Photo of the Day: Xmas Shopping by Bike

‘Tis the season, and everyone is frantically rushing around getting their festive goodies. That tends to mean that traffic and parking get a bit crazy, which duly gets reported in the media (not that it’s really “news” if it happens every year…)

You may have heard of the term “quaxing” (i.e. shopping without a car); this article explains a bit more about its local origins (not sure it counts as one of NZ’s finest contributions to cycle culture?). Heck, it even was judged “Word of the Year” on one local website. Anyway, Christmas tends to be one of those times when quaxing seems to make a lot of sense, rather than fighting for a carpark space. And so it was that I found myself at Barrington Mall the other day collecting a few little items on my trusty steed – a few others had the same idea…

The bike parking leaves a bit to be desired in some places around town, but usually you have a much better chance of getting a closer parking spot and beating the traffic queues in and out. So, as more of the Major Cycleways roll out around the city, perhaps we will see increasing numbers shopping by bike – to the point that we’ll be crying out for more bike parking…

Have you done any Xmas shopping by bike? Was it easier than by car or bus?