*** This is a guest post by my friend Victoria Neilson. It turns out that I’m not the only person in Auckland who cycles to pole-dancing classes ***
Introduction
My husband, Derek, me, and our silver Subaru Impreza had been the comfortable two people plus one car Auckland family until we moved into our first house. My work was no longer on the way to Derek’s, which means dropping me off work would increase his journey from 8 minutes to 40 minutes.
As the nice husband Derek is, he doesn’t mind such annoyance. However, I do. But he indeed needs the car because he has many site visits whereas I normally just sit in front of my work computer and run Matlab.
My first attempt to solve the problem was to carpool with some of my workmates who lived nearby. However, it turned out as much maths modelling as most people are bored by as I has to go to work 30mins earlier than needed and often leave 30–60mins later than others. For a while I went to work with a mechanical engineer (who gets up early) and came back with a software engineer (who goes to bed late). This was quite annoying as I had to frequently organise things with 2 people. It was especially inconvenient when the fridge was empty and I needed to do some quick shopping for dinner in the evening, as I had to beg my colleague to stop at shops and wait for me.
It was looking as if we had to join the majority living in the city – get a second car. But this just seemed to be so unnecessary as my work was only about 10-20 minutes drive away. The added cost of the car, petrol, registration and maintenance just doesn’t seem to justify the purchase.
So a few weeks ago I said to Derek: I’d like to transport myself with a bicycle. We then went to the local Avanti shop and bought myself a mountain bike, some road tires, a helmet, a hi vis jacket, some lights and a lock. Everything together cost $1,000.
I’m no expert in bikes. All I know is that my bike has disc brakes, a fairly light body (probably because it’s a small bike) and 24 gears.
Going to Work and Grocery Shopping
The least busy and most efficient cycling route I figured out from home to work is about 5.1km long and Google suggested it’d be a 20mins cycling trip, which later turned out to be fairly accurate.
It has been great to get to work early in the morning on a bike. My muscles are well exercised before I spend the next 8-9 hours sitting down. It’s such a brilliant way to start the day.
My office is a very male dominated work space so soon enough I realised I’m the only person using the girls shower. Since I work for an appliance company, I can simply just dry my gear in a dryer if they get too wet and be ready before I ride home in the afternoon. Everything seems to be just perfect.
A small shopping trip on the way home normally adds an extra 10mins on the road but a large portion of that comes from waiting to cross a main road or dealing with cars.
I didn’t use to visit these local shops as the roads around them are quite awkward to drive around and countdown is only 5mins drive away from my house. However, on a bike they were much easier to get to. It turned out that the butcher has a much bigger and better selection of meat than normal supermarkets at cheaper prices. The vegetable store, while not necessarily as well presented as the supermarkets, definitely has some real good deals. The bakery is run by a hot Chinese girl and they have some real interesting stuff that you can’t get from normal bakeries, such as greentea flavoured mooncakes.
I hated shopping in Countdown. It seems to target specifically at large families as all their specials are always applied on large numbers of merchandises. But now I can get to the local stores much easier, we get to enjoy much better food at fairer prices. Last weekend we roasted a free range chicken with rosemary stuffing, then had chicken toasted sandwiches and used up the rest of the chicken in 2 chicken pies. Everything added together costed no more than $20 and that was for 2 dinners and 2 lunches for 2 people.
Sports and Other Activities
I play a bit of volleyball during my spare time, both indoor and beach. A year ago I also started to take pole dancing lessons for fun. I know what you think but I have my own rules regarding to this which is never pole dance outside the dance studio or my house.
The usual place we play beach volleyball is actually in a nearby park where they have this lovely sandpit, and the pole dancing studio is very close to the park.
The distances between my house to these two places are about the same and it takes about 30mins to get to them. I later figured out a back way to get to these places which is through a foot bridge that cars can not get to. This has shortened the journey by a long way.
Final Words
There is so much more I can write about how great cycling is. It’s great for the environment, saves us lots of money on petrol and changes our lifestyle massively, in a good way. Derek now can get an extra 30mins sleep in the morning and is much more relaxed on when he wants to come home in the afternoon. We now eat better food and go out at most once a week compared to 3-4 times/week in the past because it’s just so convenient to cook at home! Ok I can go on forever about all the benefits but I guess you must be getting tired of reading it now so I will just mention one last benefit: cycling keeps me in shape.
