Bicycling is the New Gold Rush

(This is our final installment of Kiwi Chronicles in partnership with Bicycle Times and Adventure Cycling. Look for a link with some behind the scenes production notes on the Bicycle Times website soon.)

We are in Christchurch and are set to fly back to the US tomorrow. It’s strange to think that our three months in New Zealand is done. We initially came to New Zealand to explore their new cycle trails to hopefully learn something about them to bring back to the US. When we got here, things weren’t quite what we expected. The trails were largely in their infancy and primarily off-road, though we did manage to ride the beautiful Forgotten World Highway. In all our interviews, people kept referring to the Otago Central Rail Trail which we originally didn’t intend to do. However, it just kept coming up in nearly every conversation we had about bicycles. It was the the ride that started it all and we HAD to ride it.

Quickly flashback to last summer to our small orange tent in eastern Oregon. We had just spent the last few weeks riding the Adventure Cycling TransAm route, passing through a dozen small towns. I was thinking hard about bicycle touring and travel and its potential to revitalize small communities and in a flash of insight drew a little infographic in a notebook. Bike travelers travel less distances than a car driver. If you were to ask “Who would finish the trip the fastest?,” the bicycle would lose. But maybe that’s missing the whole point of travel and is asking the wrong question. People travel on bikes to go slow and to really experience the countryside. For us, this means making lots of food stops and stopping early enough to have time to explore towns, go fishing and meet locals. The overall net result is that a bicycle traveler will potentially spend more money through a region than a car traveler going the same distance. This all looked great in my sketch book and we experienced it ourselves as we traveled, but the idea still seemed nebulous and hypothetical. Until, that is we went to Central Otago.

The Central Otago region of New Zealand is not what you imagine New Zealand to be. It has more in common with the dry hills of Eastern Oregon than it does The Shire of Middle Earth. The hills are brown and covered with dry tussock grass and the skies there are larger than in other parts of New Zealand. It wistfully reminded us of the American West. Like rural America the Central Otago region had many small towns that were spaced about 10 to 20 kilometers apart, the distance determined by the old parameters of rail travel. When the Central Otago train stopped running, the small towns on the line started dying on their feet. Shops, schools and post offices closed down. A strong enough wind would have carried what was left away. But then, something happened that would bring life back into the area – the humble bicycle.

The Otago Central Rail Trail was not an instant success. The farmers and small towns that the trail would run through did not want it there. It took hard work and what Daphne Hull, the chairperson of the trail’s Trust, euphemistically called “negotiating with neighbors” to make it work. I don’t want to give all the contents of the video away since its always better to hear a story from the source, but the Central Otago Rail Trail was the sketch in my notebook come to life. It was #Bikenomics in action. Bicycle travelers on the rail trail spared the small towns from drying up and blowing away. Visiting the towns, you are struck with a powerful communal pride. The accommodations are tastefully done. The food far exceeds what you would expect from a town in the middle of nowhere. The towns are growing again. People are moving back into the areas and starting businesses, all because of 150 kilometer gravel bicycle trail.

The numbers of the trail are impressive. They figure about 14,000 people ride the whole length annually. Some of the more scenic stretches see considerably more traffic than that. The trail is utilized both by tourists and locals. The trail is said to generate 12 million dollars annually for that region. For the first time in a long time, people are moving back into the area. The trail, as Graham Duncan a farmer and early skeptic put it, “its the biggest success since the gold rush” for the area. That is saying a lot.

What interests us the most is that the Central Otago Rail Trail is both a microcosm and a blueprint of what is possible with bicycle travel. It is the best case scenario of bicycles saving rural communities and economies in a confined geographic area. Over the next few weeks we’re going to sift through all our notes, photos and videos and work on a presentation on our experience of bicycle travel and tourism in New Zealand. Stay tuned!

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our 2012 2012 calendar or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing.)

Images from the Otago Rail Trail

We’re about 2/3rds of the way through the Otago Rail Trail taking our time and interviewing people along the way. We’ve heard a lot of hype about it and are now believers. It is amazing country and lovely riding. Aside from the scenery, the thing that touches us the most is watching people riding it. One person sticks out in particular for me. The gentleman looked to be in his late 50s, his face was sunburned, his knees were sunburned but he had the biggest grin on his face as he was pedaling up the gravel hill. He was having the time of his life on the trail. Say what you will about the trail, but the fact that it can get non-cyclists out there riding is pure magic. Here are some photos from the last few days.

