We are only seven days into this year’s Biketober Christchurch festival and already you’ve had the opportunity to take part in thirty different events! This has included some great rides, bike workshops, training sessions, and generally fun activities to do …
Tag: Cycle skills & training
Rookie mistakes that can hamper new cyclists
As spring kicks in, and a few more new cycleways appear, more people might be thinking about getting into cycling around Christchurch. That’s great to see (especially with Biketober just around the corner too) but for some newbies, there might …
Hidden Treasures: Knights Stream cycle skills park
Many families with young children have enjoyed developing their bike skills at Westburn Park in Burnside, where a playground mimicking a street network is available for kids to ride on. Now there is a second option in Christchurch for those …
Giving cyclists options
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With the recent opening of the next stage of the Rapanui – Shag Rock cycleway along Linwood Ave, a regular grumble heard on social media was how riders weren’t using the new central median facility, preferring instead the existing on-road …
Biking Activities for June 2018
It might be getting a bit frostier, but funnily enough the cycling action around Christchurch is just starting to hot up! A number of exciting bike-related activities are happening this month, both on and off your saddle. As usual, keep …
Biking Activities for May 2018
The colder, wetter stuff is showing up a little more often now as autumn gets into full stride and winter looms. I’ve certainly noticed a (slight) drop-off already in the numbers biking to school and work, as the shadows lengthen …
Biking Activities for April 2018
As summer slowly fades away (although it’s currently a rather glorious autumn weekend), the regular biking activities are also starting to quieten a little too. We’ve listed a few below; remember to keep an eye on our Events & Activities …
Biking Activities for March 2018
The traditional national bike month has come and gone; I hope that many of you were clocking up the kms for the Aotearoa Bike Challenge (have you logged all your rides?). Great to see a number of you at …
Are new cycleways OK for existing cyclists?
When considering potential objections to cycleways, or “bikelash”, there are the usual suspects to consider, such as businesses worried about losing parking, and motorists worried about getting held up. But another group has also been making noises about some …
Um, maybe your riding is just… a bit crap?
Many people who cycle often express concern about their safety when riding, and typically point the finger at some of those dodgy drivers out there. Given that official crash data suggests that at least 2/3 of cycle crashes are the …
Who’s Who for Cycling in Christchurch?
In a relatively short period of time, it seems that a number of people and groups in Christchurch have sprung up to help encourage everyday cycling in some way. This was brought home to me a month or so back …
Cycling and the Law: Where can you Ride your Bike?
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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 …
Bus-Bike Workshop a Success
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Last Wednesday saw the previously postponed Bus-Bike Workshop finally happen in Riccarton. Organised by the Cycling Advocates Network (CAN), this was an opportunity for some urban bus operators to join with some regular bike riders to compare notes and …
Bus-Bike Road User Workshop – Wed 8th July
We’ve mentioned in the past the great initiatives by CAN, the Cycling Advocates Network, to run “Road User Workshops” around the country targeted at bus and truck safety with cycling. Coming up soon is a new Workshop here in Christchurch …
Defensive cycling: Looking left
I’ve been cycling around many different place in New Zealand for quite a few decades now and over time I’ve become aware that there are things that cyclists can do to make themselves safer on the road. So I thought …
Trucks and Bikes – Learning how to Share
Earlier in the week, we talked about the current angst over cycle safety in the presence of trucks, especially following last week’s tragic incident. A lot of vitriol has been flung back and forth accusing both truck drivers and …
Cycling and Hills
So I’m in my new home now and it’s slightly up into the Port Hills. This means a speedy ride downhill at the start of the day, but a little bit of a climb at the end (only 400m of …
Handy Tips: Playing Nice with Trucks and Buses
Cycling and trucks got a bit of media attention in Christchurch a couple of weeks back after the scary incident in Sockburn. I don’t know all the specifics of this case yet, although I’m glad to see that the …
New cycle training park in Bexley?
We’ve previously mentioned the fantastic bike park at Westburn Reserve where young new riders can try out their wheels on a mock street layout, complete with traffic signs and markings. Now it appears there are plans afoot to repeat the …
Handy Tips: Turning Right
No, this isn’t a political broadcast: One of the hardest things to do when riding your bike is to make a right turn. The prospect of moving into the middle of a road (often crossing busy traffic to do so), …