Cycling in Christchurch

Hidden Treasures: Bottle Lake Forest Park

Mountain-biking around Christchurch tends to divide into the hilly bits and the flat bits. The Port Hills give you plenty of the former (even with the Chch Adventure Park temporarily out of action), while the flatter stuff tends to be …

Biking Activities for April 2017

Brrrr, suddenly the weather seems to be telling us that summer might truly be over! Fortunately there are still plenty of opportunities to get your biking fix, whether outside or in; hopefully the weather will oblige when necessary. We’ll summarise …

The GPS: Govt Pro-roads Statement on transport

If you’ve ever wondered why it is that cycling only seems to get a pittance of the funding that roading does, it’s largely down to an innocuously named document called the GPS. No, it’s not about determining your location …

Nor’West Arc Cycleway now due for consultation

Simon Barnard has already introduced you to the latest Major Cycleway project out for consultation and aired his concerns. Here’s a bit more of a breakdown of what is proposed, to help you make a submission (which are due …

Mythbusting: “Hardly anyone cycles”

Getting cycleways over the line in Christchurch (and the rest of New Zealand) has always been a difficult task, with various concerns about cost, car-parking, traffic restrictions, potential conflicts, you name it. It’s interesting to note though how often we …

Biking activities for March 2017

Is it still summer? The weather is holding out reasonably well, so let’s keep on biking! No doubt many of you took part in February’s Aotearoa Bike Challenge – make sure you get those last few rides logged online and …

Are you a “one bike” or “multi bike” person?

I’ve been observing people riding to work on my daily commute and looking at what they’re riding on. Increasingly there are some pretty cool commuting bikes, including e-bikes and stylish “upright” city bikes. But it’s interesting how many still are …

New cycling research causes a flurry

Three interesting research reports about cycling have just been publicly released by the NZ Transport Agency and already they’re causing a bit of a stir around cycling circles (and elsewhere…). We previously alluded to these pieces of work being underway, …

Photo of the Day: New CBD bike parking

We’re seeing a lot of great new cycleways popping up around town, but of course they won’t be much use if there’s nowhere to park your bike at the end of your ride. Fortunately, the City Council has been thinking …

First look: Chch Adventure Park

After all the anticipation, it was great to see the Christchurch Adventure Park open in mid-December. Since then, heaps of people have flocked to the park to try out the mountain bike trails and other facilities. Apparently the …

Cycling in the Heat

Some might say it’s a nice problem to have, but when the mercury is pushing 30 degrees (or even a sunny 20), sometimes it’s just hard work to hop on your bike. I guess we should be thankful that it …

Biking Activities for February 2017

Back to work, back to school, it must be February again! It also makes it Go By Bike month, that time of the year when the country celebrates biking for work and play. This year it’s all about the …

Cycling in Los Angeles

So, as mentioned a couple of weeks back, I recently visited Los Angeles briefly on my return from Washington DC. Instead of the usual rapid stopover at the airport, I took the opportunity for a 24-hour stay to have …

Sign up for the Aotearoa Bike Challenge

As summer hots up (we hope…), we head towards that time of the year when cycling is celebrated across New Zealand. In the past, it was BikeWise that promoted Go By Bike Day and BikeWise Month during February; …

First look: Christchurch cycleways underway

Over this summer, there’s a lot of Major Cycleway action happening around Christchurch. Many of the cycleways won’t be completed until March-May, but already there are significant signs of progress – and even completed bits to ride on. Let’s have …

Photo of the Day: Santa Monica Bikeway

The blog posts have been a bit sparse of late; that’s because I have just spent the past week in Washington DC for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, a huge transportation conference of 14,000 (!) people (and …

Book Review: The Bike and Beyond

The Bike and Beyond: Life on Two Wheels in Aotearoa New Zealand

by Laura Williamson (104pp., Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, RRP $14.99 e-book $4.99)

I recently waded my way through David Byrne’s intriguing but dense travelogue Bicycle Diaries – …

Photo of the Day: Avon River Precinct path

One of the rebuild projects slowly taking shape in the central city is the Avon River Precinct. Already we’re seeing some really nice urban spaces around the Worcester-Cashel section of Oxford Tce. What’s not so clear yet is just …

What price for a cycleway?

One of the more contentious issues recently regarding Christchurch’s Major Cycleways revolved around the proposal to purchase two properties in Somerfield to create a new link between Roker and Barrington Streets as part of the Quarryman’s Trail cycleway. This option …