It is now over two months since Biketober 2018 took place. A debrief meeting has been held. The debate about what was good and not so good was lively and positive. The talk turned to Biketober 2019. The organising committee (aka an informal group of passionate volunteers who enjoy seeing others get together to ride a bike) generally agreed that we could do much the same in 2019, perhaps even better. This view was endorsed by Spokes Core group at the December meeting. The only player that has been jolly unreasonable since October, has been the weather. By comparison, the weather for Biketober was reasonable, so no real complaints.
Why talk about Biketober in January then?
Well, to begin, a long lead-in time can make a huge difference to a smooth event. There are a lot of ducks to line up, many stakeholders to get on board, volunteers to recruit, ideas to develop, funds to find and feedback to follow up on.
Funding is extremely important. Fortunately, Biketober 2018 made a small surplus. Add to that are several individual funding applications that will be made in the course of the year (one closed already, on Dec 31st). Planning for these applications needs to be rigorous so that each application is appropriate for the need and submitted on time.
The more feedback that we get, the easier it will be to produce an event that appeals to the greatest number. The Biketober survey gave us valuable points to consider. We repeat the call. Email biketober@gmail.com with ideas, thoughts, tips and advice. We would love to hear from you.
To start the ball rolling, let’s hear your thoughts about the following events:
- Having a third attempt to stage a massed ride through the Lyttelton Tunnel (do you remember the last Tunnel Ride?)
- Recently Wellington held a racy late night Bicycle Rave – Looks like fun?
- What about a bike vs e-scooter time trial?
To counter the claim that people do not ride bikes for anything other than to show off their Lycra, could Biketober hold a “CBD- Bikes in the bike park count” – snapshot in time on a given day.- Rauora Park, on Manchester Street now has an awesome asphalt pump track. Perfect for an hour or two of bike/scooter fun.
Biketober 2019 can be even bigger and better than previously. Let’s do it!!
What would you like to see in Biketober 2019? Something new? Something better?
1. Do the Lyttleton Tunnel again or Sumner.
2. Why cant Chch do our own version of Late Night Bicycle Rave.
3. Attract more people for bike events via radio/tv/CCC or social media, perhaps some flyers to people who visits bike parks.
Just my 2cents.
I did the tunnel run in the late 90s when they had a 50th. It was metered so the tunnel wasn’t crowded, and us roller bladers got to go first (and fast!)
The 65th anniversary opening last year was a lot more crowded – you couldn’t even walk normally, it was more shuffling. Those who tried to ride through were doing more standing than rolling, despite having discreet “lanes”
I observe that Evans Pass to Lyttelton is due to open in “early 2019” so it should be open for biketober. That could be a nice road to ride/walk for a weekend morning. People haven’t been on that road for 8 years now – could be a good activity to ride up and down Evans.
Actually the crowded opening in 2014 (has it been that long already?) was for the 50th anniversary. Fun yes, but needing some crowd-size limitations to make it even more enjoyable for riding. With Evans Pass open by Biketober, there shouldn’t be any excuses for not having a go at closing it for a ride again.
Ahead of that, it would be great if the Council let people walk/bike/scoot the new Evans Pass road before officially opening it to traffic. NZTA are pretty good at doing that when they open big infrastructure.