The Otago Central Rail Trail is one of our most famous and beloved cycle trails, and for good reason – but is it doable with young kids? Absolutely, writes Maria Grace. Thought about a multi-day cycling trip with your primary-aged kids, but worried about how it would pan out? A month ago, we were too. … Read more
The fate of Māngere’s much-maligned cycle path network has become something of an obsession for Justin Latif. Now, he writes, solutions are being proposed – but not all are being welcomed by the community. I have the strange honour of having written several thousands of words about Māngere’s Te Ara Mua Future Streets cycleways for … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistle-stop tour of what’s on offer in the world of transport. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Public transport While there are a range of policy ideas for different areas of transport, only two parties … Read more
Is learning to get around on two wheels as easy as riding a bike? Not exactly, writes Wyoming Paul. As an adult, saying that you can’t ride a bike can feel like admitting you’re not sure how to use a can opener, make a bed, fry an egg, or read a clock. It’s a basic … Read more
After the second lockdown came to Auckland, Nick Atkinson dusted off and spruced up his bicycle, touring from Pukekohe to Otorohanga. Two bikes slowly rusted in the back yard. One seized up completely, the other possibly salvageable. The traffic had dried up for periods this year and many Aucklanders took to their pedals on the … Read more
Online cycling system Zwift has millions of worldwide users, and now it’s scored a sports-tech coup, becoming the ‘software environment’ for a virtual Tour de France next month. Zwift enthusiast Hal Crawford talks to the company’s co-founder about the growth of indoor cycling – and why he believes its popularity will outlast the pandemic. Like … Read more
South Auckland’s multimillion-dollar bike paths set a new gold standard, but getting locals on track with council’s grand plan has proved an uphill battle. A scene from the 1962 film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner often plays through my mind as I ride along the relatively new multimillion-dollar award-winning cycleways around Māngere. The … Read more
A new poem by Tauranga poet Marcel Currin. Riding home from work I’d been dreaming about the soft edges of the road. It was a radio dream. The voices were upside down. Something on the ground was interesting to them. Later I was awake. I don’t know when. My eyes were loaded with fog. … Read more
We may be called fuckwits. We may be called idiots. But the optimism keeps on, writes Chris Cessford. As spring lurches into summer, Wellington wakes up to another day of a crazy-making gusty northerly gale. Or, as we cyclists in the southern suburbs call it, a head wind. I fasten my helmet tightly and grit … Read more
There’s something about the feeling of wind whipping my face that brings me out of my head and into the moment. Once a month we pedal as a group: recreating the feeling of childlike glee riding our bikes together, writes Helen King. The first bike I learned to ride belonged to my friend’s older sister. … Read more
Auckland is going through a period of rapid change. Hayden Donnell talks to an urban design advisor about whether it’s possible to transform the city without riling everyone up. With local body elections less than three months away, Auckland is divided in two. On one side are people who want to continue reshaping the city … Read more
Mt Albert isn’t exactly known as a cyclist’s paradise, but it has some good rides if you know where to look. Local rider Helen King shares her secrets to cycling in the suburb. Being a bike enthusiast in Mt Albert can feel like being a Labour voter in Epsom: you know you’re in the minority … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the world’s first hydrofoil e-bike. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Manta5. We’ve … Read more
The bike-hating sticker owner underscores just what a nightmare it is to try to get around Auckland on a bicycle, writes Amanda Chapman I first saw that awful sticker while stuck at a traffic light. It contained an iconised bike enclosed within a circular no symbol. Next to it, in all caps: GET OFF THE … Read more
To make our roads safer, Auckland Transport wants to introduce a new bylaw to set new speed limits, which would see the city centre become a 30km/h zone. Jolisa Gracewood explains why she’s in favour of the proposed changes. Nobody ever expects to be involved in a car crash. But accidents happen, and for most of … Read more