Mini Update from Christchurch

On the train from Greymouth to Christchurch.

We’ve been in Christchurch for a week now waiting for a part to arrive to fix my Brompton. Just as we were leaving our hostel in Greymouth, the Brompton felt REALLY wobbly. I hopped off and noticed much to my horror that the rear hinge wasn’t looking so great and the bike was unrideable. Fortunately, Greymouth was a fairly large town and had train service to Christchurch. We took the train and are now waiting for the parts to arrive. While startling, the mechanical isn’t trip-ending and should be easily fixed once we get the right part. (Note: a good idea to carry a spare hinge kit on long tours).

The sheared bolt head…

While welcomed and relaxing at first, we are starting to get a bit antsy and hope to get back on the road soon. I phoned into the courier service and the part (a countersunk bolt that holds the rear hinge of the Brompton together) is suppose to arrive early in the AM. With any luck, the folks at Cycle Trading will be able to get it sorted and we’ll be on a bus to Dunedin the next day. We’ve lost quite a bit of time so we are opting the bus option to make up some days. While not what we planned, we have to roll with the punches.

My loaner bike while in Christchurch!

The upside of all this waiting is that it has given us time to plan what we are going to do next as well as catch up on some other projects. I’ve had a few ideas for new shirts bouncing around in my head the last few weeks and have had time to get on the computer and design them. Even though in NZ, I’ve been keeping watching over the sad state of the transportation bill and have been thinking about how it will affect bicycle travel in the future. It’s sparked a few ideas for some bike advocacy related shirts, if for nothing else, to let off some steam.

Our friend Kristen on her first bike tour in NZ rocking a Zombie Apocalypse shirt!

Some of the shirts are just meant to show that cyclists are a real political force that cares and votes about issues. Check out our Car-ody shirts.

The other line of “Bicycles. You’re Welcome.” shirts point out some of the things we take for granted that were brought about by bicycles like paved roads, pneumatic tires and automobiles. A quick search on the Good Roads Movement will show that the first paved roads were advocated for by cyclists, counter to the all too common “roads are for cars” mantra. Roads for moving people in whatever form they choose.

As always, all shirt sales help keep our trip going. We really operate on a tight budget but still manage to write, photograph and film it all to share. If you want to support the site and need a new bike themed shirt, it’s a win-win : ) Check out T-Shirt Store here. We’re also about 50 people shy from reaching 5000 Facebook Fans. The 5000th person gets a free “Bicycles. You’re Welcome.” shirt!

Kiwi Chronicles: Episode 5 – Bicycling in Nelson, New Zealand

In this video we leave Wellington and finally make our way to the South Island. We explore the wonderful town of Nelson, NZ which is one of the most bike-friendly towns we’ve seen in NZ. It doesn’t hurt that it is also New Zealand’s beer capital. Check out more behind the scenes info about the video on our special post on Bicycle Times.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our 2012 2012 calendar or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing.)

Kiwi Short: Frocks on Bikes

We are currently in Christchurch with some down time as we wait for some repair parts. It’s giving me time to work on some videos. I’m starting to edit the next Kiwi Chronicle episode and lamented all this great Frocks on Bikes footage that probably will be cut from it. So instead of just letting it gather digital dust, I had to cut a Kiwi Short. I was feeling pretty down about cycling in New Zealand and Wellington in particular after the International Bike Incident. This gave me some hope again. Everyday cycling in NZ seems to be in its infancy and its groups like Frocks on Bikes that will hopefully help take bicycling from recreation and bring it back to the everyday. In the video is Leah Murphy, one of the founders of Frocks on Bikes which has become a national movement of sorts. Also present is Celia Wade-Brown, the mayor of Wellington.

As you can tell from the video is that it was pretty windy. What you probably can’t tell is how absolutely terrifying the ferry ride was. The seats in the ferry weren’t bolted down and actually started moving during the ride from all the tossing! Everyone was pretty ecstatic to be back on shore and we all decided that riding a few hours into the headwind was more enjoyable than another ferry crossing. What was suppose to be a short picnic ride, turned into some epic riding battling the winds back into Wellington. At one point, three people in front of me and myself included were actually blown into traffic. We got off and had to walk a 100 meters. Surprisingly, everyone kept their spirits high and made it back. Even Celia pedaled all the way back, proving to be a stout cyclist (now if she can only get some more bike lanes in Welly!). