A guest post by Robert F
I am a cyclist. To define more accurately, I am not a competitive cyclist, extreme cyclist or even much of a recreational cyclist nowadays. Just a cyclist. I cycle because it feels physically good, …
Category: Cycle-centric ideas
Bright ideas about cycling
Some Bike Ideas from Washington DC
Greetings from Washington DC! I’m attending the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting here this week. Actually, “meeting” is a bit of a misnomer; TRB is easily the largest transportation conference in the world, with over 11,000 delegates attending and …
Clever Cycling Stuff: Cycle Detectors
We showcase a lot of neat overseas cycling facilities here on this site, but Christchurch has actually developed some pretty world-beating stuff itself over the years. Exhibit #1: cycle detectors at signalised path crossings:
As a cyclist approaching a signalised …
National’s Transport Dystopia
Gerry Brownlee and National’s quake recovery plan for central city transportation would almost have been visionary in 1980. It relies on fossil fuel and caters to think big projects which will impoverish and fail ratepayers.
Christchurch City Council’s Share an …
100 Blog Posts: What should the next 100 cover?
On the 12th of May this year, the Cycling in Christchurch website was launched. Hard to believe that just on seven months later we have come to the 100th blog post of Cycling in Christchurch. That’s roughly one post …
Book Review: Everyday Cycling in Aotearoa New Zealand
by Alastair Smith (185pp., Awa Press, Wellington, RRP $35)
Here’s something that might be handy as a Xmas stocking-filler!
Over the years I have collected a variety of books on cycling for transport and urban cycle commuting. Invariably they …
An Awesome Bike Rack from an Awesome Team
You may recall that the wonderful folks at the Ministry of Awesome held a bike rack design competition. After many entries, short-listing, and public voting, a winner was found in Jonathan Hall’s koru-inspired design. And just the other night …
Xmas: What to get the Biking-Nut in your Life
Shock horror, there are now fewer than 25 shopping days until Christmas! Unless you’re one of those really annoying organised people who gets all their gift shopping done by August, you might be starting to think about what to get …
The 1000-Day Challenge
The draft Transport Plan for central Christchurch has attracted a lot of comment both positive and negative about its impact on cycling. Now the Council’s Chch Transport Strategic Plan has just been finalised too, setting a city-wide 30-year vision for …
Will Christchurch be an Accessible City for Cycling?
CERA released its draft central city Transport Plan “An Accessible City” last Thursday (hmm, just before a holiday weekend – trying to bury things?). This follows on from the Central City Blueprint that we saw a little over 100 …
Christmas Shopping
It’s that time of year, Christmas shopping time and I’m looking for the best possible present for an old friend, the city of Christchurch. Yes, she’s had a hard time lately so she deserves the very best present I can …
Separated Bikeways in Portland
I know I rabbit on about places like Portland, Oregon, but it seems to me that they are in a similar place to us. A reasonable amount of cycling at present (~6% commuters) largely based on developing a network of …
Are you “Interested but Concerned”?
When trying to encourage more people to cycle, it’s helpful to “know your audience”. There’s an interesting theory that was developed in Portland, Oregon, to help understand who might want to cycle for transportation. Its intuitive logic has been so …
Hagley Park – Twisted Priorities
Dear City Council, I see that you have been really busy trying to get a big wastewater pipe across Hagley Park for the last couple of years. I understand that these things take time, and the earthquakes didn’t help.
Still, …
The AA does Cycling
You heard it right: the NZ Automobile Association, the champion of motorists in this country, has just released the latest issue of its Directions magazine, with a bumper crop of articles on cycling. And it’s rather nice…
The issue …
Spring River Festival – Labour Weekend
Looking for something to do this weekend? How about getting along and enjoying what the lower Avon River has to offer! 2012 is the inaugural year of the Spring River Festival to be held this Labour weekend all along the …
Cargo bikes
I recently came across this article about how Europe was using more and more cargo bikes to replace delivery trucks …
…“A growing number of businesses are using cargo cycles, a move towards sustainable and free-flowing city traffic that is
Googling your Way around Town by Bike
An interesting development was added to everybody’s favourite mapping service Google Maps in the past month. NZ’ers can now experience getting directions for cycling, which will make use of any handy cycling shortcuts such as off-road paths. Viewers can also …
Is Anyone Out There?
Sometimes it can be a thankless job trying to be a blogger. You put your ideas, experiences, frustrations, etc out there for the world to see and… nothing. Not a peep of response, whether to say “hey, I agree!”, “that …
How do we make the new Christchurch cycle-friendly? Fri 14th Sep
An interesting opportunity coming up to see some cycling inspiration both close to home and from around the world: To wrap up the University of Canterbury’s 2012 Eco Week activities there will be a “double feature” on campus next Friday …