RideStrong

Urban Exploration

Kieran Turner — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:58:00 GMT

Its easy just to ride where you are familiar. You know the route, how long it will take and how hard it is so there is a certain amount of comfort. But there are so many great back roads with a lot less traffic and now a lot more cycleways. I hear a lot of complaints about the lack of facilities and to be sure we seriously lag the rest of the developed world in this respect. But we are starting to see more cycle ways and paths both on and off road developed.

In the last week I have ridden on 2 fairly new parts of the Auckland cycle network. On Sunday coming back from the Waitakere Ranges we utlised the great new cycle path alongside the State Highway 20 extension. No traffic and a lot quicker to get from out west to Onehunga in no time. I've also found a great link from Pakuranga through to Mangere Bridge that is largely off road or on quiet streets.

The entire network design for AKL can be found online so if you live in AKL check it out and see if there is one near you. You'll need to be patient as its still being developed in a lot of places and figure out the back roads that link it up but once you've done some exploring you will be amazed at just how pleasant it can be to get around parts of the city.

Auckland is not alone with Christchurch also having some great cycle paths. In both cases I seldom see lots of people riding on these (yes there are some limitations). So the challenge is to spread the word and get out there and take advantage of what we have. Its not perfect but it really is a case of use it or lose it. The more councils see this sort of infrastructure being used the more they are likely to build more (probably in places where we really want it too).

So go do some exploring and find the quieter spots and you'll enjoy your riding a whole lot more.

Training Blog: Endurance training: large amounts of low-intensity training can develop base conditioning and aid recovery

Highperf — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:41:00 GMT

Endurance training: large amounts of low-intensity training can develop base conditioning and aid recovery

How a train low, train high approach can lead to increased performance

In recent years, the ‘middle way' has been a popular mantra of politicians. However, as Joe Beer explains, when it comes to training intensity in endurance sports such as cycling and triathlon, the middle way is most definitely not the most effective route to elite performance

Professional elite athletes know how to train because they have access to the best coaches and a because of the Darwinian process that ‘kills off' bad methods and keeps good ones thriving! However, until very recently, the amateurs have never had access to the facilities and coaching backup of elite performers, so more often than not they have tended to source information from the best athletes they know locally and/or the group ethos prevailing in their particular training group or environment. The problem with this approach is that the ‘sheep mentality' of merely doing what everyone else does is not especially effective. And let's be honest, sheep don't win many athletic medals!

Peaks in the clouds

Athletes used to look to the top of the sports mountain, shrouded in the clouds of greatness, and wonder what went on up there. Take, for example, the secret regimes of the 1980s ‘doctors' behind the Iron Curtain, possessed of the ability to increase team performances in track, field and cycling. Nowadays, we have greatly increased transparency with more and more data from individuals, teams and countries, and from journals and interviews. From 4km cycling powerhouses (1) to elite junior rowers (2), as well as many others, data is published for all to see. Thankfully, we can now see that the gains are less about pharmacology and more about the analysis of training, outcomes and lessons learned.

For example, the prologue ride of cyclist Bradley Wiggins in this year's Tour De France was online within days so that cycling fans could swoon over the his super-human effort - an average power output of 442 watts. Wiggins also published blood test data to counter any suspicion that he must have been on ‘something special' to get fourth place overall. However, that's a separate article entirely about champion genetics, weight loss and superb equipment choices.

Fortunately, this new openness gives sports scientists, coaches and amateur athletes the chance to see how the best actually train, and most importantly for you, it allows a trickle down of certain ‘golden nuggets' of information from upon high. Think of it in the same way that steering wheel control paddles trickled down from rallying and F1 racing to your family car.

So it was fascinating when recent data were presented in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance on 36 elite junior rowers' actual training data(2). These data will rock the training methods of some and give the thumbs up to what others are already doing. What they suggest in a nutshell is that the ‘Goldilocks' approach to training (not too hard, not too easy) is detrimental for optimum performance, resulting in a no man's land of not much progress.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

Researchers in Germany have looked at the training and competition data of elite rowers with national, world and Olympic rowing performance capabilities. Over a 37-week period, training was quantified methodically using heart rate monitoring, assessment of lactate threshold points (the point at which fatiguing lactate begins to accumulate rapidly in the blood) and performance outcomes. The rowers (14 of whom went onto Olympic finals), were lab tested to find critical points of blood lactate concentration in order to define certain training zones. These have been discussed previously in PP (see issue 239) and are shown below:

While you probably won't have a blood lactate tester to hand, it's quite easy to get a feel for the 2 and 4mmol/L levels. Below 2mmol/L of lactate, there's no burning sensation and heart rates are around 60-75% of maximum. Between 2 and 4mmol/L, blood lactate builds and declines, never quite bringing you to your knees but you definitely get a sense of a ‘workout'. Above 4mmol/L, (sometimes referred to as the ‘lactate or anaerobic threshold'), exercise feels very hard, and in fact rowing data suggests that 6-8mmol/L is often reached in training by elite rowers. This high-intensity effort is such that once under way, you hope it ends very quickly! Typically, it involves from around 40 seconds to 8 minutes of maximal effort (2).

When the researchers analysed the 37-week data, their findings were very interesting. One of the most important of these was that internationally successful junior rowers performed 95% of all specific rowing training at a heart rate corresponding to a blood lactate concentration under 2mmol/L (see figure 1).

Within the average 12-14 hours of training per week the athletes logged over the scrutinised period, this meant six hours of actual rowing in Zone 1 (Z1). Two to three hours were spent resistance training, two hours doing alternative steady state aerobic training, and one hour doing warm-up/flexibility work. Given that this data covered the competition period, it is very, very important to note that the athletes did just 30 minutes a week of very high intensity work.

The real world

Many endurance athletes do events that, in the real world, typically last from 15 to 20 minutes and upward. These include 5K road races, 10-mile time trials and sprint triathlons. Few actually compete in events as short as the rowers tested, though anyone in an event lasting over 40 seconds is really an endurance athlete. Many people are now entering ultra-endurance triathlons such as the Ironman where finish times are 9 to 17 hours. Similarly, sportive cycle events lasting 4 to 10 hours are attracting record numbers. How should these athletes train?

From earlier work on rowers (3), the importance of training below the anaerobic threshold has been steadily gaining attention; and anaerobic thresholds are increasingly being used as a diagnostic tool rather than a training method. In short, the anaerobic threshold is not the Mecca of training effort; it's merely one of the many ways used to measure an improvement or decline in fitness capability. Trying to train at threshold is not the way to train: you are working too hard to be easy and too easy to be properly hard!

As respected cycling journalist and coach Fred Matheny put it almost 15 years ago in an article in Bicycling: ‘NML (no man's land) workouts provide a kinaesthetic sense of working hard but expose the rider to too much stress per unit gain. Instead most base training should be guilt-producingly easy, and the top end, high-intensity-training (HIT) should be very mentally hard, not sort of hard' (4).

