatens to cause some mayhem across NZ, we often look with thanks that to date we seem to have avoided the worst outcomes as observed in places like the US. The US is an interesting place to …

Flashback Friday: Interesting cycle stuff from New York

I’m still struggling to get many original posts out there right now – seem to be straight back into a busy workload for the year. So for now, another Flashback Friday will have to suffice, again returning to my North …

Flashback Friday: Interesting cycle stuff from Washington DC

Back at my old university job, about this time of year I was often making the pilgrimage to the winter of Washington DC for a big annual transportation conference there. Remarkable to think that my last visit there was 5 …

Flashback Friday – Cycling in Madrid

The welcome news in the last day that Spain has come to the rescue with some additional vaccines for us brings to mind previous mutterings on this site about the cycling provisions over there.  Regular guest blogger Robert has been …

Flashback Friday – Adelaide: Sharrows

They are fairly common nowadays across Christchurch, but it wasn’t that many years ago that sharrow markings on shared cycle streets were a new concept in the city. And at the time, we sought some inspiration from overseas places that …

Flashback Friday – Adelaide: Frome Street Bikeway

Protected cycleways are becoming more the norm around Chch these days, even if the occasional one still stirs up a bit of debate. But we’re certainly not the only Australasian place to encounter these “controversies”. Back in June 2014 (when …

Flashback Friday: Thoughts from Velo-City Global 2014 Adelaide

It’s hard to picture while Covid currently rages across Australia, but back in 2014 hundreds of people from around the globe descended on Adelaide to take part in the first instance of a global cycling conference happening down under. …

Flashback Friday: Dealing with Cycling Safety in NZ

Concerns about the safety of cycling in NZ certainly haven’t disappeared in recent times, and sadly we still have a number of deaths and serious injuries occurring every year. Still, many of the current efforts in this space (including considerable …

Flashback Friday: Cycling in the Netherlands

After a year in which most of us have been unable to do any overseas travel, it is nice to reminisce on opportunities in the past to visit interesting new places. Regular viewer Frank Dohmen (Cyclomaniac) provided a guest post …

Flashback Friday – Guest Post: Impressions from a “tourist”

Seven years ago when I was still working at university, we were fortunate to be visited by a colleague and cycling expert from the UK, Prof John Parkin (I was very pleased to be able to return the favour when …

Flashback Friday – The World’s Most Bicycle Friendly Cities

It’s always fun to ponder where Christchurch stands in the cycle-friendly world. I’d happily say that it rates as the best cycling city in Australasia (oohh, challenge…) – but what about the world in general? We’ve all heard of the …

Flashback Friday: Some Bike Ideas from Washington DC

In my previous job at Canterbury University, I was lucky to be able to visit many interesting places overseas, and one of my regular haunts (due to its annual transportation conference) was Washington DC – unfortunately always in the …

Flashback Friday: Vancouver Neighbourhood Greenways

Christchurch now has a  number of “neighbourhood greenway” cycle routes, but I first encountered them in Oregon (Portland and Eugene) and subsequently Seattle and Vancouver. They’re not like conventional cycleways, where there is some kind of marked lane or separated …

Flashback Friday: Vancouver Separated Bikeways

“Cycling in Chch” has always looked elsewhere for inspiring ideas that could apply here. I’ve been lucky that my work has allowed me to travel to many interesting places around the world (although these days, it’s more likely to be …