Guest Blogger: Ditch the car and take the bike

This week we spoke to Hastings Mum, Mandy and her 3 year old daughter Danica who bike to kindy twice a week. They've even ditched the family second car!



This all started with a New Years resolution to ditch the car and walk to work for the 2 days a week that I work. Was lovely walking in the summer and Miss 3 loved her walk to Nana and Poppa’s on the days that I was working. We also walked to kindy most days as well. The walking soon turned to biking as this was the quicker option and sometimes getting home at the end of the day was a struggle – tiredness on small legs made for some long slow trips.

We were offered a small bike for Danica to learn to ride, she was whizzing around after 10 minutes. After some practice at the weekend on the Rotary Pathways and mastering the brakes we started the commute with her biking to Nana’s with me along side on the road. Some simple commands made this easy for us. She learnt to stop when I said stop and also to stop and wait at road crossings as she whizzed ahead of me most of the time. Biking to kindy became normal, far more exciting than being strapped into a car. Even with the cooler weather coming she was keen to bike, so the second car some weeks would not move off the driveway. A few layers of clothing and some gloves and we are off even when it was cold. A few spots of rain did not faze her either, some days it added to the adventure.

Seemed like a good idea to get rid of the second car so that left the driveway in June.

We are now keen to use other forms of transport – our favorite is going by bike. This is easy, either locally we bike together or a little further we use the seat on my bike. There are a few things that we cannot manage so have to wait for the weekend for the car to be available (like the weekly supermarket trip). But we can easily pop to the supermarket or veggie shop for small top-ups during the week.

I wear normal clothes to bike in, even heels if needed for work! (no nasty unflattering lycra) – the only important kit is my high visibility jacket. Not only is this wind proof (a must on cold mornings), but it keeps the rain away also. In the summer I just pop a high viz vest on.

We have also started to use the bus – our first real adventure was going to Napier on a Friday afternoon to meet Daddy after work for dinner. Danica has used the bus with her Nana lots and thinks this is a better way to travel than in the car.

We are committed to keeping up with the alternates – not only does this provide a good dose of exercise every day (and makes me feel good), but the cost savings are amazing. I would suggest to others that they give it a go for a while, borrow a bike and try the Pathways.

Friday inspiration

Another end to a long week. Although the weather hasn't been too great for a bike ride, I still feel inspired by this image. Roll on Summer and your long days and light nights!

Guest Blogger (or is it Bloggers!?) to come Monday sorry! Awaiting a spectacular pic to accompany the story.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Guest Bloggers: It's a biking gang

This week's Guest Bloggers are Shane, Craig, Kate and Simon from here at council. They bike in most days of the week together so I thought I'd get them to contribute to the blog about why they love cycling. Happy reading and happy weekend.



Watch out! You’ve been warned. There’s a new gang in town. We all wear flouro. We are fast. We are cool. We don’t chafe.

Our leader is ‘Dan Ackroyd’, who likes to lead from the front, though he wishes to only to be known by his mysterious alias. ‘Dan’ powers along in his super high visibility jacket, he shows the way for our office-worker-based gang as we all cycle home.

There are usually at least four of us: Dan, Kate, Simon and Shane, though in the summer our following multiplies.

‘Dan’ says:

“I must say, biking in a group has its advantages, not only can you have a chat to your mates about how much your boss rocks, how cool your job is (no seriously, I’m not trying to suck up to anyone), especially on side streets which don’t have much traffic!!! But you are also far more visible in a pack than you are on your own. Even at the busiest time of the day, people will see your biking posse control their patch of the street. In all seriousness though, whilst I’ve had a few close calls from cars not seeing me biking by myself, I’ve never had a problem biking in a group.

As for biking in general, I took up biking to work over two years ago when I moved to Havelock, and have never looked back. Now that I live in Parkvale, I find it takes pretty much the same time as driving during peak hour. The best thing about it is you get to work in the morning awake and refreshed. Sometimes I don’t think we utilize the great attributes of Hawkes Bay enough, we have great weather, and everywhere is flat!!! This is perfect for people of all ages and ability to get out in the fresh air and onto a bike, hardly anywhere in New Zealand do people have it as good as us.”