Felix Marwick recalls near misses, close calls, sweary moments and other daily adventures in cycling in Wellington. It’s entirely possible there’s no worse city for safe and easy biking in New Zealand than Wellington. The roads are narrow, the hills are steep, and the local drivers just seem to have this habit of absolutely, positively, … Read more
Newstalk ZB listeners were treated to not one but two absurd opinion pieces from the hosts this morning, on a modest new government proposal to get kids cycling. There’s a rumour about Newstalk ZB’s ratings that perhaps explains a lot about their hosts’ opinions. The station first really boomed in the early 90s, coinciding with … Read more
‘Cycleway figures in doubt’ says the print headline on an article by Herald journalist Bernard Orsman, and Mike Hosking has prematurely leapt in to agree. But what’s really in doubt may be some basic reading comprehension, says Jolisa Gracewood of Bike Auckland, who argues that critics compared apples with oranges – and ended up with … Read more
If the rhetoric on cycling and walking means anything, why are they the only modes now set to lose their specialist focus and public champion at Auckland Transport, asks Jolisa Gracewood from Bike Auckland “This project represents the future of Auckland’s streets and the future of travel in Auckland,” said Auckland Transport’s Walking, Cycling, and … Read more
A cyclist filmed delaying a driver on a west Auckland road is so alarmed at the reaction that he’s issued a plea for Kiwis to come to their senses and end the cultural war. The inflammatory issue of cyclists riding two abreast or otherwise inconveniencing those in automobiles is regular clickbait on New Zealand news … Read more
After the release of an Auckland Transport survey claiming two thirds of Aucklanders support more cycleways, Mike Hosking stepped into the ring to fight Statistics. Madeleine Chapman reports. David v Goliath. Roe v Wade. And now, Mike Hosking v Statistics. These will be the battles oft referenced in classrooms, bars, living rooms, and courtrooms for … Read more
Auckland Council have passed the Regional Fuel Tax on a 13-7 vote, but concerns about how it will disadvantage low-income communities remain. Better public transport would help – but so would greater access to e-bikes, argues Auckland University’s Dr Kirsty Wild. I am a cycling researcher who drives a lot. When my son was little … Read more
As we grapple with futuristic questions about driverless cars, mobility on demand, and end-to-end trips, is the two-wheeled answer right under our noses? Jolisa Gracewood and Sam Finnemore of Bike Auckland make the case Faster than walking and peak hour driving, cheaper than a private car or a taxi or Zoomy or Uber, the bicycle joins … Read more
Can your local council stop you getting heart disease and cancer? Our research into the way people get around New Zealand cities suggests it can, writes public health expert Caroline Shaw Local and regional councils are important. They arrange for the rubbish to get taken away, deal with water on our behalf, make decisions about … Read more
On Thursday Auckland Transport released a draft budget that caused an immediate uproar – and then transport minister Phil Twyford said it was all a mistake. Auckland councillor Richard Hills explains why the draft budget was so bad, and what he intends to do about it. I was sitting in the office yesterday minding my … Read more
Yesterday Auckland Transport released a draft budget with massive cuts to previously stated public transport priorities including cycling and light rail. Then last night transport minister Phil Twyford said it was all a cock-up. So what happened? Matt Lowrie of Greater Auckland reviews. You’re a public agency tasked with coming up with a 10-year transport … Read more
A protest against the relocation of 15 mature trees from Quay St to nearby parks is continuing to prevent work on the cycleway extension. Jolisa Gracewood and Max Robitzsch of Bike Auckland sigh deeply, and explain how we got here. Having ended 2017 with a story about the opposition to the Grey Lynn cycleway, we … Read more
Auckland Transport is busily wrecking the suburbs of the city’s inner west. Simon Wilson takes a good hard look at the plans – and at the protests about those plans. Just look at what Auckland Transport has done to the West Lynn shops. A new bus stop sits right in front of a pedestrian crossing, … Read more
Auckland has a new bike share scheme! Or does it? Simon Wilson investigates the strange case of the bumblebee bikes in the central city. Seen the brand new OnzO bikes all over central Auckland? Two by two, like animals from the Ark, gleaming black with shock-yellow wheel rims, they’ve turned up suddenly at almost every … Read more