Rowing quality sessions

Lets look at what the rowers in this study did for quality (3). Over the study period, they averaged just 2-3% of their time performing very high intensity efforts. In distance terms they did 73km in the tempo zone (Z2) but just over 3200km in Z1. Although 2000m rowing requires just 6-7 minutes of maximal effort, they still focused on ‘very easy' or ‘very hard'.

Examples of these high-intensity sessions included:

2-3 x 3-10 mins @ 90% HRmax - 10-20 mins recovery between;
2-8 x 40-120 sec @ maximal effort - 5-15 mins recovery between.

In order to be ready for this very high level of effort, you need to ensure you've done your base sessions in a controlled manner. The priority is being ready to do the hard work, not making endurance sessions harder than they need to be. Far too many athletes try to push the base and then fail to go really hard for their HIT training.

Why does train low, train high work?

How is it that large amounts of low-intensity work can develop base conditioning, aid recovery from HIT sessions yet not turn an athlete into a ‘plodder', churning out ‘junk miles'? Well, first off if you do your base work in the 60-80% HRmax zone, you will get as fit and efficient as your genetics will allow for that particular training mode.

However, you can't turn base work into quality - it can be good quality technical work and it can be good quality tempo of movement, but it can't be harder than the Z1 upper threshold. If you train in Z1 consistently, allow recovery and have no major health issues, your body will reach around 90% of its potential - no tempo work, no HIT and relatively little effort. Although you may feel guilty, easy training can get you 9/10ths of the way to your peak potential!
You can train excessively in the tempo ‘no man's land' zone for years. But while it gives you a buzz from your workouts and gets reasonable performances, the inputs verses the outputs never match up. For example, if you train over 15 hours per week but include more than 25% of your training in Z2 ‘no man's land', you'll fail to get better despite logging more time than others who do mostly Z1 and are improving. Remember the phrase ‘guilt-producingly easy' for more than 90% of your week, especially if you've been someone who has always trained too hard up until now. Figure 2 shows how elite athletes across a range of sports spend most of their time in zone 1.

For many athletes, the ‘train low, train high' mantra requires a mindset change, forcing them to think about things differently. Perceptions such as ‘base is easy now', ‘I can relax knowing I don't have to keep up with other people' or ‘It's now more enjoyable but also more effective', are typical when people finally get what the elites already know.

Summary

Whatever endurance athlete type you are, train low, train high can work for you. This does not mean ‘go easy, we don't want to push ourselves do we?' Inclusion of the very high intensity (Z3) work is absolutely critical. However, for long-term success, you need to construct your training so that the body can evolve in a very patient way. Many athletes, even with the best coaching, only see on average a 2 to 8% improvement in a given year, especially those who've got several racing seasons under their belts already. If you've been struggling in no man's land and not making much progress, try using train low, train high approach and set realistic improvements of say 5% (not 10 or 15%) faster for 2010. And if you remember the valuable three golden nuggets above, better times are ahead.

Joe Beer is an endurance coach working with cyclists, triathletes, duathletes and runners through his company JBST.com. He is also the author of ‘Need to Know Triathlon' (Harper Collins)

References

1. Med. Sci Sports Exerc. (2002) 34, 6, 1029-1036
2. IJSPP (2009), http://tinyurl.com/kwe26d (in press)
3. Int. J Sports Med. (1993) 14, S3-S10
4. Bicycling Oct (1995) p.90
5. J Strength Cond Res. (2007) 21, 3, 943-949
6. Scand J Med Sci Sports (2004) 16, 49-56
7. Scand J Med Sci Sports (2004) 14, 303-310
8. Med. Sci Sports Exerc. (2005) 37, 3, 496-504
9. Scand J Med Sci Sports (2003) 13, 185-193

This article was taken from the Peak Performance newsletter, the number one source of sports science, training and research. Click here to access these articles as soon as they are released to maximise your performance

Who is this guy!

Unity Finesmith — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:56:00 GMT

Nice video ...

(Please visit the site to view this media)

I have no idea who this guy is but he's talking my kind of language!

Bicycle insurance: Do you have the right cover?

RaboPlus — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:01:00 GMT

From www.interest.co.nz, sponsored by BikeNZ principal partner RaboPlus. By John Grant As Katie Melua sings in her hit song, "There are nine million bicycles in Beijing" - well she could also be singing, there are nearly one million bicycles in New Zealand, and that's a fact! According to research from SPARC, around one quarter of New Zealander's are active cyclists. Cycle importers say about 100,000 bikes are sold in New Zealand each year and the retail cost of a new bike ranges...(read more)

Strong BikeNZ squad selected for world track championships

Highperf — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:28:00 GMT

Otago's Alison Shanks has shown great form leading up to her defence of the World Individual Pursuit title.

BikeNZ have selected an 18-strong squad to prepare for the UCI World Track Cycling Championships in Copenhagen 24-28th March 2010.

RideStrong members will be able to receive the latest news from Copenhagen as BikeNZ High Performance Director Mark Elliott blogs on the RideStrong High Performance Supporters group here. Simply join and subscribe to the posts to receive the latest updates via email.

New Zealand will mount their biggest-ever campaign with 16 riders.

The squad are currently in camp in Invercargill for three weeks before departing for Europe.

BikeNZ national coach Tim Carswell said the focus is for selected riders to challenge for medals in each of their targeted events.

"We are keen to build on the success from last year in Poland where we gained three medals, the most we have achieved at any elite world championships before," Carswell said.

"This is a huge campaign and a massive effort to take 16 riders to Europe with support staff and we are grateful to the support from SPARC so we can continue to build towards the Commonwealth Games later this year and on to London 2012 and beyond."

Carswell said the squad includes last year's men's medal winning team pursuit squad with Sam Bewley returning from competing with his new Team Radio Shack with Lance Armstrong and Jesse Sergent (Trek Livestrong) after competing in the Tour of Qatar.

The selectors have also named 2008 Omnium world champion Hayden Godfrey in the squad. The Christchurch rider was knocked off his bike while training and the injuries he received prevented him from competing in February's RaboPlus Elite Track Championships.

The women's endurance squad is headed by individual pursuit world champion Alison Shanks and includes national scratch race champion Rushlee Buchanan, points race champion Lauren Ellis and other members of the women's medal winning pursuit squad Kaytee Boyd (Auckland) and Jaime Nielsen.

The newcomer is Levin's Gemma Dudley after the teenager impressed at the national championships. The 19 year old won four medals at the junior world track championships two years ago.

There are five selected for the men's sprint squad with four to travel to Copenhagen, led by the in-form Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill). The coaches will continue to work with combinations before naming their final four to contest sprints, kilo time trial, keirin and team sprint at the world championships.

The men's endurance squad includes the world championship medal group from the team pursuit along with Godfrey and the Southland 20-year-old Scully, who has five medals from his two World Cup outings over the last three months.

"There's tremendous competition within the squad as well which will give the coaches plenty to mull over as we select the riders best suited to specific events and roles for Copenhagen."

Carswell said it is a challenging year to peak for the world championships and again for the Commonwealth Games in October and there will be a number of other athletes to come in to contention for New Delhi.

The squad is:

Women: Kaytee Boyd (Auckland), Rushlee Buchanan (Te Awamutu), Gemma Dudley (Levin), Lauren Ellis (Hinds), Jaimie Nielsen (Hamilton), Alison Shanks (Dunedin).

Men: Sam Bewley (Rotorua), Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill), Hayden Godfrey (Christchurch), Wes Gough (Waipukurau), Peter Latham (Te Awamutu), Ethan Mitchell (Auckland), Marc Ryan (Timaru), Tom Scully (Invercargill), Jesse Sergent (Feilding), Adam Stewart (Christchurch), Simon van Velthooven (Palmerston North), Sam Webster (Auckland).

Remember you can receive email alerts of news from the team by joining the High Performance Supporters Group on RideStrong.

Devenport ride

Unity Finesmith — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:59:00 GMT

I'm trying to catch up with some of the February Bikewise events, so below are some pics from the Devenport ride ...

There was quite a crowd and we ended up splitting into several groups

Some were new to this bicycling lark

Some had a little more experience

There was a variety of 'notice me' approaches from full-on fleuro to loud shirts! ...

... to just plain standing out in a crowd!

We had Frocks ...

Families ...

Pregnant ladies ...

Kids ...

Guys ...

And of course bicycles ... lots of bicycles!

Northshore city council's cycling superstar (Debbie) conferring on the route ... and we're off!

We stopped for some well earned refreshments along the way

And to re-acquaint ourselves with 'terra firma' ... those bicycles can be tricky little suckers!

The bicycles rested under under the pergola

And it was time for a 'group shot' before heading back.

Lovely day!

Say again?!

John.Randal — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:56:00 GMT

I recently spent an evening or two importing a bunch of old posts from vorb (prior to December 2009). I lingered on a few of them, and really enjoyed the memories they dredged up. The Karapoti Challenge one was almost a tear-jerker, and I reposted that in a fit of sentimentality. There are some other doozies, including some great brain malfunctions on the road. I reckon there are some nice ride ideas tucked away in there too. I've split them up according to subject matter and the links are in reverse chronological order...

Road Racing

Even more road race fail

Popping my Taupo cherry

Saturday road race, Sunday MTB race

Centre champs chump

More road race fail

Road race fail

Balfour Pennington 4, 2008

Balfour Pennington 3, 2008

Balfour Pennington 2, 2008

MTBO

MTBO + a cyclocross race + a road race

Long Gully

Akatarawa Attack 2009

Mangakotukutuku series race

Akatarawa Attack 2008

Cycle Touring and Exploring

New Plymouth - Stratford - Taumarunui - National Park

Around the Tararuas in a day!

Wairarapa "Road" Trip

Pencarrow

Picton - Linkwater Long Cut - Canvastown - Nydia Bay - Picton

Gisborne to Whakatane

Martinborough - Aorangi Crossing - Martinborough

Ohakune - Pipiriki (Whanganui River) return

Picton - Blenheim - St Arnaud - Nelson - Picton

Bicycles for Christchurch

Unity Finesmith — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:45:00 GMT

The husband and I are visiting Christchurch for the weekend soon and we want to hire some bicycles ... of course!

Does anybody know where we can hire some styley city bicycles? - preferably with a step through for me.

I've done a bit of Google searching but just seem to turn up mountain bikes with 21+ gears ... Christchurch is flat isn't it?

Karapoti Challenge 2008 - My favourite race EVAR!

John.Randal — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:25:00 GMT

On the eve of Karapoti 2010, I'm busy uploading old (quality!) posts from vorb onto this blog. And I found this old gem. I've added a few photos to the original post. I still think about this ride often...

1 March 2008
My preparation for this [2008]'s Karapoti outing started years ago, when my daughter Kaitlyn and I saw a Phillips trailer bike hanging in Mud Cycles in Karori. She had recently turned 5, and while she was a bit too small for the 20" wheeled half bike, at a pinch she could sit comfortably on it, and turn the pedals OK.

We bought it, and got it hitched up to my old Avanti Ridge Rider which was at the time my core commuter bike. For the next while, once or twice a fortnight, I'd drop her and the trailer at school, then meet her after school, and we'd head up to the Makara Peak Skills Area for afternoon tea and some stories. We became more adventurous, and before long had ridden over the summit and down Zac's and Varley's.

It became clear that the bike hadn't been specced for the sort of riding we were doing, and so we sourced a slightly bigger rear cog which enabled Kaitlyn to help out a little more on the climbs. At age 6, she did the first lap of the Creek to Peak relay with me, and just before her 7th birthday did the first Makara Peak round, and the Mt Vic round of the PNP series.

We finished mid-field in the Rec Men's class in both. Last December, against my better judgment (due to my knee injury), we rode together in the Rec class in the Tour de Peak, which included a very sketchy ride down Livewires. It was becoming clear that Katy was out-growing the bike, and that her weight was starting to cause trouble - the combined weight of her and the trailer was almost 35kg, and it is un-braked at that.

I was keen for her to experience one of the highlights of the MTB calendar, Karapoti, so in mid-January, I fired off an entry for us to ride in the Karapoti Challenge as "Family Randal". Despite Katy and I looking dashing in our matching Makara Peak Supporters' green jerseys, I am honoured to be supported by Oli Brooke-White at Roadworks and like to race in his colours whenever possible. While Katy doesn't own her own Roadworks jersey, our good friend Harry Brooke-White was happy to lend us his prized jersey for the day.

Entry and kit organised, our attention turned to training. For Kaitlyn, this largely consisted of a massive ride from home in Karori, out to the South Coast via Wright's Hill and Long Gully, and back home via Happy Valley and the bottom of the Roller Coaster. For me, there have been all sorts of weird and wonderful rides that have been fairly well documented on this fine forum.

As the big day loomed, our excitement grew. I borrowed my sister's car, and collected Katy from her Mum's at about quarter to nine on Saturday morning. I had the bikes in the back, our race clothes, tools, food and drink, raincoats and suncream! We had a great drive out to Karapoti, and saw a few other car-loads heading our way. We parked pretty much as soon as we got to the queue of cars, and ended up with quite a long ride to Karapoti Park past hundreds of metres of free parking. I don't know what innovations Michael made with the parking, but whatever they were, they were great!

We got changed at the car, and headed to the briefing just in time to miss the end of it. We explored the event area together, chatting to people we knew, and wishing them good luck. We were on the river bank for the first start, on the bridge for another, and at the point where the riders first hit the tarseal for a third wave. We watched another from the middle of the river.