Kate says:

“I am probably not the most consistent cyclist of ‘the gang’, however I have to say that I have cycled to work often enough now to feel quite guilty when I drive! I always feel better having cycled in the morning – it wakes me up and there is never a hastle defrosting the car. Cycling home there’s always great company and it’s great to see the looks on some people’s faces when they see the flouro gang cycling past! I think it’s great that Hastings District Council are making cycling safer in Hastings, the new cycle lanes are great. Yes we wear fluoro. Yes we are fast. And yes we are very cool.”

Shane says:

''I bike to work pretty much every day now, rain or shine, and I used to come to work by car. I find being 2kms from work its actually slightly quicker going by bike and I don’t have to search for a car park and can conveniently park my bike at work. This gives me a very enjoyable start and finish to my day, and as I work in an office, getting a bit of air and getting the blood pumping make me feel good. The new bike lane on St Aubyn Street is real handy and cars are very good at giving me space on there, I even get the occasional smile from those nice patient drivers you sometimes find at roundabouts (its true they are out there!)

I think the Iway initiative is great for Hastings, Havelock and Flaxmere, and as my kids grow up will be pleased to see them being able to make good use of cycle paths and walking routes. It’s funny how in New Zealand most of us associate the best places we like to be as our great outdoor landscapes, whereas if you are lucky enough to visit Europe it is often the cities that are the best places to be – Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Prague, Budapest etc etc. the thing is those places are designed for people first. It is great to see that Hastings is gradually turning round to focus on its people first and not cars and to make our city a good place for us to be. Better cycling and walking facilities all add to this.''

Simon says:

“Put your hands on your head”

Guest Bloggers: Happy cyclist Katrina Brunton

This week's Guest Blogger is Katrina Brunton, who comes to work with a smile on her face after cycling in from Havelock North each day - what a star! Enjoy - happy weekend everyone x.


I am 34 years old. I am a wife and mother of one. I love all kinds of sports and have been involved in a fair few over the years; bodybuilding, running, swimming, cycling, triathlons and I have played netball for most of my life. Recently, while playing netball I dislocated my knee, tore some cartilage and am now waiting for surgery. So, while I wait for surgery, the netball has ceased, as has the running and every other sport that I love to do, that is all except the cycling.

To my pleasant surprise, cycling is the only exercise or sport that doesn’t hurt my knee.

Before moving to the Hawke’s Bay we lived in Stratford in Taranaki. I worked in New Plymouth, which at the time took me 45mins to drive to and from work every day. I despised the commute and used to wish I didn’t live so far from work. Then just over a year ago, I got a job in Hastings and we moved to Havelock North.

Since moving to the Hawke’s Bay I have been cycling to work most days. It is the first time I have lived within cycling distance of work and I love the fact that I not only get some extra exercise in my day, but I have saved huge amounts of money on petrol and car expenses.

While I know there are lots of reasons why driving to work is easier; no changing of clothes required, no backpack to carry your suit and your heels, you can turn the heater on and it is most likely faster, the benefits of cycling are truly great; you get fit, thanks to the endorphins you are happier when you arrive to work, it is actually fun and you definitely get to see more on the commute. Given the significant health and financial benefits I find myself constantly questioning why there are not more people cycling?!

As you can see from the photo of me cycling to work on Thursday, you don’t actually need to wear lycra, or any special cycling gear, you can cycle wearing almost anything as I did in the rain on Thursday, maybe not your heels, but I just leave those at work. The heater isn’t needed as you will no doubt be warm by the time you get to work and think of all of those calories you have just burnt getting there!

Now, I know cycling in the rain doesn’t actually sound like that much fun, but let me tell you it is honestly better than sitting in the car and realistically in the Hawke’s Bay it is very rarely raining.

