rachel.blog

Category: Cycling

  • When is it ok to kill cyclists?

    Earlier this month The New York Times published an opinion piece about cycling, “Is it O.K. to Kill Cyclists?“. It prompted a huge number of articles and blog posts which, insofar as discussion about cycling safety helps to improve cycling safety, is probably a good thing. Even the Economist has waded in with, “The American…

  • Quality of life in York

    People in York are shocked when I tell them how much I love living here. Why is that? There’s an assumption that life is better in New Zealand and Australia so I’m going to challenge that assumption with this blog post. Quality of life is partly subjective and so the things I love about York…

  • Cycling the Solar System part 2

    Daniel was home sick from school today and so what better thing to do with a sick child than take him on a bicycle ride through the York Solar System. I visited the Solar System back in early September, just after taking possession of Busby the bakfiets, but I only made it as far as…

  • Busby the Bakfiets

    Our lovely niece, Frances, came to visit us for the weekend. She is studying in Winchester and she arrived in York by train on Friday evening. I did what any proud bakfiets owner would do: I picked her up on my bicycle and she rode in the box with her luggage all the way home.…

  • Cycling, naughty words and vegetarian biscuits

    I have had a couple of flat tyres on my bike recently. It is very annoying when this happens because it is almost always when I am cycling or about to go cycling. What it has made me realise is how much I prefer cycling to walking and running because what usually happens is that…

  • York Minster with kids

    We finally got around to venturing inside York Minster today with two small children in tow. Yes, it is beautiful and magnificent, but unlike other cathedrals we’ve been in, York Minster has hands-on activities for adults and children. There was this thing inside  (called an orb apparently) that looks a bit like a cancerous growth,…

  • Should helmets be compulsory?

    I thought I’d conduct a poll (see below) to see what readers of my blog think about legislation to make helmets compulsory. One of the things I like about living in York is that I don’t *have* to wear my helmet when I go cycling. I can just jump on my bike and dash out…

  • How the Dutch got their cycle paths

    A friend of mine shared this video with me which I found really interesting. It discusses the reasons why the Dutch have such brilliant cycling infrastructure today and you get to see some of it in action. I wish more countries would follow suit.

  • I have great legs!

    I have great legs. Is it a bit conceited of me to say this? I don’t know, but I do know that cycling around for a month on Busby (my bakfiets) has given me really great legs and I don’t ever want to say goodbye to them.  Why, oh why do the politicians of Auckland…

  • Le Tour de York

    The Tour de France in 2014 will start from North Yorkshire and the people of York are starting to get excited about this. When I first heard about it I was puzzled because I thought this famous French cycle race was always held in France. It is called the Tour de France after all. And…

  • Cycling makes me happy

    Something I knew all along turns out to have some evidence to back it up: cycling to work makes you happier. Urban Studies Ph.D candidate Oliver Smith surveyed 828 commuters in Portland Oregon to determine commuter well-being among different modes of transport including cycling, walking, bus, rail and car. Here’s what he found. I am…

  • Cycling the Solar System

    Not often in my life, never actually, have I had people proclaim, “COOL!” just at the sight of me but when I go cycling on the bakfiets, it happens all the time. Ok, so they’re referring to the bike rather than to me but I’m not going to let the facts get in the way…

  • Cycling in York

      The ease with which we can cycle around York has surpassed all of my expectations. Perhaps this is because we have come from car-dependent Auckland where bicycles are not catered for very well, so I really didn’t expect much. In York, however, there are many completely off-road cycle paths like this one above which…