Riding a bike really can be chic - Heels on Wheels Fashion Show

iWay are putting on a fashion show at the Opera House this Sunday afternoon (including bubbles for the first 200 people) proving you can still look fashionable and ride a bike (see pics above!)

Miss Universe New Zealand 2010, Ria van Dyke is hosting the show and a live DJ will be playing as models strut their stuff down the runway with clothes by Thomson’s Suits in Hastings and Sally-Anne in Havelock North.

So if it’s fashion and champagne you’re after on a Sunday afternoon, head to the Opera House from 3pm - see you there! Join us on Facebook to see who else is attending.

Watch Out For Cyclists Week - first winner announced

Congratulations to Teri Sadd of Meeanee who spotted our wacky clown biking down Omahu Road yesterday morning, part of Watch Out for Cyclists Week.

Every day this week you can win a new iWay bike if you spot a mystery cyclist out on the streets of Hastings. Text Martin and Sarah on Classic Hits to 4487 and tell them where you saw the cyclist to go into the draw. Winners announced daily.

The week aims to raise awareness to motorists of cyclists on our roads.

Your pink face matches your pink shirt - running 16km at Country to Coast

Boss: Your face is as pink as your shirt Eloise.
Me: *pant* *pant* ummmm yes *struggling for breath* so it is Paul.

That was the first thing my boss said to me when I arrived at the finish line after running 16km (‘’You’re now running 17km’’ said the starting man - errr WHAT?) Country to Coast event in the weekend.

Talk about a warm welcome!

Starting the race at Riverlands Road in Havelock North, I was thrilled to have another member of the 40-strong council iWay team to run with - thanks Bruce Allan! After being thoroughly briefed on what to expect along the Rotary Pathways track, and pleasantly informed we’d be running about 17km not 16km as planned *panic starting to creep in*, the race started in that quiet, eery way any race starts with a build up of nervous energy, mentally preparing for the next few kilometres of pain that lies ahead, and where the first drink stop will be. Well, that’s what I was thinking anyway.

After the terrible weather Hawke’s Bay had experienced over the previous week, I was expecting to have my newly pink running shoes soon filled with water and turning a lighter shade of brown. To my surprise, the track was dry, easy to run on and had the most spectacular views imaginable. Think Te Mata Peak to the left, cows and grass all around you and the coastline directly in front. Talk about a way to take your mind off what you’re doing!

Thank goodness for the drink stops along the way and the toots over the bridge all made possible by the team at Rotary Havelock North.

Still hobbling two days later (insert sympathy here), the event was well worth it. The crowd that hung around at the end of the event was impressive - I would be as bold as to estimate about 1,000 of the 1,142 people who entered brought their family, friends and dogs in tow to be into win spot prizes including a brand new iWay bike.

Thanks to the rest of the iWay team for participating on the day and thanks to my boss Paul, who by the way didn’t run or walk, for your warm reception at the finish line - I’ll be making sure you get out there and run in 2012!

Must queue: will win bike

A queue not for the faint hearted, nearly 400 people waited for up to an hour to go into the draw to win a new iWay retro-style bike as part of the Country to Coast event in the weekend.

People had to correctly answer the question ‘’How many kilometres has iWay developed in Hastings’’ which Chris North from Havelock North correctly answered as 60 kilometres.

Good on you Chris!

Spot a gorilla on a bike and win one...a bike we mean!

Dangling the carrot much? We’ve lined up three of the 10 brand-spanking-new bikes you could win if you spot a mystery cyclist (a gorilla included) out biking on our roads starting from next Monday (9th).

Why the crazy costumed-people on bikes you ask? Well, it’s part of iWay’s goal to make drivers more aware of cyclists in the Hastings District.

Just text in who you've spotted to Martin and Sarah on Classic Hits and enter the prize draw each day - more details to follow - we're having too much fun coming up with crazy costumes!

What is iWay?

Don’t know what iWay is? Well where have you been?

iWay is all about making Hastings a walking and cycling friendly city. We want more people to beat the feet or get out on their bike because it’s an easy safe and fun option for the whole family.

Hastings won a hotly contested $4M in funding from the NZ Transport Agency’s model communities project.

The $ is to help us make Hastings a world leader in encouraging walking and cycling. So what are we doing with the $4M bucks?

We are linking where people live with where they work and where they play. This includes new cycle lanes (on road ones painted bright green so drivers know to stay out) and some off road ones to keep you extra safe.

We are also going to be improving safety at intersections and roundabouts and slowing down traffic in some places, so no matter where you bike, it’ll be sweet as.

Plus we’ll have plenty more bike racks all around town, so if you do ride, there’ll be somewhere to park up. But iWay isn’t just about biking, because walking is cool too!

We’re fixing up our footpaths, creating new ones, making them wider, improving lighting and making it safer to cross streets with pedestrian crossings and the like. Hastings is set to be walking nirvana.

Other things we are working on include travel planning with schools and workplaces, cycling training for kids and plenty of cool events that you can all get involved in.

Hastings is made for walking and cycling, it's got good streets and it's really flat. iWay is going to help Hastings people get up on their feet or take up pedal power.

iWay is fixing 'em up

We’re trying to get more people out there riding, so we figured if their bikes are safe and they ride real smooth they’ll be whole lot more likely to put the pedal to the metal.

And so we started our Big Bike Fix-Ups in December last year. We held the first one in the Hastings CBD and weren’t really sure how many people to expect.

We had five bike mechanics at the ready, to churn through free safety checks on everything from BMX bikes to tricycles, but would the people come? Well, yes they did.

They came in their hundreds! We had over 300 people turn up on the day and our mechanics worked away furiously, fixing 214 bikes. Mean! Since then we’ve had two more Fix-Ups, one in Flaxmere at the Flaxmere Family Festival and one just the other weekend out in Havelock North.

Three events in and the Fix-Ups are proving just as popular. In Havelock we only had three bike mechanics because the weather was a little iffy.

They were supposed to be at the domain for about an hour, but in the end we had to double it, as a couple of hundred people turned up and we fixed over 100 bikes.

It was definitely a hit with the locals, people were coming along to take a look at what was happening and then driving home to pick up their bike and bring it back for some expert tweaking.

Heaps of kids turned up and it was also great to see mums and dads looking to start riding again, now their old ride had been given a new lease on life.

So many people told us they had been meaning to get back on their bike but couldn't because it had a flat tyre, dodgy brakes or some other problem.

The Fix-Ups were just the ticket and got their bikes back in tip top shape. The Fix-Ups have been so popular, that there’ll definitely be a few more in the pipeline….maybe when it warms up a bit.