Cycling in Christchurch

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 …

Photo of the Day: Rolleston Ave Shared Path

One of the more popular places to ride a bike in Christchurch is along Rolleston Ave in front of Christ’s College, Canterbury Museum and the Botanic Gardens. This section of shared pathway (mostly 3m wide) provides a useful connection to/from …

Not-so-hidden Treasures: Hagley Park

New York might have its Central Park, but our jewel in the crown is of course Hagley Park. It’s a recreational and sporting home for all manner of activities, be it golf, cricket, jogging, canoeing, or just feeding the …

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 …

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

Having previously covered the innocuous legal question of what exactly constitutes a bike, we’ll now turn our attention to where exactly you can ride your bike (and some of the implications of that). Before we get too far into …

Photo of the Day: More new Cycle Lane Separators

We’ve waxed lyrical before about the simple tool of putting in some separator posts to keep motorists out of cycle lanes. They work just fine… when they’re there. But the new ones along Kahu Rd / Kotare St were slowly …

Cycling projects around Wellington

It’s great to see so much happening around Christchurch on the cycling front, but we’re certainly not the only ones in NZ at present. The Urban Cycleways Programme is generating some great projects all over the country; for example, there …

Outside the new bus interchange – what’s it like for cycling?

A little while back I showed you some of the great facilities inside the new central city bus interchange, such as covered bike parking and easy access to buses. Now I’d like to show you some of the facilities …

Mythbusting: The business benefits of bikeways

With the new Major Cycleways coming to Christchurch, a major trade-off in many locations will be the removal of on-street car-parking (either on one side or both) to provide enough space for separated bikeways. Already we are seeing some concerns …

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 …

Where would you like some bike parking?

Building wonderful new cycleways is all very well, but the effect is somewhat muted if you have nowhere to park your trusty steed when you get to the other end. Granted, there is often a pole or fence handy (and …

Cycling and the Law: What is a “Cycle”?

This is the start of a planned series of articles to help readers understand some of the legal ins and outs of cycling in NZ. I get lots of questions about this, and clearly there is a bit of confusion …

Why Traffic Speed Matters for Walking and Cycling

In my overviews of looking around Europe, I noted that lower speed limits were prevalent virtually everywhere I went. Yet, in New Zealand we are still only taking a few hesitant baby steps towards similar environments. There are a …

Coastal Pathway makes further progress

Last weekend I joined the City2Sumner Ride, organised by Frocks on Bikes, for a very pleasant jaunt out to the beach (thanks Connie!). The route from town out to Sumner took in the latest part of the Christchurch Coastal …

Help us out – Where can you bike in your suburb?

Some of our most popular pages on Cycling in Chch (especially on the weekends) are the ones giving ideas for Where to Ride in Chch and specific info about favourites like McLeans Forest and Westburn Reserve. This tells me …

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 …

Cycling Developments in Selwyn District

It’s not just Christchurch City that has seen exciting new cycling developments in the region. Nearest neighbours Selwyn District have also been investing in new cycling facilities.

As part of the Govt’s Urban Cycleways “quick start” projects, a new off-road …