There is a smallish scale at work that has a weight limit of 60kg. Out of curiosity as I haven’t weighed myself for nearly a year and partially because I was a bit of a show off, I got on the scale in front of some of my colleagues a couple of days ago. I was in my boots and winter clothes so frankly I was slightly worried about upsetting the scale.
But the scale was fine and it showed I weighed 53kg. That was my weight 15 years ago when I was still in school. I’m pretty sure all the cycling I’ve done in the past few weeks had a lot to do with this. =)
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Just a note, you might want to obfuscate your starting location on the map..
Also, for those who are interested, I have the first 8 episodes of this show: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/the-cycle-show-coming-to-itv4-next-week-34630/
Its very interesting. They have advice for commuters, information about pro cycling, mountain biking, BMX racing, and various other things. Their segments on riding safely in london are quite fascinating.
It occurred to me yesterday as I was riding home from the CBD, that it was much safer for me to ride on a busy road with a definite bike lane (where people expect to see a bike), as opposed to when I road on more quiet “bike safe” roads without bike lanes.. cars tend to drive faster, and not expect to see random cyclists – I h ad more close calls in 3k of these kinds of roads than I did on 25km of gt sth rd.
Thanks for the heads-up Geoff, I have done that now. I agree with you on the safety of riding in relatively congested conditions too – I cycle down Parnell Rise every day and the low average speeds but reasonably consistent speed of 30km/h mean that it feels very safe.
An article on Stuff.co.nz produced this quote from an Auckland Transport spokesperson:
“Recent New Zealand Transport Authority studies show us that each cyclist saves the country a minimum of $36 a day,”
Core blimey that’s a fair whack of the good value stick.
I saw that, and couldnt find any other references to that value!
You want to lower GDP? Typical. If you really cared about our economy you would go and have a car crash.
Well told. And an interesting example of what transport time savings can achieve; a longer lie-in! Seriously that’s great for your husband but it does shine a light on the justifications for the billions and billions NZTA spend based on time savings. I’m not knocking the value of a lie-in, but can they really be so sure that those huge sums of money are justified so that commuters may or may or get an extra lie-in?
You also show how even just a small percentage of that money went to improving the safety and directness of cycling routes how much more could be saved, on time travelled, on heath spending, and of course on marriage guidance!
I wish New Zealand had the gumption to just build one great cycle-way – if only as a trial. I laugh in shame when people describe Tamaki Drive as Auckland’s “premier” cycle way. It’s not a cycle-way: For most of its length all it is is a footpath with some paint down the middle. Some parts are so narrow and/or obstructed by light poles and signs that you have to go on the road or the footpath.
It’s about as premier as a cheeseburger.
that description of Tamaki Drive can only come from people who haven’t seen Lake Road between Takapuna and Devonport, although I’m not saying that that’s perfect either!
this is a great post Stu, have you thought of flicking it to Unity at Cycling in Auckland? I also found it interesting as I recently completed an accessibility study of East Tamaki.
The North Shore is not part of Auckland, but yes that’s a good piece of cycle infrastructure ;).
I am not aware of “Unity at Cycling” – is that another cycling advocacy group? There’s so many I loose track …
Jenny Marshall aka Unity Finesmith, one of the founders of this site: http://cyclingauckland.co.nz/ known as Cycling in Auckland or CIA
I think this is what Steve meant:
http://cyclingauckland.co.nz/about/
Ahh .. got it. Yes Cycling in Auckland – there’s some familiar faces on their list of contributors!
Hi Stu – I believe that “premier” comment stems from the fact that it is Auckland’s BUSIEST cycle route. I agree that it could stand a lot of improvement, but I am happy to say that it was put in at all. At the time it was first marked out, that alone was radical. Of course what our car-dominated society considered “adequate” yesterday is fast becoming obselete.
I would also like to defend the usefulness of the Northwestern Cycleway. The fact that it IS being provided by NZTA naturally shapes its location and its advantages and disadvantages. It isn’t really NZTA’s fault that they can’t provide you with a good cycleway through the middle of town*. That’s Auckland Transport’s job! Lets see what they will build along Beach Road. That could well be the litmus test as to whether they “get it”, and will show what we might expect along Nelson or Hobson Street in the future.
*Well, maybe along The Strand, because that’s a state highway, but that is a rare exception.
The other projects I am very keen on seeing, and which would likely fall into the category of a “real” urban cycleway are Albany Highway north of Upper Harbour Highway (to be constructed soon with Copenhagen cycle lanes!) and the AMETI corridor from Panmure Bridge to Pakuranga and beyond (slowed down by lack of PT / Cycle / Local Roads funding from the MoT, but very promising in design).
Your eternal optimism is refreshing Max, thank you.
Hi Stu – three steps forward, two steps back is still progress!
I’m all for a positive revolution (if someone can find a way to start one that doesn’t eat its children) but in the absence of one, I consider myself as putting the individual bricks in place for an incremental, rather than revolutionary change.
Plus, any success for cycling won in *Auckland* is like double or triple score when points are tallied 😉 Maximum difficulty setting. If you can make it here…
I try to cycle in to work each day, although when the weather is bad I drive. However my partner is very much against me cycling. This year I have been hit 3 times by cars, all low speed, all at T junctions when I am going straight and the car is turning, once I was in the cycle lane.
Cars underestimate the speed bikes can travel, expect you to stop when you have right of way and often simply just don’t see you.
I read somewhere that once you take the physical activity impacts into account cycling is better for your health than driving, even if using the former tends to incur more numerous small injuries. It is a worry – but the typically prisoners’ dilemma situation, where we’d all be better off if we all cycled but individually its hard being amongst the first because the infrastructure and driver awareness is not their.
From my observations drivers in NZ are getting better – I find most drivers in my neighbourhood of Parnell drive quite respectfully around me. What do you think?
the inestimable Mayer Hillman contributed to an article published by the British Medical Association (that radical fringe health group ; ) ) which estimated that the risks of cycling IN BRITAIN were counterbalanced by regular physical activity (including walking and cycling) by a factor of 20:1,
see here: http://www.mayerhillman.com/Cycling-walking/Key-publications.aspx and scroll down to “Cycling: Towardfs Health and Safety” the report is available here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cycling-towards-health-and-safety-british-medical-association/1103322205
Beautiful, thank you crowd sourced wisdom.
There’s also a similar study from Barcelona, comparing the benefits of their public bike system to the injury downsides – massive gain: they estimate a 1:77 (!) positive from an existing scheme.
http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4521.full
And hey – there is even a NZ study, so we don’t even need to go to the UK – based on studies elsewhere. Theoretical, unlike the BArcelona practical example, but still very promising:
http://caa.org.nz/safety/university-of-auckland-get-just-5-of-nz-cycling-save-117-lives-each-year/
“…However, on a bike they were much easier to get to…”
My main complaint about cyclying to and from work on the northwestern cycleway is the way it isn’t integrated with anything. The cycleway is still perceived by people – including most of its users – as a sporting or exercising opportunity for the sporty minded rather than a normalised transport option for people who happen to use a bike to commute, pick up a loaf of bread, a paper, some milk and whatever other knick knack on the way home, etc etc. I’ve yet to see a middle aged women in a billowing skirt sitting upright on a bicycle with a basket of groceries on the front. I guess she was frightened off by all the very angry middle aged men on $10,000 bikes with stomachs even their expensive extra-control lycra struggles with who hurtle along it on their way to their power breakfast at work.
When I use the cycle way, it often means a double trip to the shops as there are no easily accessable shops anywhere between Bond Street and Henderson. Since it follows the bottom of a gully, the ride up to Kingsland is right royal pain in the arse, especially if you are the fag end of slogging home into the teeth of a Auckland nothwester. I wonder how a “cycleway Kiosk”, like those little ones in Europe ( http://www.rentparisapartment.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/News-Kiosk-at-the-Monge-Met.jpg ) would go at the bottom of Central road in Kingsland…
Yes I agree – The North-western cycleway tends to be modelled on the highway engineering model: It does not matter where you want to go, so long as you can keep moving. What Auckland needs is some high-quality cycleways in the inner-city. That would lift the profile of cycling enormously one would think … almost like a demonstration project.
My suggestion, which is not completely without self-interest, would be from Britomart along Customs, Beach, and Stanley to the Domain and the university via Grafton Road. But that would only work in a world where NZTA would give you space on Stanley Street, which is about as likely as … oh … Gerry Brownless getting on a bicycle.
Hi Sanctuary – the Grafton Gully Cycleway along the section on the eastern side of the university may get a space for a coffee cart, which I found a neat idea. Of course that isn’t anywhere close yet to the Parisian sophistication of a wrought-iron newsstand…
That’s a good idea Sanctuary. Have you considered suggesting this to the Albert Eden Local Board and the Kingsland Business Association? A kiosk there selling some milk/small groceries/bread plus coffee would do a roaring trade I imagine.