It feels good passing all those motorists sitting in their cars crawling through the streets trying to make their way to work. Where there are cycle lanes, I simply pass them all by.

I am always amazed by the kids I see every morning cycling, or on their scooters or walking. More often than not, they are smiling and laughing and I often think to myself how you don’t often see people sitting in a car smiling or laughing. Maybe exercise is truly the key to happiness? There is a poem about sharing a smile and it comes back to you, well cycling in the morning and seeing these kids enjoying life is a bit like that. It makes me smile and when I get to work, I am in a much better mood than I would ever be if I had driven.

When we moved to the Bay, my husband owned a Chevrolet 4x4 and I had my own car. As I was cycling to work and didn’t need two cars, we decided to sell the 4x4 and keep only the one car. My husband then bought us both a mountain bike (I have tended to only ever own a road bike). We also bought a toddler seat that goes on either bike for our four year old son. During the majority of the summer, my husband cycled most days to take our son to daycare and anywhere else they wanted to go. My husband says it beats driving through town any day! and I think secretly they both like the attention they get from the people who stop and stare and no doubt think it looks quite cute.

As a family, we are always on our bikes, and more often than not will choose our bikes to go to the supermarket for that bottle of milk, or to go to our favourite cafe for brunch on the weekend. Our son will quite often beg us to go for a bike ride after work or on the weekend and now gets grumpy if he can’t use his own bike - because he is a big boy now don’t you know!

So in short, we have made cycling an everyday part of our lives and we feel much better for it. It hasn’t been difficult and I suppose it helps we still have a car as well, but it rarely gets used compared to our previous life. My worry is that here, I am preaching to the converted; however I am hoping that consistency is the key to success of getting more people on bikes. The more we ride our bikes daily, the more it becomes a consistent theme in the daily experiences of those drivers and hopefully the accepted norm. While I don’t think we will ever see more bikes than cars on our roads, if I can just encourage one other person to cycle to work every day, I think I will have made a difference. Imagine if all of us who cycle convinced just one other person...

Guest Bloggers: Debbie Weeds from Christchurch

A post this week from ex-Christchurch resident Debbie Weeds who spent a month here after the devastating quake. Thanks Debbie for sharing your thoughts on our region.



We were recent guests of the Hawke's Bay. For one month our family got to escape shaky Christchurch and spend time in the beautiful, friendly, sunny and very cycle-friendly region.

We were so impressed by the cycle facilities in the Hawke's Bay. It seemed like everywhere we went there were fantastic cycle ways just waiting to take people on an adventure. Alas we did not have our bikes with us but I certainly would have gone biking on the Marine Parade cycle way in particular. The cycle ways must be a wonderful asset for people who are cycle training or commuting as well as being brilliant for a stroll with the dog.

Obviously Christchurch is at the start of a long rebuilding process and Napier/ Hastings will certainly provide inspiration for the iconic architecture that can replace what is lost, but I also think that Christchurch can be inspired by the cycleways in the Hawke's Bay.

Pre-earthquake, Christchurch had a decent cycle network and plans to improve it further, but now there is even more opportunity for creating cycle lanes and cycle ways. A common response from Christchurch residents when asked what they want from the rebuilt city is for it to be green and to have a world class private and public transport network. Interconnected cycleways like those in the Hawke's Bay certainly could contribute to a greener and safer Christchurch.

Happy cycling everyone. What a great part of the country the Hawke's Bay is.

Calling all coffee-loving cyclists

Ha! What better incentive to get on your bike than a free coffee?

Today iWay launched the iCafe coffee card where every fifth coffee is free when you show you've cycled to coffee shops Bay Espresso, Opera Kitchen, Taste Cornucopia, Jackons on Joll or Aurum. Each of these coffee shops also have a bike stand outside for easy parking.

I got my first stamp this morning at Opera Kitchen.



Cards are available from these coffee shops, or the Hastings i-SITE

Feeling inspired for a Tuesday

Loving these pics on a sunny Hawke's Bay Tuesday.