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 …
Tag: Cycling advocacy
Christchurch Long Term Plan – More Waiting?
Christchurch City Council has our Long Term Plan, LTP, up for submissions. It covers all aspects of our city and its needs. This article focuses on cycling.
Council is going to need to hear from a lot of us that …
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 …
On Consultation, Power and the Hobbling of Cycle Routes
Alert: Antigua Street, Tuam to Oxford Tce, will be closed from 27 November to April 2018. Alternate route to be announced.
Oxford Tce between Hagley and Antigua will close in April 2018. Reopening date unknown.
Many people are expressing discontent …
The optical illusion behind “I never see any cyclists”
In amongst all of the seemingly endless “controversy” about the new cycleways in Christchurch (well, controversial if you’re a Press reporter…), inevitably there is some online comment questioning the value of the cycleways because “I never see anyone using …
Ferry Road a link or a gauntlet for the Heathcote Expressway?
This project was already consulted on in late 2016. While a real improvement, it fell short of CCC’s own Cycle Design Guidelines for a Major Cycle Route. Submissions received provided strong support along with requests to improve what was on …
Biking activities for March 2017
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Is it still summer? The weather is holding out reasonably well, so let’s keep on biking! No doubt many of you took part in February’s Aotearoa Bike Challenge – make sure you get those last few rides logged online and …
Historic Southern Cyclist Magazine article on Auckland Harbour Bridge Crossing
A friend was cleaning out his garage and handed me a box of Southern Cyclist magazines dating from 1979 to 1988. I haven’t had much time to look through yet but the July 1979 issue had a very interesting read …
Victoria Street Denial
Once upon a time earthquakes shook up Christchurch. With the central city destroyed, Share an Idea seized on the opportunity to rebuild a city for people, a cycle friendly 21st century sustainable city. The broad community envisioned a creative …
Highlights from #2WALKandCYCLE Conference Auckland
As mentioned recently, I attended the 2WALKand CYCLE Conference in Auckland last week. About 260 people took part and there were over 90 different presentations, which are now available on the website (some also have papers as well). If …
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 …
The Subtle Art of Supporting Cycleways
There’s been a flurry of letters lately in The Press about cycleways. While many of them have been grumbling about some aspect of the proposed Major Cycleways, it’s heartening to see a few firing back with their support for them. …
Christchurch Home of NZ Cycling Champion
Guest blog by Axel Wilke
Glen Koorey – Cycle Champion
The national Cycle Friendly Awards were first held in 2003, and since 2007, the category “Cycling Champion of the Year” has been awarded. In 2014, Dr Glen Koorey of Christchurch …
Cycling Complaints: When Feedback is Appropriate
Another useful missive from guest blogger Robert:
The cycle safety debate continues and road user behaviour remains under scrutiny and comment. Could be time to offer some guidelines about making a complaint, if it feels that your recent ‘near miss’ …
More on why I write submissions
Ok, so I’ve talked about the submission context and about why presenting a submission is a good thing to do. I thought I”d mention the reasons why, despite feeling that my submissions have been ignored completely at times, I still …
Submissions: Why bother?
To support the development of great cycling infrastructure in Christchurch, and even around New Zealand, one of the most effective things you can do is write letters and submissions and take time to go and present your submission where you …
Advocacy and the Submission Context
My first ever submission was to the Regional Land Transport Plan sometime in 2009. I learned a huge amount from writing, submitting and then presenting in support of that submission. Mostly, I realised that my submission pretty much completely missed …
Perceived Danger or Actual Danger?
Following last month’s tragic cycling incident in Hillmorton, yesterday’s Press reports (on the front page no less) that the victim’s father is now too scared to ride himself. It’s perhaps an understandable reaction, although I wonder whether the real …
A little plug for Spokes Canterbury
The recent local media coverage has been fairly comprehensive in discussing first the planned delays to completing the Major Cycleway network and then reaction to the tragic cycle death a couple of weeks ago. Through it all, you might have …
Don’t be a D***k – Stop at Red
There’s been a small flurry of conversation following the TV item on cycling safety last weekend. No matter what the particular cycling issue being reported, it doesn’t take long for the commentators to come out of the woodwork and …