Thats my gripe with cycling in Auckland ATM. The image is of older lycra wearing men on there expensive bikes. We need to concentrate on boosting normal people cycling, improve the image as a peaceful, trendy way of commuting. I love seeing a younger guy/gal cycling around on there trendy fixie just casually commuting, or people riding there BMX around town as a way to get around.
Unfortunately in Auckland the lycra wearing men are quite often giving cycling a bad rap, just generalising but these are the same people who disobey road rules such as a red light…and then complain about other motorists not respecting them. Sorry but they might be a minority but all us cyclists suffer from their ignorance.
Joshua, I dont think that’s the image at all.
You ask people in south auckland and they’ll say its “sunday riders in out by the airport, or people in construction workers clothes riding to work in the morning”. Cycling from Manurewa through manukau and otahuhu each day, I see more and more of these kind of riders. I regularly pass 5-10 on the gt sth road between otahuhu and penrose at about 7am. I give them a smile and a wave say good morning try and encourage them if they look worse for wear.
I reckon we need to stop telling people what they think cycling in auckland looks like and just get on with it.
(and fwiw, red lights often get run because some times it is safer.. people doing it “just because” is about the same as car drivers running red lights)
I disagree, I’m not talking about the image cyclist see as cycling, I’m talking about the image drivers and non-cyclists see as cycling. Totally different view point. Maybe it’s because most of the annoying cyclists (in the view of the driver) are the ones seen to be breaking the laws on the road, and because of their lycra a more visible?
In the end the person in the car that see’s a cyclist run a red light, doesn’t think that, ok he did that to be safe, but rather, that stupid egg head just ran the red light, why are the rules different for him than me?? In the end the running of red lights is against the law if you cycle or if you drive. It’s not ok for either party.
Yes, I agree, it’s only ever the bad that people see (ps, although I wasnt talking about what the cyclist sees).
What we need to do is to educate people that the kinds of things that THEY deem unsafe might not necessarily be unsafe for a cyclist (especially one who has several decades of experience etc). For example, I often choose to put myself in unsafe position X, because position Y is even more dangerous, and I can mitigate position X and navigate safely out of it.
Being a motorcylist as well, I do much the same thing, and after 3 decades my record is clean. Not to say that there havent been close calls and situations that could have turned ugly, but they havent, because I am hyper-aware of what is going on around me and have trained myself to do so.
FWIW, most motorcyclists put a lot of thought into their riding, and most attend some form of skills training and awareness these days (the riderskills guys have a thriving business since ACC subsidised it). There are a few idiots (whom are the ones people remember), but generally most of us are far more thoughtful and “trained” than 95% of other people on the road. You do not see forums set up with hundreds of participants all discussing safe driving like you do with motorcycles. in auckland there are several volunteer run riders skills courses which are attended by 10-50 people each week, who have skills from none, to decades.. its really amazing (and still we have to pay huge fees *sigh* – 30 years and no accident.. government should be paying ME..)
Anyway.. what I am saying is, there is not enough education. Motorcycles are dangerous, people who ride them understand that and most of them do something about it. Bicycles are dangerous, some people kind of do something about it (hi viz and saying dont run lights is not enough – its nothing). There needs to be education. It’s like giving someone a packet of matches and a tin of petrol and telling them to wear flameproof clothing. By far the WORST riders I have come across are the urban upright carrier and a basket types (also the most snobby). They appear to think that because they sit up, and wear fashionable clothes and go slowly, that they are impervious to injury. Sports cyclists at least have rules and methods of communication with each other..
In my opinion the ‘chic’ cyclists tend to flout the rules the most. Indeed it might be a case of “I’m riding quite slow and taking my time so there isn’t any risk”. They are definitely the ones I see riding without helmets or lights at night the most.
However I don’t think sports cyclists are all too flash either, they seem to be the ones that run red lefts and cross with pedestrian phases. Presumably because they don’t want to break their stride and find stopping at the lights hard with clipped in shoes.
By my observation the most well behaved cyclists are commuters, presumably because they are the most regular users of bikes, and have the greatest incentive to ride defensively in busy traffic. A bit like motorcyclists there.
But hey, let’s not apply this same sort of thinking to motorists behaviour, we’d be here all day!
Nick, its not always because they dont want to break rhythm or put their feet down.. most often its just because they do not want to have to fight for space with cars at the lights. Often it is better to be in front and give them 50-100m of space to let themselves adjust and make room. I cant tell you how many times i have almost been shoved off into the footpath by cars trying to squeeze past me at the lights. I wait till it is safe, and get a head start.. rarely have problems that way.
