CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News

Cycling in New Zealand

(12 posts)

  1. Rosie
    Member

    Cycling developments in New Zealand

    I did some cycling in New Zealand January and February. The government has recently put $50 million into developing mountain bike trails, and they are becoming very popular. Urban cycling infrastructure is not good though. The government took advice from Sustans and Cycling England for the mountain bike trails and cycling generally.

    I wrote a few pieces about my cycling experiences there.

    http://rosiebell.typepad.com/rosiebell/2013/03/my-family-and-other-cyclists.html

    http://rosiebell.typepad.com/rosiebell/2013/03/biking-is-the-new-golf.html

    http://rosiebell.typepad.com/rosiebell/2013/03/brakeless-on-the-old-coach-road.html

    http://rosiebell.typepad.com/rosiebell/2013/03/uphill-into-the-wind-with-jetlag.html

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. neddie
    Member

    New Zealand is beautiful country, very scenic, and friendly 'can do' people. I have lived, travelled and cycled there.

    I'd recommend cycle touring and mountain biking there. The only downside: On the often winding rural roads, the drivers drive like maniacs, very fast, often taking corners on the limit of traction...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. chdot
    Admin

    Welcome Rosie.

    "
    I'm what New Zealanders call 'a cycling advocate" and it's been hinted to me that I am an obsessive bore on the subject.

    "

    You might feel at home here...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. Stepdoh
    Member

    Wow, hat tip on cycling from Turangi to Waiouru, my loaded truck barely made it over when we were moving from Wellington to Hamilton. You picked the right summer to do it though!

    The Turangi Z garage is a favourite coffee stop to prep/get over going up/down the hill.

    H-Town is an interesting one, most of it is standard magic paint lines infrastructure, but my whole ride from home to work is on wide separate bike paths with underpasses. Basically runs alongside the ringroad, but it's almost like it's been custom designed to get me to work. There's also a nice run down the side of the Waikato, which is rather nice too.

    So I know you're an Enzedder, purely from describing something as a metal road :), are you in Embra now?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. Rosie
    Member

    @Stepdoh - I'm in Embra now, in Roseburn. Glad to hear there's some provision in H'ton. I lived there at one time and cycled to school and all the cycling was on streets though it wasn't particularly busy.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. paddyirish
    Member

    This was the main news on one of the NZ websites I visit regularly.

    $330m announced for Urban Cycleways

    Know the Wellington area well, and that will make a big difference there, especially joined up paths between the Hutt and the Town.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    "
    The 41 new projects will be funded from a range of sources, including the Government's $100 million Urban Cycleways Programme, which was announced in August as a pre-election sweetener.

    "

    ...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. neddie
    Member

    So New Zealand, a country with a similar population to Scotland (~6m) and twice the land mass of the UK, is spending NZ$330m (= £145m) over 3 years. That's £48m p.a.

    Kind of puts our ~£20m p.a. to shame really...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    I am an obsessive bore
    You might feel at home here...
    I was going to reply to that but realised it would be obsessive and boring...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Rosie
    Member

    That's terrific news. Last time the big investment was $50NZ million mostly on country trails, which are popular and cycling for leisure has taken off. Maybe urbanites who have gone out for leisure cycling now want it for commuting as well. New Zealand, with its temperate climate, should have excellent cycling cities.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. acsimpson
    Member

    They could save themselves a load of money and simply repeal their mandatory helmet law. Almost overnight they would see an increase in cycling.

    Combining that with £150m would be great.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. neddie
    Member

    and I bet none of that £145m will be wasted on tactile nonsense

    Posted 10 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin