All Roadies are Assholes. It's official.

It looks like a road-bike, doesn't it?

I thought when I got a road(ish) bike some of the Lycra-Cowboy set might warm to me a little and the odd wave or greeting would be returned. No-way! Still the same bunch of arrogant assholes that depressed me in a previous post. Is it because I just wear shorts and a t-shirt when riding? I don't know, but moving to a 700c bike with drops has made no difference whatsoever. 

I must just be a big-softy because I actually feel a bond with all cyclists, be it a spotty kid on a BMX, a professional road-racer or grandma on the rusty Raleigh 20. We share something don't we? Especially in a country like New Zealand where cyclists are treated with such contempt by the general public and law-makers. It would be different in Holland or Denmark I'm sure. There you're just an average citizen going about your day and you just happen to use a bicycle for transportation like most of your community. 

Yesterday I hooked-up the Cross-Check to the trailer for the first time and the Midget-Assassin and I headed off to the Takapuna library for literary refreshment and teddy-bear torturing in the children's area. I was getting along at a good clip on the flats and even passed a couple of roadies (how embarrassing), but Lycra-Cowboys were blasting past us left, right and centre in total silence, and I swear they were trying to get as close as possible without hitting me. I thought that move was the domain of the tin-top driver!

So I'll have another go avoiding eye-contact, keeping my waving-hand firmly on the bars and resisting communicating with fellow bikers, but it won't come easily.

Saddling-up for the weekly library run

I felt a little uneasy leaving my new pride-and-joy locked-up in public (the bike, not the child)

The 350 Big Bike Ride

"You don't look at the camera and I'll eat a sandwich, 

that'll make a good photo."

Waiting around for the start in Betty Winsdor Square.

On Saturday I packed the Midget Assassin, Pugsley and bike-trailer into the car and we headed over to downtown Auckland for The 350 Big Bike Ride. Kind of ironic that I had to drive to a climate change rally but it highlights the woeful situation bike commuters face living on the North Shore. I'm denied access to the only harbour crossing, there is no provision for bikes on the bus network and the ferry is a long way away, sails infrequently in the weekend and is expensive. I also doubt I could maneuver our road-train down the gang-plank successfully. 

Any initiative to start cleaning up the planet has got to be good, right? But for me it was more an opportunity to ride around the city in safety and show my support for urban cycling. Cycling has been getting more than enough bad publicity lately in NZ and there is lots of bad will among the general public towards cyclists in New Zealand at present. 

The ride started in Queen Elizabeth II Square at the bottom of town and the group of two or three hundred (best guess) sailed off up Queen Street on a beautiful spring day. What a different experience it is to ride in a group. I certainly felt the safety in numbers phenomenon as we cruised along soaking up the vibe of the city. 

The riders were a real cross-section of society but maybe biased a little towards the save the whales and university student end of things. There were lots of families with children of all ages and the most fixed-gear riders I have seen in one place. It was also pleasing to see the Lycra-Cowboys that attended smiling and having a good time as I had always assumed the constrictive shorts prevented those facial expressions. 

We left the procession near the end of the route and headed back to Ponsonby for a well-earned beer with friends as the ride carried on to the 350 festival at Mt Eden. The Midget-Assassin had been very well behaved to this point and I didn't want to push my luck. It was a great afternoon to be on a bike!

Heading up Queen Street, Auckland's main road.

Unity Finesmith of Auckland Cycle Chic frocking it in style.

The Midget-Assassin cruising back down Queen Street.

Mundo, Mundo, Mundo!!!

I so want a cargo-bike.

"What you look'n at mista?"

Every conceivable accessory including the family pooch.

Older guy, singlespeed (fixie?), elegant steel frame with fenders. Got my vote for cool-bike-of-the-day but was harassed with a few no-helmet comments from pedestrians.

Classic cars in the viaduct. They looked great but it amuses me how very average cars become "classics" if they make it to retirement. 

"Shush, Lycra-Cowboys on the waterfront."

I just love seeing kids on bikes.

Sorry about the shirt.

Ponsonby Road.

Fact: Mountainbiking is more fun than working.

I had a day off work on Thursday as it's school holiday time and after shipping The Midget Assassin off to daycare the boys and I headed out to Woodhill for a ride in the forest. Spring in Auckland has been very wet and I was determined to make the best of an overcast but dry day. 

We normally ride with other families in our street but it was nice for a change just having the three of us. It would be better still if the girls could join us but at three The Midget Assassin is still on training wheels. As it happened we met up with some friends at one of the trail-heads and rode with them for a while.

Someone needs a bigger bike

Thing-One led the way on the structures

I managed not to hurt myself...

but the youngest rider preferred dancing.

When I mail-ordered the last parts for the Cross-Check I got some flat BMX pedals for the Pugsley. Most of my riding is around the neighbourhood or along the beach and I don't need to be clipped-in. It's nice just jumping on wearing whatever footwear you happen to have on at the time. The Crank Brothers Mallets I had on there are a platform style with the "eggbeater" mechanism in the middle, but they were never comfortable with casual shoes as the eggbeater sat proud and you could feel it through the sole of your shoe. The new ones are Magnesium Wellgo MG-1s and they are very light and comfortable. Not so good on the fast and bumpy stuff but it was nice not being clipped-in when riding the structures.

There's always a groan when I say we're going cycling. I live in hope that with dad being such a fanatic the habit would catch-on but the boy's bikes sit in the garage for weeks at a time until I bribe them into a ride. Once we actually get going however they never fail to have a good time so they might pick-up the habit when they get a bit older. 

When I was their age my bike and skateboard were tickets to freedom and I couldn't wait to hit the streets. I would ride just for the sake of it with no particular destination in mind - I still do!

Spring Sprang

The Road-Train arrives at Castor Bay

We are having some fantastic weather lately in Auckland. After a particularly wet winter it's nice to go for a ride on a fine day and leave the raincoats at home. 

Dresses herself - I am not responsible!

Today (for no other reason than it would be a crime to not go for a bike ride) the Midget Assassin and I went to the beach for a picnic morning-tea. We live 500 metres from a perfectly good beach but it's hardly worth harnessing-up the trailer for that, so we headed over the hill to Castor Bay instead. 

Only 16ºC today, but warm in the sun and perfect conditions for cycling.

On of the great things about living in New Zealand is there's hardly anyone here. Even in a city of one million we had the whole park, playground and beach to ourselves. Sitting in the sun looking out at the harbour, eating and drinking with your daughter - life is just too hard sometimes. 

I took the long way home so I could get a bit of a work-out on the hills and we stopped in at a local butcher to pick up some dinner. On days like this you feel very lucky to be out and about riding a bike. It makes a potential chore like shopping a pleasant experience.

My new (to me) Dinky Panniers

A friend of mine mentioned that a local Hospice opportunity shop had a pair of saddlebags for sale. I've been looking for a secondhand pannier on Trademe (NZ eBay equivalent) since I started commuting, but nothing decent at the right price has turned up yet. It's a bit hot in the morning for a backpack so I've been wrapping mine in my jacket (to keep the straps out of the spokes) and bungying it to the rack. This is a bit of a hassle and it's not practical to stop and get something out of the bundle if it starts to rain for example. 

The saddlebags turned out to be quite small but I bought them anyway as the price was right, it was for a good cause, and I don't need to carry much to work anyway. As it turned out a larger pannier would not work on this bike as I had to mount them at the rear of the rack to stop heal-strike on this compact MTB frame. 

They had their first proper outing today and it was very convenient having a handy place to stash all my stuff. These ones are semi-rigid like little oval hat boxes and the lids fit snugly with velcro holding them shut. Just what you need for diving in and out of without having to deal with straps and buckles. 

Of course I look like even more of a dork now, but at my age I'll take comfort and convenience over vanity anytime.

Family Mountainbiking at Woodhill

As I've mentioned previously there's no shortage of keen mountainbikers in our small cul-de-sac so every month or so a call will come out of the blue arranging a group ride. We always go to Woodhill Mountain Bike Park as it's ridable all year round and the kids enjoy the man-made structures out there. 

As anyone with children will attest to, just about any organized activity will cost you an arm and a leg. That's one of the attractions of Woodhill for me, it's actually reasonably priced and that encourages me to go more often. For casual visits it costs me $6 as an adult, $4 for my 11 year old and my 8 year old is free. We take our own food so the only additional cost is the petrol for the 70km round trip. 

It's a good set-up with plenty of parking and toilets, a coffee hut and a shop if you feel like spending more money. My boys aren't keen cyclists but they enjoy the trails enough to tear themselves away from their Nintendos for half a day.

Thing-One tackles the see-saw while we decide which trails to ride.

"I'll be damned if my big brothers going to do something I can't"

It's good, clean, healthy fun and until my daughter (The Midget Assassin) gets off training-wheels it's also a chance for a bit of male-bonding in the family. A bit of mud, sweat and blood is good for the soul.

Queens Birthday Ride

Lets just start by saying I don't give a damn how old Betty Windsor is, but for reasons unbeknown to me New Zealand celebrates her birthday each year with a public holiday. It's not even observed on her actual birthday, but I'll take a day off mountainbiking with my kids over working any day. 

We live in a very social street with lots of kids and lots of cyclists. Every month in summer and more sporadically in winter a few of the families meet at the Woodhill Mountainbike Park for a family ride. It's not too taxing, usually a two hour ride followed by a two hour barbecue, pine-cone fight and a re-hydration session for the telling of tall tales. The rider who has the most spectacular crash or sustains the most horrific injury is awarded the "Kamikaze Trophy" and a chocolate bar to ease the pain.

We had the coldest night of the year in Auckland where the temperature plummeted to 4ºC (thanks to some winds blowing North off Antarctica) but Monday morning dawned crisp and clear and the sun stayed out most of the day. 