I agree with Nick R, commuters are the most sensible when cycling.
In the end, you cant say I break the rules, because I have so many years of experience so I know it’s safer to do so. If we applied those rules to motorists imagine the problems we would have there. If we don’t want motorists to do the same, then we need to convince them that cyclists are superior to them, so they don’t have to obey by the rules…i can imagine how that would go down.
Also that would be a very dangerous game to play as cycling gets more and more popular. Everyone playing by their own rules is going to cause chaos. Also you have the long term safety problems cause by drivers hating on cyclists because of the arrogant display by these sport lycra cyclists. In the end we cannot expect motorists to respect cyclists if cyclists don’t respect motorists.
I have one rule that I break when cycling: riding on the footpath, sometimes it is the only logical thing to do riding around town.
However I have a self imposed set of rules when doing so, if you are riding on the footpath then only ride at walking speed, and give way to pedestrians.
I will admit I do the same thing. I don’t pressure pedestrians and ride at their pace.
Geoff very Good advice about cycling where people expect to see a bike.
“If cycling doubles, the risk per kilometre falls by about 34%; conversely, if cycling halves, the risk per kilometre will be about 52% higher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_in_numbers
Go Victoria! Thanks for sharing your experience.
As a former Pakuranga Heights dweller who used to bike to Highland Park (shudder) to work : beside Elm Park School field there’s a road that goes around the back of the field and through to Marvon Downs Ave > Cascades. It’s shorter and avoids the poxy Pakuranga highway.
Oops! You already know that. Sorry.
yeah I just found out that way a week ago! it’s real neat =) much less traffic and much more peaceful! thanks!!
Wow It’s so nice to see so many positive feedbacks guys! Thanks Stu for posting it here =) !
Yeah when I got the bike I had the intention of using it as a form of transport rather than another fitness device. In fact for years I’ve completely changed my attitude towards keeping fit. Too often people get fat not because they don’t eat healthy or not exercise enough – just look at all the healthy products flooding the supermarkets and all those well equipped gyms in the city!!! But keeping fit requires an incentive: if cycling is the only way to get to work, why would you need a gym membership? 😉 I got the idea after knowing my Danish friend who came to NZ for 6 months and put on 10kg. =( she said the only real difference was that she used to cycle everywhere in Denmark and in NZ she could only drive as the roads are too dangerous for cycling.
Auckland is already ranked the 3rd on the list of best cities to live in the world at the moment. if we could all do our share to help promoting better and safer cycling options, those of us in the city will be less grumpy and healthier, and the city will become even better place to live in! 😉
Very much agreed, Vic.
It’s great to find cycling works well for you in an area of Auckland that is pretty “deprived” of good cycle infrastructure. Interested in coming along to a Cycle Action Auckland event? While one of our committee members recently moved to Pakuranga, we always find that in eastern Auckland we lack the kind of local knowledge that helps us push for better cycling conditions.
oh yeah! I’d love to go to some events. I agree eastern Auckland is pretty terrible in terms of cycling facilities. I heard a cyclist was actually killed on Pakuranga Rd. One of my colleagues once was assaulted by an angry driver not too long ago…. =_= it was because the driver changed lane too fast and hit another car in order to pass my colleague. I wonder why he couldn’t just be a little more patient? Or try cycling himself sometimes? 🙂
Would you please give me more details on Cycle Action Auckland?I’d love to participate haha.
here’s a good place to start http://caa.org.nz/
Great article Victoria; really glad that it’s working out for you. Cycling does seem to be one of those vastly under-estimated transport tools (and I have to say even here on Akld Transport blog it has historically not appeared much on the radar, although that is improving).
A couple of suggestions to think about: I don’t see any mudguards on your bike. If you want to improve your all-weather ability they will be very handy (and I’d worry more about a water-proof jacket than a hi-vis one; if it’s both then great). Also I’m not sure how you’re carting your work stuff and groceries but I’m guessing a backpack? You might want to look into a rear-rack and some panniers; again worth their weight in gold. Even a front basket or bag on the handlebars might be a useful alternative. Happy cycling!
Glen K – glad that you’ve noticed our efforts increase the cycling content :). I personally believe that Auckland sits on the cusp of a surge in the use of cycling and public transport. Both are growing about the same rate – they’re very complementary modes actually. Bicycles the go anywhere, anytime mode, whereas PT is the back-up when you just can’t be assed of if you’re travelling long distances.
…and hopefully in the future Auckland will also be able to go with bikes and PT where Christchurch has gone:
http://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/general-a2b-by-bike/bikes-on-buses/
(and now Waiheke, Taranaki, Nelson, Hawkes Bay)
FWIW, its less tiring for the rider (and easier therefore) to carry weight on the bike. Even carrying 1kg in a pack will noticeably tire you. On the bike you hardly notice it.
Yes it is true that carrying weight on the bike is easier. But new riders should tread somewhat carefully when using panniers because they can destabilise the bike, or at the least change the weight distribution.
Thanks for all the advice Glen! Yeah a mud guard would definitely be the next thing I’d add to my bike. It’s not nice to get bottom wet when ridding through puddles. =_= The jacket I have at the moment is a hi-vis and water proof jacket. It was somewhat expensive although the shop gave me a discount, but has worked out quite well. At the moment I’m using my macpac day pack, well it’s ‘shower proof’ so it’s ok for most days. I’d wrap my stuff with extra plastic bags on real bad days haha. I can normally pack my clothes, shoes, morning tea and lunch in with a little bit of extra space left. I normally shop after work, by then my lunch and morning tea are already gone which leaves a space big enough for more grocery. I do indeed eat a lot of chunky stuff during the day, like bananas, apples and pears primarily, hahaa. 😀 But I didn’t know I could get accessories for carrying stuff on the bike! would definitely check them out. =)
yes Stu I think if I could use PT on a raining day (like today) that’d be just perfect heehee =) cars would then be completely unavoidable.
I’d also recommend, if you want to ride more than 4-5k, that you lose the mountain bike (you use a alot more effort because they are inefficient on the road, the suspension also uses up energy, and the tires are too wide (additional rolling resistance)).
If you dont want to ride a roadie, get a hybrid. You get the bigger 700c wheels, upright seated position, and better ability to “load” it (ie, it will handle a carrier and panniers a lot better).
I rode an MTB from manurewa into the cbd for about 3 months.. even with road tyres it was hellishly hard work… hopped on a roadie and immediately took 30 mins less, and found it so much easier. The upside of the MTB was it got me fit and my stamina up.. (i still use it for training some times.. cant believe I used to ride daily 60k on it)
Ohhh I see! no wonder going uphill seems to be such a killer. I got a mtb because I do occasionally go mountain biking haha. 😀 what are the 700c wheels? actually I often ride on the footpath – especially when riding along Ti Rakau Drive that death road! The drivers are always so grumpy and the road is busy also not wide enough. I do find with my current bike setup it gets quite bumpy because the suspension isn’t switched on. I’m under the impression if I turn on the suspension I’d have to put a lot more energy into riding. But with the road tires and suspension not switched on I’m not sure if that’s the best for the wheels to ride on footpaths?
700c wheels are the same size rims that road bikes hybrid bikes use. The reason they are that size is generally due to economic reasons when they were first designed. Now-a-days there are different sizing options coming out, but generally MTB have 26″ and roadies, 29″ (700c). The idea is that the larger wheel smooths out bumps, is easier to turn etc. Generally, riding on a larger diameter wheel will just be easier. Then factor in the tire diameter as well. The tires I use on my road bike (23c) are about 1/3 the size of the road tires I have on my MTB, and the difference is, when I turn the pedal on the MTB I can feel the road pushing back against me, where on the road bike its almost non existent (except on those annoying rough sealed roads.. argh!). Riding an MTB with knobblies on the road is a bit like roller skating up a hill dragging a cart with a child in it behind you. Remove the cart with road tires. Hop on a road bike and its like stepping on ice in ice skates.
Locking your suspension is a good idea, because you do waste energy otherwise. I dont ride on footpaths because cars generally are not even looking out for pedestrians doing 4kmh, let alone a bike coming from nowhere doing 10-50kmh (cycle paths with no driveways excluded). Mountain bike rims should be able to handle a reasonable beating..
Just a thought, using an MTB to commute is a bit like buying a 4×4 that only gets used to go to the shops.. but then.. hey, i have a 4×4 that only gets used going to the shops 😛
I see. 🙂 thanks for answering my questions. haha true cars pulling out of driveways are often terrible at noticing cyclists. -_-
lol I just checked out one of my colleagues’ road bike today indeed the tires are so thin hehe and no wonder it takes him the same amount of time to travel 3 times the distance as me. 😀
Vic,
The tires alone do not make all the difference. Road bikes have gearing more suited for the road.. on my MTB I ended up putting it in top gear and pretty much only using that and the next 2 down. On the roadie I use pretty much all 10 of my top gears (hybrids are similar, although many of them have a “granny gear” to make hills a bit easier).
