rachel.blog

Tag: cycling

  • Cycling in Auckland part 2

    Cycling on the footpath sucks. It really does. I’ve just returned from cycling Elizabeth to kindergarten and I’ve started cycling on the road for parts of the trip now. In fact, when I’m on my own cycling home I use the road almost the whole way. Why? Because the footpath is difficult to navigate. It’s…

  • Cargo bikes

    A friend sent me this cool video of cargo bikes in action:   It’s no secret that people who get to work under their own steam by walking, running or cycling are apparently happier than those who drive or take public transport. But did you know that people who drive or take the train during…

  • Cycling in Auckland

    Today is a great day. For the first time ever, I was a commuter cyclist in Auckland. I finally overcame my fear and cycled Elizabeth to kindergarten, a round trip of about 8km. It was hot! But it was a good ride, easier than I was expecting and no lives were lost. Auckland is very hilly…

  • Opinions are great, except when I disagree with them

    Opinions are great. I love listening to people’s opinions more so than the boring nothings of fence-sitters. Ok, so I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes people’s opinions rile me but there’s something challenging about that as it forces me to question what I think. For this reason, I like listening to RadioNZ’s The…

  • Naked cycling

    Let’s see whether this title generates more traffic than my bikini photo did. The Automobile Association of Britain has launched a campaign on cycling safety and they’ve produced this video clip of a naked cyclist. It’s very good. Coincidentally, my 7 year old has been asking questions about nudity this morning. He said, “When did…

  • Running vs cycling

    I have injured my heel while running and so have had to abandon this activity for the past few days while I hobble around and hope it gets better soon. This has been disappointing because I was starting to semi-enjoy running. Not wanting to become slothful, I decided to head out on my creaky old…

  • First bike ride in Auckland

    I rode my bicycle today for the first time since arriving back in Auckland. Here is my Auckland bicycle: It was very strange riding a regular bicycle again. It’s not true what they say, that you never forget how to ride a bike, because I was very wobbly and unsure of myself. The handlebars are…

  • Running

    I am hobbling around like an 80-year-old today. The reason for this is that I’ve started running. I hate running but it’s exercise and I no longer have Busby for that. But because I am not used to running I have sore muscles. My calves are sore, my hamstrings are sore and my thighs are…

  • A few things: York, the bicycle and the IPCC

    I spent the morning wandering around central York today. I took my last walk down the Shambles, sat and enjoyed a pot of tea at one of the cafés there and generally felt a bit teary about saying goodbye to my fair city of York. Then I transported our living Christmas tree to a friend’s…

  • An open letter to Gerry Brownlee

    We will be leaving the UK at the end of this month and so I have started to think about what my life will be like back in Auckland. The biggest change will be the shift from a commuter-cycling lifestyle here over to a car-dependent one in Auckland. But does it have to be this…

  • Scarborough New Year’s Day Dip

    What kind of crazy person goes swimming in the North Sea in winter? My sister-in-law, that’s who. Yesterday, we went to Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast, to join the New Year’s Day Lions Club fundraising dip. Ben’s sister swims every weekend in Lake Geneva so she is well-trained in icy dips. I thought about…

  • A whinge

    I’ve just come back from picking Elizabeth up from nursery on my bicycle and now I want to have a whinge about the rain and wind. So here goes: I’m wet, exhausted (anyone who has cycled in the wind will understand why but add a factor of ten to this given that I’m cycling a…

  • Bakfiets spotted in Brisbane

    My father has just sent me this photo he took of a bakfiets on the streets of Brisbane. This is so nice for me to see. I grew up in Brisbane and never cycled much in that time. The city is not really conducive to cycling with hot and humid weather, lots of hills, urban…

  • The Terminator

    He’s known in the school playground as the Terminator and here he is in my bakfiets. Be afraid, be very afraid.

  • 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…

  • Soccer and cycling in York

    Every Saturday morning, Daniel plays soccer. He is 6 years old, mildly autistic and has Tourette’s syndrome. We have tried many extra-curricular activities for him before, including soccer, but he never enjoyed any of them. But he loves the soccer coaching in York because it’s run by the mother of someone in Daniel’s class who…