Great time had by all on community bike ride

We were lucky to have a nice day for the Eastern Suburbs Community Bike Ride, and  we had a good cross-section of the community there, with some family groups, and  a mix of experienced and less experienced cyclists.

It wasn’t too challenging getting through Kilbirnie and onto the cycle way at Cobham Drive, mainly because the traffic wasn’t heavy; – which was fortunate, because there isn’t a single road marking making things easier for cyclists. This would be so easy to improve- and in fact I’m sure it is probably something the Council will be very open to fixing in the very near future, given the interest expressed in improving cycling safety by so many candidates.

Once onto Cobham Drive, it was an easy ride to the Choc Fish Cafe at Shelly Bay. In many places, it would be possible to make provision for a separate cycle way, or to widen the existing road, but on the whole it wasn’t bad. Coming around to Scorching Bay, the surface is a bit rough; again nothing a small amount of investment wouldn’t fix.  Getting through the tunnel at Seatoun was fine (one or two of  our less experienced cyclists did choose to get off and  walk along the narrow walkway) and coming through Strathmore and onto the runway under pass was easy, apart from the fact that again the road markings could be improved so that it is clear what cyclists are expected to do.

All in all it was a great outing; Choc Fish Cafe would have done well by our party (actually they were pretty busy anyway!) and the sausage sizzle run by the Rongotai College cycle team was  also well patronised.

I’d love to run a similar event again,  taking a slightly different route, but it probably won’t be until after the election.  And, as always, I’m open to hearing your comments!