due to the small frame and disc brakes, fitting a rear rack could be tricky, I used to alternate between a backpack in the winter and rack plus panniers in the summer to avoid the problems of a sweaty back to to lack of air circulation,
the first ride or two with the rack and panniers did see a bit of instability, but I soon adapted, however, the front wheel is less heavily laden and a handlebar mounted basket might work well
Geoff, looking at the frame size and seat height nad considering her stated weight, I assume that Victoria is not big and 700c might compromise her riding, better to put fatter urban tyres on, because they can actually LOWER rolling resistance as the tyre deforms more easily across the tyre carcass than longitunally, unexpected yes, but true
I dont think 700c would be that much of an issue.. my wife’s bike has them (an apollo hybrid) with size 28 tyres.. its comfy and nice to ride.. but again.. I wouldnt want to go more than 20k on it (and that would take an hour or more).
I’d think having the weight over the back of the bike would be better than in front.. but I just use a pack myself (I can recommend Deuter packs.. they are awesome)
Hey Steve what are urban tyres? Are they in between road tyres and mtb tyres?
Yeah I wasn’t too sure what’s the best thing to use haha. 😀 I’m yet to experience my first attempt to change tyres! *rrooaaahhh!*
Oh I didn’t think about the part of getting a sweaty back… good point! …clearly I haven’t cycled in the summer! =)
Messenger bags a perfect for bike riding, you can sling it behind your bum while riding and you avoid the sweaty back issue.
Vic, my response was posted at the bottom of the page!
Thanks Victoria for writing about your experiences. Interestingly enough, I’ve noticed over the past few weeks more female cyclists around the place, including one who was dressed in work clothes (sneakers though) cycling up The Strand towards Carlaw Park offices. One litmus test for the uptake of cycling is the numbers of females; the safer cycling is, the more females will consider cycling. We are not anywhere near as ‘safe’ as the Netherlands for example, so I suspect what I am seeing is a numbers game – there are more cyclists around so as a proportion of cyclists, there are increasing numbers of women cyclists.
Nice! 😀 I think a lot of the time women are more intimated by all the angry men driving on the road just like Sanctuary mentioned in a previous post. Other times the cycling gear, e.g. the helmet, may be a little bit of a turn off for women. I heard some girl once mentioned:”there’s no way I’m wearing something silly that in public!” t But seriously, who cares?
first, I am thrilled to see what I actually think might be the first blog post by a woman ever on this blog! Second, thanks for sharing Victoria. Third, sadly cycling doesn’t keep all of us the weight we were 15 years ago – and I speak from bitter experience ;( But glad it works for you 🙂
My own observation, from riding on the North-Western at least 3-4 times/week for 6 months last year is that a) it is used by quite a lot of commuters, as well as sports cyclists including at least one elderly woman on a sit up bike, b) having ridden on it at 3.30 pm I can confidently tell you that it is used by some kids (not a lot, but anything is progress) to cycle home from school, c) if we are all agreed that cycling is so good for health, then there is any reason why we couldn’t support the govt building a cycle way PURELY to promote fitness, not transport? Because I bet it would make as much sense from a perspective of years of healthy life generated per dollars spent as continuously bumping up the number of elective surgeries available through the health budget.
Yes, the NW is not a perfect form of infrastructure to promote cycling as transport. But, as Max points out – that’s not really either NZTA’s fault or AT’s fault. Perhaps AC could bear some of the blame for being wimpy in the past and failing to back cycling as much as they could. But ultimately it’s the GUBBMINT’s fault and so we should all go and write them angry letters, put lamingtons on Gerry Brownlee’s head etc etc
I agree Lucy! =) haha interesting NZ has some of the best cyclists in the world but Auckland has such poor support in cycling facilities… -_- well at least in the area I live and work in anyway.
when the weather got better in the past a couple of days I noticed many more commuters on bikes on the road. It was a very pleasant thing to see! =)
Yes I think you may be right – this is the first blog post by a woman that I can remember.