I might ride the Pugsley fixed next time as you don't get much of a work-out riding with kids, even on a 36lb singlespeed, but I had a great time and look forward to the next one. 

My two boys are not as keen on cycling as their father, but with a dozen of their friends around there's always someone slower than you to pass and someone faster to chase after. It's fun and motivating and they always have a blast.

We just about had the lower car-park to ourselves.

Custom made Possum perch.

Post-ride munching.

Some extra trail-obstacles out there today.

Thing-Two performing for the camera.

Waiting for the stragglers.

Illegal Bicycle Activity in the City of Sails

Well, it was a logistical nightmare for someone as organised as myself, but we did it, we rode across the Auckland Harbour Bridge!

I had the bikes already mounted on the car when we awoke to beautiful winter's morning. Cold, but fine and sunny. The scheduled ferry services from the two closest wharfs were very spread-out on a Sunday so we drove down to Devonport to catch the 8.30am ferry to downtown. 

Thing-One and Thing-Two enjoyed the harbour crossing and it was a little unique to have the boat full of cyclists. The bike racks onboard filled-up instantly and there were bicycles and lycra-clad weirdo's strewn all over the place. I took a chance and purchased one-way tickets ($12!!!) for the 10-minute sailing to the city. Some folks were buying return fares as we weren't sure if they would let us across the bridge or not. 

After a quick 10-minute ride through an empty city we arrived at the rallying point at the foot of the bridge. 

A quick family portrait before joining the crowd of two or three thousand. 

I was getting excited at this point in anticipation of riding over this thing for the first time in my 43 years. The bridge is 50 years old this week and it's still only available to cars, trucks and buses (buses with no bike racks!). The original design had provision for pedestrians and rail but the budget was slashed before construction began. Typically small-minded thinking from those in charge of New Zealand's largest city.

The crowd listened to the speeches and then started to get a little agitated as we were told by the organisers that we would not be allowed  to cross. The police were willing to provide safe passage but Transit New Zealand were refusing permission. 

Thing-One hangin' with some unicyclists as we were waiting for the go-ahead. 

As negotiations continued a roar went up as a bunch of roadies appeared over the guard rail and sprinted straight up the left hand lane of the bridge. This caught the police napping and they took off in hot pursuit after them. 

Word then filtered through the crowd that it was all go and we slowly shuffled around the (hastily erected) barrier-fence to gain access to the bridge on-ramp. 

At this stage I had assumed, as most of the crowd would have, that permission had been given for the crossing. We found out later that night that the police had been forced to shut down all the Northbound lanes when the lead-riders ignored the police road-block and broke through it. 

It's a great feeling being surrounded by a large crowd of people with a combined purpose. You feed off each-other's energy and there was real party-atmosphere up there on the bridge that morning. 

The crowd was a real cross-section of society. Everyone from babies in strollers and on the back of bikes to walking seniors. Lots of children were out strolling with their families and plenty of young cyclists were having fun zipping in and out of the masses. 

On the TV news that night, and in the paper the next day you would have thought we were a riotous rabble of anarchists. The media really put a negative spin on the whole event when in-fact it was just everyday Aucklanders getting out and enjoying the access we should have to our only harbour crossing. 

It didn't look like many people when we were all standing around waiting, but by the time we all got up on the bridge we filled the whole thing up, all 1.2 kilometres of it. It was an impressive sight and the Waitemata Harbour was just stunning from up there. 

You tend to stand out in a crowd when riding a Pug and a lot of my friends from the cycling community, local bike shops and even contacts from the internet came up and said hello. 

Jakob was there on another Pugsley, or should I say "the" other Pugsley and he was singing the praises of running the Endomorph's tubeless. You save half a kilo on each wheel but I'm not sure I can be bothered changing at this point, I've only had one flat in three years after all. 

Before we knew it, it was all over and we had reached Northcote Point on the other side. I did a few wheelies in front of the advancing police line for the cameras and then it was time to head full-circle back to Devonport. 

The protest had delayed the traffic for 1.5 hours and there were a lot of pissed-off drivers stuck in the jam. I sympathize with them but you have to stand up for what you believe in and it's only by actions such as this that opinions change and things actually get done. 

The motorist traveling in the opposite direction gave us lots of support and there were no end of waves and tooting horns as we made our way across. 

On the way home we rode over the new pedestrian overbridge to the Akoranga Bus Station...

 

Across the long bridge to the O'Neill's Point Cemetery...

With a quick candy-break amongst the headstones...

And a detour past the Devonport Labyrinth...

...Before arriving back at the Ferry terminal to collect the car. We also had two bakery stops to fuel those eight and ten year old legs and stop-offs at two playgrounds. When you're riding anywhere with kids it takes you twice as long and costs you twice as much!

What a fun day we had and I'm looking forward to the "next" bridge-ride, although I suspect the police will take a much harder line in the future.

(I seem to have stuffed-up the links when I was rearranging the photos. If you want to see them big they are all on my Flickr photostream.)