Cycling in Christchurch

Photo of the Day: Anzac Day Bike Parking

Like many keen souls, I was up fairly early last Monday morning to go and attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Cranmer Square. Knowing that car parking would be a nightmare (I saw people walking in from over a …

What are your current Chch cycle safety concerns?

I’ve been involved in a few recent discussions with the City Council about current cycle safety issues in the city; it is of course an ongoing issue in the city. To help inform me, I thought I’d have a look …

Guest Post: Coffee, Cycling and Culture

Guest blogger Robert muses on the “eternal triangle” of life:

Cycling, Coffee and Culture. It’s a Kiwi Thing , eh bro’…

Well, perhaps not quite as stated but certainly New Zealanders, and in particular those immigrants who made Christchurch their …

Isabelle (necessary on a bicycle?)

An interesting initiative is being considered by the Christchurch City Council. Following a deputation to a Community Board by a dog walker, the Council has agreed to to promote and encourage the use of bells on bicycles.

The concern …

Photo(s) of the Day: Worcester Boulevard

Today’s photo is actually a before-and-after of what could be: Worcester Boulevard is a great central city connection between Cathedral Square and Hagley Park via the City Council, Art Gallery, Arts Centre, and so on. It’s very popular for pedestrians, …

Mapping Christchurch’s Cycleways

As the cycleway programme springs into full bloom, more people are getting out on their bikes and exploring new parts of the city (at least, new by bike). So how do you know what the ever-changing cycle network looks like …

Flashback: Cycling in Copenhagen

I’ve been lucky to get to visit many interesting places overseas and have dutifully reported about these back here on Cycling in Chch. But there have also been places visited before CiC started that might be of interest to …

Book Review: Short Easy Bike Rides

by Jonathan Kennett (131pp., Kennett Brothers Ltd, Wellington, RRP $24.90)

The Kennett Brothers have built up a well-earned reputation for cycling books in New Zealand, including guides to the best mountain-bike haunts, NZ cycling history, and touring on …

Photo of the Day: Cycleways and Rubbish Day

Tennyson St is the grand-daddy of separated cycleways in Christchurch; it’s been around for well over a decade. So it pre-dates the introduction of the kerbside wheelie-bin rubbish and recycling scheme a few years back. I love this scheme; it’s …

First Count Data for New Cycleways

If you build it, will they come? That’s the question hanging over many new cycleway projects proposed in New Zealand. And when you’re talking about spending over $150 million on cycleways in Christchurch, quite a few people are interested in …

Cycling in Christchurch 2015 – The Year of Stuff Happening

Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year. As we head into 2016, it is time once again to reflect on what has been happening cycling-wise here in Christchurch over the past year. And what a year it has been…

As …

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 …

Mythbusting: What a Safe Passing Rule Means

Since the Cycle Safety Panel report came out, there has been a lot of attention focused on one particular recommendation in it – introducing a mandatory minimum lateral clearance distance when passing someone riding a bike. As is often the …

Inside the new Bus Interchange – What’s in it for Cycling

While it’s been partially open for a few months now, with the second stage of the new Christchurch Bus Interchange now completed, it seems timely to have a look at it and see how it works for cycling (we’ll …

How do you make your bike commute more interesting?

I came across this very interesting blogpost a while back on one of my favourite sites, BikePortland:

“I’ve been bike-commuting for longer than I can remember, and it’s always been a highlight of my day – both directions. But …

Timely street maintenance is important for cycling

The first week I was back in Christchurch after my overseas travels was a bitterly cold July one, with lots of ice and frost about. The City Council’s contractors, to their credit, spread lots of grit down on the main …

Progress on Cycle Safety Panel Recommendations

There wasn’t a lot of fanfare, but just before last Christmas the final Cycle Safety Panel report was presented to the Government. You will recall that this came from the national group of experts convened by NZTA and the …

Theatre Review: MAMIL

If you’d like to experience a little bit of “cycling culture” off the saddle, then I heartily recommend the Court Theatre’s current offering: “MAMIL”. As many of you will know, this stands for “Middle-Aged Man In Lycra”; the somewhat …

End of Tour: Reflections on Cycling in Europe

So, two months after I actually returned home, we come to the end of the belated reports on my 3-month study tour of Europe. I finished with a couple of days in Frankfurt, Germany, before flying out, and I’ve …

Vauban and Rieselfeld, Freiburg: Suburbs for Cycling

During my time in Freiburg, Germany, I paid a visit to two outlying suburbs that have become poster-children for sustainable development. Vauban and Rieselfeld lie to the south and west of central Freiburg respectively, with about 6-7000 people in …

Category: Cycle-centric ideas