Or give some money to Gen Zero’s 50/50 campaign! Because I take a (slightly obsessive) interest in fundraising I was just looking up how various campaigns are going online and was a bit depressed to see they have only raised $780. http://www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/5050smarttransport
Cycle ways and bus lanes are by far the most cost effective transport improvements available to Auckland
Affirmative
I can confirm that Generation Zero could definitely use some extra financial help with their transport campaigning. An that several key people who have made an enormous time commitment are also personally out of pocket. So please do go there and help this group who are doing more than any other to actively campaign on transport. (Moi : mos def not generation zero, turns cap back around again… )
Victoria, for a laugh you should use Google again to work out how long your trip to and from work would take by bus.
hahahha I did consider taking the bus before getting the bike!
if I’m lucky it’d take me about 10-20 minutes to walk to a bus stop, but then the bus journey would take anything between 30minutes – 1.5hrs. This is because the most direct bus (not actually that direct) only runs during certain times of the day. Other times I’d have to take a huge detour (go to botany town first) go get back.
So really that option was a big no no. =(
Just as a important note, cycling has great health benefits, however it isn’t a silver bullet and needs to be complimented with other fitness activities. For most this means the gym membership is still essential. Also just cause you cycle to work everyday doesn’t mean you can have that steak and cheese pie at lunch time 🙂
Cycling should be enjoyable and stylish way of commuting.
True true. I do spend 2 nights playing vball every week and 2 nights pole dance.
cycling only contributes to the cardio part haha but that’s because i ride a mtb. 😉
Here are some figures that I found in the NLTP for the Auckland region. Good for a laugh – or cry depending on your position.
Shared funding from NZTA and AT from 2009 to 2015 for Cycling / Pedestrian is $39m. Note the shared bit. Anyone remember what the AT contribution is?
The funding allocated just to the design work for the P-W Motorway is $40m
Tears … why doesn’t NZTA spend more on cycling?
Are you saying the NLTP has a total of $39 million over seven years? That’s not even $6 million a year. Pathetic.
Anyway you’d think that because cycling infrastructure is so cheap they’d build as much of it as they can. What are the decongestion benefits of the NW cycleway compared to it’s capital cost, for example?
$50 million a year for ten years would still get lost in the rounding on transport spend, but could you imagine what an amazing cycle network Auckland could have for $500m?
Or even for what they spent on Eden Park. I wonder what the cost / benefits would look like if you compared expenditure on the RWC to cycle / pedestrian infrastructure and education?
I’d still imagine the RWC would come in quite highly, just with the direct result of extra expenditure in Auckland alone. But there are many other projects that would not come near.
Vic, just another term for MTB “slick” tyres, from the photo it looks like you’ve got decent 26 x 1.5 slicks (26 is the wheel diameter in inches, 1.5 is the tyre size) on at the moment, you could got to a 26 x 1.75 like a Schwalbe marathon plus, or even a 2.5 with the Maxxis hookworms
either way, I’d wait and wear those tyes out first! but bigger tyres will give you slightly higher gearing, a bit more speed and a better ride
this link http://www.pinnacleresearch.co.nz/research/BikeNow/BikeNowFix.pdf goes to a simple guide to puncture repair that I wrote for a project I worked on, it was intended to give new cyclists some confidence that fixing a flat is simple and not a disaster
Neat!! Thanks so much Steve. This is exactly information I want to know. =) thanks so much for spending time writting this. I think it’s real helpful for new cyclists. =)
Great article and story – from your description of bus journey available to you I think you will have paid off cost of bike in no time ( my cycle commute saved me $30 a week and 12 weeks later I was in profit – financially, spiritually, physically, mentally). Also check out your Avanti store for women only maintenance sessions – out here in Henderson their recent ladies night had 80 attendees.
woooowww!!! good stuff I didn’t know any of these things haha. Thanks so much Vinny. I’m going to visit the Avanti store here soon anyway I will ask them about it. 😀
Wow this is awesome …like hearing everyones comments on cycling form the keen to the everyday….agree we all need to cycle more.
GEt action.
Hi Victoria – responding here ather than “up top”. If you want to get to know Cycle Action’s people, and get a good handle on what we are doing, why don’t you drop in to our next public meeting:
http://caa.org.nz/committee/its-that-time-of-year/
It’s also our AGM – and that may not sound so interesting – but we make a habit of getting through the formal part pretty quickly. This year, we have chosen to not make a bigger event out of the AGM, with external speakers and so on (that will be for our Christmas public function!), so it will be a smaller event, with some food and drink – perfect for any of our members to reconnect, or interested new people to get to know us and chat with us, rather than listen to long speeches.
:O awesome! It’s next Thursday? I may be able to make it if my vball game has been indeed moved to wednesday. =) thanks Max!! haha It’d be wonderful to get connected to people who are doing the same things as me. =)
It is next Thursday, and we’d love to have you there. Our committee and our members have lots of people with similar stories, so you will feel right at home, I would think.