Category: Cyclivism

Anything to do with cycle activism

In the spotlight: Anne Scott, Allan Taunt and Fiona Bennetts

Among the many people helping to make Christchurch a great place for cycling are those who put a lot of time and effort into making submissions to improve the cycling environment. Three of those people – often fronting up to …

Flashback Friday: Cycling Missing in the Neighbourhoods

A growing group in Christchurch for discussing key urbanism issues is Greater Ōtautahi; last night they had the latest in a regular series of catch-up meetings. Land use and housing tend to be a big part of the conversations …

In the Spotlight: Steven Muir, showing us the way

I wasn’t sure where to start when I talked with Steven Muir. With his Sunday afternoon cycling church (and the book he wrote about it)? With his role in setting up community initiatives like ICECycles and, more recently, the Aranui …

Winter 2024 brings lots of Cycling Activities

As the days get shorter, and the temperatures drop, the urge to get out on a bike may be waning (although, as the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”…). But there’s actually …

In the Spotlight: Don Babe, advocating for Canterbury cyclists

Don Babe is a busy man. He works as an accountant, helps his wife run their Prebbleton blueberry farm, is long-time chair of Spokes Canterbury, and takes every opportunity to contribute to planning processes to create a better environment …

In the Spotlight: Robert Fleming and the Wednesday Wheelies

Robert Fleming has been involved in cycle advocacy for well over a decade, having first gone along to a Spokes Canterbury meeting in early 2013 after being knocked off his bike. He says he sat quietly for the first year …

In the spotlight: Meg Christie, getting communities cycling

Meg Christie is an active transport health promoter for Canterbury’s community public health service. Her job is about finding ways to make it easier for people to walk and cycle places. This involves influencing public policy (for example, by making …

Flashback Friday: Highlights from #2WALKandCYCLE Conference Auckland

Next week sees the return of the 2WALKandCYCLE Conference, hosted in Wellington. Partly due to lockdown disruptions, it’s been three years since the last one in Dunedin – quite the wait. Unfortunately I won’t be attending this one – …

In the spotlight: Glen Koorey, championing safer roads for cyclists

In the coming months, I’d like to post a series of short pieces on people who are actively involved in making greater Christchurch a great place to cycle and encouraging everyday cycling. I’ve got a few ideas about who I …

Flashback Friday – Highlights from #2walkandcycle Conference Nelson

Earlier this week, I attended the NZ Walking Summit here in Christchurch, organised by pedestrian advocates Living Streets Aotearoa. It was a fairly well attended forum, with delegates from around the country coming to hear the latest thinking on creating …

Flashback Friday: Money galore for cycleways

The Government’s latest Budget was just delivered; given the current political environment it was no surprise to see it focus on “the basics” and cost of living. On the transport front, there were lollies for public transport services and fares…

Flashback Friday: Yes, there are people who cycle in Christchurch – plenty!

This week there has been a little bit of controversy with the claim that cycling numbers in the city had dropped, with the inevitable resulting grumbles about money-wasting from the naysayers. Turned out of course that it was a …

Flashback Friday – Cycling and the Law: Where can you Ride your Bike?

As we roll out more cycleways and other facilities around the city, it’s probably timely to remind everyone where you can and can’t bike and the Road Rules around them. Mind you, that could all change before we know it; …

Hey world, have you heard of Christchurch?!

We all love a bit of healthy rivalry, whether it’s which is the bigger “second city” in NZ or even which is the “shittest town in NZ”. Bike-friendliness is another metric by which many people seek to answer “where …

Flashback Friday: The Orthodoxy of the Highway

It’s been an interesting week for transport policy, both nationally and locally. For a start the Government’s first Emission Reduction Plan was finally released on Monday, which personally was a bit underwhelming but at least makes some signals about further …

Flashback Friday – Cycling Complaints: When Feedback is Appropriate

I imagine that all of us at some stage when riding have encountered some less-than-exemplary behaviour from other road users; just today, a driver turned left in front of me having just passed me… We often can’t do much about …