I'd been anguishing about the start for weeks. Under no circumstances did I want to lose my most precious possession (Kaitlyn, not my Epic) under a whole lot of water and a stampede of mountainbikers. I decided on having Kaitlyn on my back, and holding my bike as if I was lifting it up some stairs, and to forget all about the trailer - it could look after itself. My vantage point from the river told me we should be in the middle start position.

We spent about 5 minutes warming up on the road, and then got a position on the start line. Katy climbed on my back, and we tested out our technique, before reclaiming our place on the beach.

We were singled out by a photographer, and also Mick on the mike, who was keen to know where my beard had gone! Before we knew it, we were off. I was keen to move as quickly as possible across the water, partly so we didn't get run down, but also to repay the people around us, who had graciously given us heaps of space, and not given us a hard time about plonking ourselves in a prime start position.

I kept running on the other side of the first crossing and we passed a few folk who'd thought that riding would be faster. My little limpet was hanging on for dear life on my back, arms around my neck, and legs around my waist. On the far side of the second crossing, I found a nice spot on the right side of the track, and put the bike and Katy down. After she'd mounted the bike, I ran for a bit, and then jumped on, and we were away.

We stayed about 20m off the back of a large bunch all the way up the road, passing odds and sods along the way. At the stream crossing there was a bit of mayhem, and we had to dismount and run up the other side. Katy was a champion, and did everything perfectly. She ran, she held a good line keeping herself safe and she jumped back on the bike as quickly as she could. So many things we hadn't talked about in advance, but she was all class.

We continued passing people up the gorge, occasionally blasting through puddles or piles of rock. The trailer hitches right up below my seat, and so you simply cannot swoop the bike around any of the berm-like puddle edges. You've got to live with any evasive maneuver taken for a lot longer than you would riding alone. The left turn onto Magee's bridge was pretty sketchy with all the loose gravel.

We got some nice feedback from a couple of guys who passed us on the first part of the climb - one in particular seemed pretty relieved to have finally overhauled us! On the steep stuff Katy's contribution is limited on account of her gear. Nevertheless, when she's mustered a bit of strength, my bike makes these disconcerting, yet incredible, surges as she puts the power down. As we passed the marshalls at the bottom of the loop, I was surprised to hear we were in the top 20.

We held our own on the climb. The gradient was almost at our limit, but Katy was still able to contribute well at the very low cadence she was subjected to. I have only one gear when it comes to climbs like that, with the aim to get it over and done with as soon as possible without blowing myself. This means a nice high cadence and a focus on steady pedalling. This was our first ever time using the Epic as the towing bike. Our test ride around Karori Park on Friday had highlighted the need for more air pressure in the Brain shock, and I think I pretty much nailed it with the prescribed pressure for a 115kg rider. Up the hills, as is always the case, the front end wobbles around a bit, so we were a lot like a pair of drunks on our way up the hill. Pretty quick drunks though. We passed a couple of guys, and had about 8 more riders within our sights the whole climb. It was only at the top of the hill that they accelerated away from us.

Apart from the river crossing at the start, my biggest concern was this descent, and it was the main reason for using the Epic. In the end it wasn't too bad. We lost one place, having passed one bloke, and being passed ourselves by another two. We burnt past another competitor on the descent to the river, and gave a wave to Hilary and her mates sweeping the rear of the course in their fluoro yellow vests.

Back on the gorge it was now hammer time. It was nice to be able to use gravity to our advantage a lot more, as well as my big old legs, not to mention my powerhouse stoker. As my brain began being deprived of oxygen, we started missing our lines a little more often. At one point I bellowed "pedal!" at Kaitlyn, only to apologise as I actually meant "puddle". She's such a trooper though. We didn't communicate much at this part of the race. For a start, we were moving too damn quick to be able to hear each other very well.

We rode the stream crossing nicely, and made great time out to the road. I could feel the body starting to object along the road itself. At the speed we were going, Katy is pretty much a passenger, as she can't pedal fast enough to help out. Nonetheless, she is a fantastic motivator, and kept me going hard. At the river crossing we rode right to the water's edge, we both jumped off the bikes, and I picked her up in one arm, sort of like a rugby ball, the bike(s) in the other, and charged into the river. About half way across, it got rather deep, and I began to stumble on a couple of boulders. With my precious cargo aboard, it was time to stop, reboot, then get going again. It was worth the micro pause, and we got safely to the other side. We ran off the beach, and then jumped back on the bikes for the home stretch.

We got an amazing cheer from the folk watching the finish line, which I'm sure made us up a couple of seconds. I almost brought us down at the line by hauling on the front brake a bit heavily, letting my rear wheel come off the ground and then jack-knifing, but luckily there were a couple of marshalls to keep us under control.

We were greeted by my parents, and Katy's Mum, who were all a bit surprised to see us so soon.

Once we'd got our breaths back, we celebrated in the best way, with a great big hug. Neither of us could have had such a wonderful experience without the other. It was a huge thrill for both of us. And I don't feel like I made a sacrifice to do it at all. A lot of people had asked me how I was feeling about Karapoti, and whether I was looking for a personal best. I might have been good for one, but I had something more important to do.

Mum, Dad and Jo headed off, and Kaitlyn and I spent the rest of the afternoon sifting around, celebrating with our friends. For the record, it was incredibly satisfying to once again do the Roadworks jersey proud. I had hoped to finish in the top 20, but didn't for a moment think it was achievable. We also had our eye on Kerei and Angus Thompson's record. In the end, we met all our goals: 7 minutes taken off the record, 19th place overall, and of course the most important bit, we did it together and loved every minute of it...

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

Originally published on vorb

John (sifter goes bike riding)

http://sifter-writes-bikes.blogspot.com

The BIkeON commuter challenge Hawkes Bay

Bike Chic — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:19:00 GMT

WOW - 187 commuter cyclists took part in the "Bike On NZ" Hastings Commuter Cycle Challenge - I hope you enjoyed. This morning 107 commuter cyclists arrived at K Mart Plaza to a scrumptious BBQ and breakfast!!!! Thanks Charlie and his team! What a fantastic turnout for our final breakfast. Great to see so many of you make it to the final breakfast and what a breakfast - superb. I know a lot of you wanted to win this prize and you all deserved it. But ... there could only be one winner...

Congratulations to Annika Edmondson from Hastings Girls High for winning the grand prize. Annika is an amazing athlete and triathlete and has represented NZ winning gold in the World Long Distance Champs in Perth last year and it's great to see that she loves commuting to work too! What a fantastic prize, a trip to cycle the Otago Rail Trail with airfares kindly donated by Air New Zealand and Trail Journeys package supplied by Bike Hawke's Bay. The Trail Journeys package is for 4 days on the Otago Central Rail Trail with bike hire, accommodation/breakfasts, transport to and from the start and bag transfer. Check it out at www.trailjourneys.co.nz We look forward to hearing all about your fantastic trip.

For all of those helping or competing at the Taupo Ironman tomorrow - Good Luck! It is an inspiring event. Also to all of you competing at the iconic Mountain Bike race, The Karapoti this weekend. Go Emma, I hope its dry J

Thank you for taking the time to fill in the survey. I will put the results on www.bikehb.co.nz once I have a chance to finish compiling and analysing them. The winner of the RideStrong Jersey was Terry Foley from MWH - look out for him in his new jersey!

Now that we have got you enjoying riding to work you may be interested in the next Bike Wise Challenge. Make a note of this below link for next year.

The Bike Wise Challenge will run from 1-28 February 2011 and is open to any New Zealand organisation (businesses, schools, churches, scout/guide groups etc). The Challenge is a fun, free, online competition which encourages you to swap your chair for a bike saddle and give cycling a go during Bike Wise Month. Organisations compete against others of a similar size in their region to see who can get the highest percentage of members/staff riding their bikes. It's all about getting people to try cycling, and to think about swapping some car journeys for trips by bike (sorry, excercycles don't count)! There are fantastic prizes for winning organisations as well as spot prizes for individuals. Registrations will open in January 2011. So if you'd like your business to register check out the Bikewise website. It's great fun and a great way to challenge other business's to get on their bikes. www.bikewise.co.nz

It would also be great to show your support for another fantastic cycling facility here in Hawke's Bay, make sure you sign up as a supporter for the Regional Sports Park, so we can get covered Velodrome here! www.sportspark.co.nz

Thank you again. I've really enjoyed getting to know you all and I'll miss you next week! Thank you especially to ‘Bike ON NZ' for funding this great project and look forward to seeing wonderful things happen in the future with their other great projects. Check them out at www.bikeon.co.nz

Thank you to all the businesses involved and especially to Craig Foss National Party and Tuki Tuki MP, Paul McArdle from Bike On NZ and Bernie Kelly from Cycle Advocates Network - a fantastic team effort. Bernie and Paul came to every breakfast also! Thanks guys, I couldn't do it without your support. Thanks to the businesses that have given you a breakfast every day : Hawke's Bay Today, ANZ Hastings, The Hub, The Doctors, Craig Foss Tuki Tuki Electorate Office, The Hawke's Bay District Health Board, Warrens Bakery (love the custard squares), Avanti Plus Hastings, Visique Grant & Douglas Optometrists, Classic Hits and K Mart. Also thanks to Air New Zealand and Trail Journeys for providing the carrot to get people cycling. A special thanks to ENZA who with the large number of cyclists riding, offered to help out by donating those wonderful new season apples in the last week - thanks Duncan! If you think your business would like to host a breakfast or be involved next year then please let me know. I look forward to meeting you all out on your bikes - stay safe and enjoy the ride!

Cheers Vicki

Vicki Butterworth
Cycling Development Officer
Bike Hawke's Bay

Raleigh 20 rebirth

Unity Finesmith — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:45:00 GMT

Nice little video showing what looks to me like a 21st Century version of the Raleigh 20 ... don't suppose it's available in NZ though ... is it?

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Alerted to this by Curitiba Cycle Chic

Unity Finesmith

Auckland Cycle Chic:

http://aucklandcyclechic.blogspot.com

Sky TV back in the saddle

richard151 — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:47:00 GMT

-- From cycling famine to feast

At the end of last year's Tour de France I switched off Sky.

Bastards made me orienteer my way to a nondescript Mt Wellington office, where I had to deposit the decoder.

No point in gorging myself on magic moments in NRL league and irritating Sky channel promotions.

How sad is that irony - pay for access to a network that turns out to be more saturated with advertising than free-to- air TV?

The joys of a monopoly.

Anyway, it was with surprise and pleasure to discover Sky TV's 2010 progamming plans for the upcoming European bicycle racing season.

Check it out here on RideStrong

Maybe those ads aren't so intolerable after all....

RaboPlus Elite Track Champs on TV, and more!

RideStrong Admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:24:00 GMT

The coming months look set to feature a HEAP of cycling on TV, further reinforicning the growing interset in all forms of cycling in New Zealand.

First up are replays from the RaboPlus Elite Track Nationals held at the ILT Velodrome in Invercargill 11-14 February 2010 as the BikeNZ national team head to Copenhagan and the World Champs.

All on Sky Sport 1 all at 4pm, but please check on the day for final times!

Day 1: 24 March
Day 2: 25 March
Day 3: 26March

2010 Perry Foundation REV- part of the RaboPlus National Points Series:

Watch all the action…

11 March     8.30pm        SKY Sport 2

13 March     6.30pm        SKY Sport 1

14 March     12.30pm      SKY Sport 1

14 March     11.00pm      SKY Sport 2

16 March     06.30am      SKY Sport 2

SKY Sport will then feature unprecedented international cycling coverage in 2010 from around the world with both LIVE and highlight packages. New Zealanders now has five contracted to "Pro-tour" teams in Europe, and we'll be able to monitor the progress of our lads as they race against the likes of Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador.

This month, the ‘race to the sun', the Paris-Nice cycling race returns for the 68th year, running from Monday 8th March to Monday 15th March. The race is made up of 8 stages and covers a total distance of 1,288 kilometres through and is guaranteed action!

PARIS - NICE:

STAGE 1: Monday 8 March, 3.00am, LIVE on SKY Sport 3

STAGE 2: Tuesday 9 March, 3.15am, LIVE on SKY Sport 2

STAGE 3: Wednesday 10 March, 3.15am, LIVE on SKY Sport 2

STAGE 4: Thursday 11 March, 3.15am, LIVE on SKY Sport 2

STAGE 5: Friday 12 March, 2.45am, LIVE on SKY Sport 2

STAGE 6: Saturday 13 March, 3.15am, LIVE on SKY Sport 3

STAGE 7: Sunday 14 March, 7.00am, DELAYED on SKY Sport 3

STAGE 8: Monday 15 March, 3.15am, DELAYED on SKY Sport 3

SKY Sports cycling coverage continues with...

Paris to Roubaix, France (April 10-13): Probably the most important one-day race in the world, the "Hell of the North" takes riders north from the French capital to the velodrome at Roubaix across some of the roughest stretches of cobble stones in Western Europe.

Fléche Wallone, Belgium (April 22)

Liége-Bastogne-Leigé, France (April 26): Two of the most prestigious "Spring Classics" on Cycling's calendar.

Tour de Romandie, Switzerland (April 28): The Pro-tour swings in to Switzerland for a race that always seems to throw up a surprise victor.

Tour of California, USA (May 17-24): Now later in the year, the California tour has quickly become America's number one bike race.

Tour de Suisse, Switzerland (June 13)

Dauphiné Libere 2010 (June 6-13): The Swiss tour and the Dauphine are the ideal lead-ups to the Tour de France and the real indicators to who is going to take the favourites mantle into the season's biggest bike race.

Tour de France, France (July 3-25): Here it is, the climax to the season, 21 stages around France. The race that every bike riders dreams of starting ... and only a very elite few can ever contemplate winning
Paris Tours, France (Mid Oct): The fastest one day classic on the calendar.

The five New Zealanders who'll be vying for places in the Tour de France and all the lead-up races are; Julian Dean of Waihi who rides for the Garmin-Transiions team, Hayden Roulston of Tinwald with HTC-Columbia, Greg Henderson of Dunedin who's signed for the new British team, Team Sky, Tim Gudsell from Kihikihi rides for the French outfit Francaise des Jeux... and finally there's Sam Bewley of Rotorua who's been signed to Lance Armstrong's new team, RadioShack.

Chilli Autumnal start didn't deter the commuters!

Bike Chic — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:59:00 GMT

We had 102 riders come down Heretaunga Street past Visique Optometrists this morning- fantastic! We now have 182 riders registered for the "Bike On NZ" Hastings Commuter Challenge. Thank you Brett and his team at Visique Grant & Douglas Optometrists for the ‘Breakie Bag' of treats this morning. The winner of the Visique Eye Examination valued at $98.00 is Judy Bradshaw from The Doctors - congratulations!

All of you are amazing, you ride to work to save your family money, to keep in healthy, to keep fit, to reduce traffic congestion, to save car parking space, to feel great! Well done!

To keep in contact and see what other commuters around the country are discussing have a look at the RideStrong "Mainly Commuters" Group. It's a place where you can keep up to date with others who commute and share stories. www.ridestrong.org.nz

It was disappointing to hear another of our commuters has been knocked off their bike this week. Maehe Rewi has had his bike written off but he is OK. He has borrowed a bike, is back riding and ridden in to see us this morning, on his way to work at Kirsten Builders Recycling. It again highlights that even if you have right of way it does not mean some car drivers see you. You have to be a defensive cyclist at all times, expect the unexpected - oh and having eyes in the back of your head helps :) If you go to the Ridestrong website above you can sign the 1.5m petition to help lobby for stronger laws that will hopefully assist in changing driver behavior. Make sure you always report these accidents to police, at the least it helps build a ‘profile' of accidents and may identify ‘hot' spots. Safe travels.

Don't forget there is a prize for all those who fill in the Active Transport Survey, a BikeNZ RideStrong Cycling Jersey. The Online survey is available at the link

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/59NRY56

Well if you have biked for 5 or more times over the past two weeks you will be in the draw for the fantastic trip for two to ride the Otago Rail Trail with Air New Zealand and Trail Journeys. Check out this link www.trailjourneys.co.nz This prize will be drawn at tomorrow morning's breakfast at K Mart at approx. 8.30am on the Classic Hits Breakfast Show! Come down and meet Charlie and his team. Don't worry if you are not there in person, I will email out the results. Good luck to all of you!

Cheers Vicki

Change in mood Cycling, just like other forms of exercise, is known to release endorphin which is known to cause pleasure in you and thus wash away the bad mood. It is because of this that one feel relaxed and refreshed even after a heavy workout. With cycling you will feel positive change in your mood. Also, moderate exercises such as cycling are known for relieving stress or depression and helps in improving self-esteem and mood. No wonder you are smiling every morning I see you at breakfast!

Vicki Butterworth
Cycling Development Officer
Bike Hawke's Bay

Cycling get behind one of their own

Benji — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:49:00 GMT

The NZ cycling community is rallying around one of its own with a cycling auction in support of the Chilean communities affected by this week's devastating earthquake.

Wellington cycling event promoter Jorge Sandoval's home town of Tome, Chile is just 74km from the earthquake epi-centre, and the 2006 New Zealand Order of Merit recipient can't stand by and do nothing.

"The greater cycling community has rallied around Sandoval and has been quick to donate cycling kits and other products for an auction to be held in the coming days" said Grant Wall, auction organizer.

Gordon McCauley, the current NZ Time Trial champion and five times NZ Road Champion is donating a set of his National Champion kit.

"Jorge does a lot for cycling in New Zealand, so it's nice to be able to do something for him, and because it's a good cause," McCauley said.

Hayden Roulston has also donated to the auction; he's providing a team HTC Columbia kit. Subway Avanti Pro Cycling Team are donating as are various cyclists and cycling shops around the country.

Until this Thursday morning Jorge Sandoval still been unable to speak to his parents in Tome and he is determined to help is people.

"It is the worst moment of my 33 years in this wonderful country", Sandoval said. "To see my people suffering is painful and right now I just don't have any more strength to cry. I love my country and my people and this is just horrible to watch. Many people in NZ don't know or understand what real poverty is, I know, and to see the poorest people in my region lose all they have is so sad."

"Anything the people in NZ could do to help is very welcome, I am going to Chile on the 19th of this month and will take as much clothes as I can and will try to raise as much money as possible to help these poor people. When I get there, I will make sure that everyone knows where the help is coming from, from the people of NZ and especially the cycling community."

"Most of the villages around my home are fishing villages, the only thing they own is a boat to make a living and now the villages have been totally destroyed and their boats disappeared. The village of Dichato, only 10 minutes from my home was totally ripped apart from the tsunami and more than 600 people lost their homes, some of them friends or related to our family. So far 22 people are confirmed death and 18 still missing."

"This is so ironic, they love the sea, they live out of the sea and on Saturday at 3.20am the sea was their biggest enemy."

"As a Chilean living in this country I feel that I must do something and this is the only thing I can do. I am lucky that my family in Tome is ok and me and my brothers here in NZ are able to help and support them, other people are no so lucky and like most tragedies in any country around the world, the poor are the ones who suffers the most, there is a lot of poor people where I live."

"I just don't want to go back home and do nothing, the money that I collect will be delivered in the name of people of NZ to the Red Cross of my home town to help these in need. With my family we have also collected lots of clothes to take and give to people who lost everything."

"I wish to thank everyone for their messages of support and for their help, especially Ben and Sarah from @roadcycling and Grant Wall." Sandoval said

The auction will be late next week on TradeMe, the time delay is to allow everyone to send in their donated items. A bank account has been set up by Grant Wall for direct donations please donate to;

Name of account: NZ cyclists supporting Chile

Account; 010542009281900

For more information please contact Grant Wall 0210343028

Photos of Dichato here

Confirmed auction items

2009 NZ Road Champion kit - Gordon McCauley
Team Columbia HTC kit - Hayden Roulston
Yellow jerseys from the Trust House Cycle Classic and NZCT Women's Tour
KOM jerseys from the NZCT Women's tour and Trust House Cycle Classic
2009 Colavita/Sutter Home kit from the USA - Cath Cheatley
2009 Trek-LiveSTRONG team kit - Sam Bewley
Subway Avanti Pro Cycling kit - courtesy the team
Benchmark Homes team kit - courtesy the team
Bici Vida team kit - courtesy the team
Mico / All About Plumbing team kit - courtesy the team
Various Tour of Wellington jerseys - Mark Langlands
PFC Race Team Kit - Penny Farthing Cycles
Green Jersey 2010 Trust House Cycle Classic - Harry Wall
More items will be announced in the coming days

If you have cycling products you are willing to donate please email Grant Wall: grant.wall@roadcycling.co.nz

Summer

Unity Finesmith — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:43:00 GMT

Here's a few summer shots for all those in the Northern hemisphere battling the rain and the snow and the cold ...

It's so bright with all the sunshine over here that you need your shades!

Of course an alfresco latte is what's really required in such gorgeous weather

One could do a little light cycling ...

or perhaps just relax in the shade

It's really too hot to do much more than hang out by a lamp post!

Gloating - moi?

Unity Finesmith

Auckland Cycle Chic:

http://aucklandcyclechic.blogspot.com

Safer Journeys Welcomed by cyclists.

Benji — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:09:00 GMT

3rd March 2010

The Cycling Advocates Network (CAN) and BikeNZ welcome the commitment by the government to improve the safety of cyclists on our roads with the announcement of ‘Safer Journeys', New Zealand's 10-year road safety strategy.

"Safer speeds, safer roads, action on raising driving standards and educating school children will benefit the more than 1.2 million New Zealanders who ride bikes", says Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN) Chair, Bevan Woodward.

However, Mr Woodward warns "New Zealand has a long way to go. Currently, the roading environment restricts people's right to cycle safely."

BikeNZ and their cycling community RideStrong agree.

"Road safety has united the New Zealand cycling community through RideStrong's 16,000 members. Through RideStrong, over 15,000 signatures were collected in support of the 1.5m to survive petition- a call for improved road safety for cyclists," says BikeNZ CEO Kieran Turner.

Cyclists have demonstrated a commitment to shape road safety policy and actions themselves. Cyclists are invited to submit their ongoing comments and ideas through the RideStrong website or through CAN.

"Today's announcement opens the door for a united cycling community to work in partnership with policy makers to turn the road safety strategy into meaningful actions", says Mr Turner.

"It's great to see cycling included in further road safety action areas, but we believe that in partnership we can make this a ‘First Actions' priority for the government strategy. "

"The cycling community is ready right now to start rolling out nationwide cycling skills programmes based on government backing. A focus on education is the key for us and something we are already investing in with RideStrong's ‘Rotorua in Gear' programme.

"We would welcome the alignment of government spending in this area with the programs we already have in place".

"New Zealand's road death rate is double that of the UK. It is not acceptable that cyclists and pedestrians account for 30% of deaths in urban areas. We need to take bold action to improve the situation," says CAN chair Bevan Woodward.

"Reducing speed limits and providing safer conditions for cyclists and motorists alike."

BikeNZ and CAN will be meeting with a cross-party cycling group within parliament in March to discuss creating safer cycling conditions. BikeNZ and CAN are looking forward to working closer with government to deliver on ‘Safer Journeys'.

1.5m to Survive: Green Party Members bill!

RideStrong Admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:44:00 GMT

Green Party National Press Release:

March 3, 2010

'Lower speeds mean fewer fatalities'

The Government should take action to protect the most vulnerable road users - pedestrians and cyclists - by lowering urban speed limits, the Green Party said today.

"The most obvious way to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists is to lower urban speed limits but this initiative is way down the list of priorities for this Government," said Green Party Transport spokesperson, Gareth Hughes.

"The Government has a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable road users from harm, especially when, in most cases, they are not to blame."

A child hit at 30 km/h has a 90% chance of survival. If they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 60 km/h, their chances of survival fall dramatically to 15%.

"A simple law change requiring motorists to give cyclists at least 1.5 metres of passing space would also encourage drivers to drive more carefully around vulnerable cyclists," Mr Hughes added.

The Green Party will push ahead with plans to change the law by introducing a Member's Bill along these lines to promote safety for cyclists.

"Roads will be safer if we're driving at lower speeds and driving less. The Government needs to look at the bigger picture of transport safety and invest accordingly," said Mr Hughes.

"By investing only 15% of the transport budget into walking, cycling, buses, and trains, they are never going to provide people with a viable alternative to driving. And driving is the most dangerous way to get around."

As many people die as a result of pollution from road vehicles as are killed on New Zealand's roads directly. In addition, greater reliance on cars as our primary means of transport is exacerbating our current obesity epidemic.

"A wider vision for road safety - one that incorporates indirect as well as direct casualties from transport - will invest more heavily in alternative, safer modes of travel."

"This Government lacks the vision to address the ‘hidden' road toll that their singular focus on driving has created."

Link to the Safer Journeys report:

http://www.transport.govt.nz/saferjourneys

Link to ‘hidden' road toll report:

http://www.transport.govt.nz/research/Documents/health-effects-of-vehicle-emissions.pdf

Red lights

Unity Finesmith — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:35:00 GMT

Further to my rant about John Bank's speech at the Go By Bike Breakfast the other day, Real Cycling has alerted me to a study conducted by the UK Department for Transport found:

"that in 2% of cases where cyclists were seriously injured in collisions with other road users police said that the rider disobeying a stop sign or traffic light was a likely contributing factor. Wearing dark clothing at night was seen as a potential cause in about 2.5% of cases, and failure to use lights was mentioned 2% of the time."

Quite simply, this means that Cyclists disobeying stop signal and not wearing high viability clothing is rarely the cause of accidents!

So what is?

"We believe this report strongly supports our view that the biggest problem for cyclists is bad driving. With that in mind we are greatly concerned that the government still seems fascinated with analysing and promoting cycle helmets, the value of which appears to be inconclusive. We believe that the government should now focus on tackling the causes of injury which appears to be mainly inconsiderate and dangerous driving. Reduced speed limits, stronger traffic law enforcement and cycle-friendly road design are the solutions."

Unity Finesmith

Auckland Cycle Chic:

http://aucklandcyclechic.blogspot.com

National Champion....On the 3yr Training plan

Mark "Cabin" Leishman — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:01:00 GMT

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present your 2010 NZ Elite Womens XC Champion (and Short Track XC Champion), Nic Leary. Mission accomplished, next step Karapoti, and Oceania's. One very pround partner typing this.

One who was then motivated to add to his freshly crowned Masters XC title, to smash out a decent ride himself in the Short track and pushed National Mens Champ Mikey Northcott to the limit, before grudingly settling for 2nd.

Saturdays National XC Champs win by Nic was extremely satisfying for Nic (and me). She's worked bloody hard towards this, and her display on the day was impecable. Riding strongly off the front from the outset. Putting together a mistake free race extending her lead with every lap for an emphatic victory over Fiona Macdermid. One very accomplished athlete herself.

What was more special was that Mt Vic provided the location. As opposed to my 25yr training plan mentioned in the previous post.... Nic's has been less than 3. It was at this very venue almost 3yrs to the day that Nic took in her first National XC event. As a spectator on the sidelines watching me in what was my last Elite XC national in NZ. Thinking it was cool to watch, but perhaps even more exciting to be a part of, a new sporting pursuit began in earnest.

3yrs later, on perhaps the best XC nationals course I've ever seen in NZ (thanks marco, slackboy and co), she pieced it all together. Even better was the crowd support. Nic and I now like to think of ourselves as honorary members of the Bushlove Racing crew.... so it was important to perform in front of this very enthusiatic bunch of supporters. And we really did enjoy the after match socialising with this lot. I even publicly declared them the future of XC such is their enthusiasm and passion for the sport. Cheers guys.

And me? Despite Slackboys protestations I felt no guilt in claiming the Masters National title. Kyle Wood from Timaru scared me early in the race with pace I wasn't expecting. His great riding forced me into an uncharacteristic panicked state. Racing like an excited 18yr old I proceeded to crash my brains out for the first two laps before finally settling down to ride away to (an eventually) solid win.

Bring on Karapoti

Clean and Green NZ - come for your holidays!

Unity Finesmith — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:05:00 GMT

After my post on 70's dinosaurs, I thought these videos could do with an airing ...

(Please visit the site to view this media)

There is, however, a glimmer of light in Christchurch at the moment.

Christchurch has recently commissioned, and received, a report by Danish urban designer Jan Gehl on transforming the city from:

"Vehicle traffic dominates Central City. The car is king, and the pedestrians and cyclist have to wait and move on the premises of the cars. The streets are dominated by car parking. The large number of buses contribute to the unpleasant environment for pedestrians and cyclists. The network for cars dominates planning and there is a lack of an attractive, safe and closeknit pedestrian- and cycling network connecting important destinations. The invitation to walk is missing."

The report outlines many improvements that would transform Christchurch to "become a truly vibrant and liveable city".

A City with a strong heart
A City Centre with human pace
A Garden City the celebrates it amenities
A City with a wide range of people and activities
A City with attractive and inviting public space

So the million dollar question is:

Will this be taken on board and implemented or is it all talk?

Unity Finesmith

Auckland Cycle Chic:

http://aucklandcyclechic.blogspot.com

Creating Great Spaces

Kieran Turner — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:02:00 GMT

I've just been out watching the dual slalom at the Raboplus MTB National Championships at Mt Albert in Wellington. Its being held on a great new space that has been designated as a purpose built downhill pump track. This space was used a couple of years back but on a temporary basis and since then had been designated as a dog walking area. I'm not saying dog walking isn't important, but this is a good example of a much better use of a fairly steep bit of gully and I'm sure the folks who used to walk fido up this hill are happy not to have to chase their dog up it anymore.

At any rate there are likely to be a lot of other places for dog walking but relatively few that suit this type of activity. This facility will now spark a whole new generation of kids who come and practice dirt jumps and get hooked on biking. And it's cost the Wellington City Council sod all to create a major piece of recreational space of real value.

There are hundreds of other spaces like this that councils could use. Imagine putting a bike track round the outside of a large park so that children and families have a safe place to learn to ride. Throw in a little pump track and you've got some skill development. The park is still there but now has increased social and recreational value. Paul McCardle is a guy with just such a vision and he has created the first of these at St Mary's School in Hastings. His Bike On initiative has plans for a whole lot more too.

BikeNZ have partnered with Bike On to ensure that there are programs that can be delivered utilising this great infrastructure to get more kids riding and more active. Its all part of our pilot program in Rotorua called Rotorua In Gear.

So if you know of a piece of green area that could be utilised as a bike space let your council know or drop us a line at BikeNZ. I'll be talking to the 9 biggest councils about this and a whole lot more next Friday.

Cycle Chic from Around the World, February take 2!

Worldcyclechic — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:12:00 GMT

Frocks in Bikes is really taking off in NZ www.frocksonbikes.wordpress.com/

Here's an example from Auckland Cycle Chic http://aucklandcyclechic.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile Napier held an 'Belles on Bikes' Art deco day...

I quite like the idea of a 'bicycle market'.

Images: Louise Thornley.

It was a real family outing (spot the two canine family members too!)

Images: Louise Thornley.

The centre of world cycle chic- Mikael Colville Andersen in Copenhagen- was on the lookout in Mexico:

Its obvioulsy still bloody cold in Europe too! Another shot from Copenhagan:

London Cycle Chic found this new advert from Diesel, with a note not to try this on the way home from the pub.

UPDATE!: RaboPlus Recreational Cycling Ranking

RideStrong Admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:26:00 GMT

69-year old leads the charge!

The RaboPlus Recreational Cycling Ranking (RCR) is well into it's first year, with more and more rider joining to make it a fantastic start to a nationwide recreational series.

Results from The Perry Foundation Rev and fifith round will be online later on tonight, however after four races it was 69-year old Cyril Hibberd who was leading the ranking!

To the chagrin of the very competitive BikeNZ staff, BikeNZ CEO Kieran Turner had been leading the series...that was until the Yarrows Taranaki Cycle Challenge.

"The RCR as an idea grew out of the numerous conversations riders have with their mates about who beat who at what event. A fun ride world champion for NZ effectively,"says BikeNZ CEO Kieran Turner.

"It recognises that it's not really about being the best overall but about competing against your group of friends or yourself to see where you are at."

RideStrong caught up with Cyril Hibberd (Waitakere), and Sanna Wooliscroft from Dunedin (who is currently leading the Women's RaboPlus Recreational Cycling Ranking) .

"The RaboPlus Recreational Cycling Ranking is a great idea. In the end more people will ride more races", said 69 year old Cyril.

"The more races the better really- it opens the series up to everyone around NZ". Cyril's passion for cycling is evident; when RideStrong got in touch with Cyril he was preparing for the seven day Lion Foundation Wellington to Auckland Cycle Challenge.

Sanna Wooliscroft with husband/lead-out rider/domestique leading the way! Credit: Rob Scott www.marathon-photos.com

Women's RaboPlus RCR leader Sanna Wooliscroft has been competing in the series with husband Ben, who is currently sitting fifth in the Men's ranking.

"It's such a fun thing to do! I like to ride but I'm not really a racer- more of an endurance event rider. It will be fun to see how I go," said Sanna.

Husband Ben agrees. "It's a great series- we wouldn't have gone and experienced the SRAM Tour de Ranges otherwise."

There is yet another family twist to the 2009-2010 RaboPlus Recreational Cycling Ranking; currently sitting in second on the Men's ranking is Steve Wright, who is Cyril's partner's son.

"He's spitting at the moment! I'm sure I'll get caught soon enough though"

With only two races remaining in the south island including the iconic and scenic Le Race from Christchurch to Akaroa, the top few spots are being heavily challenged for the ultimate prize pack- including free entry into all of next season's recreational events!

Are money hassles wrecking your relationship?

Blog BikeNZ — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:34:59 GMT

We all know that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. This can create real problems if couples have misaligned money values. Money compatibility is hardly the first thing you think about when cupid's arrow strikes. So we have to learn to live Read More......(read more)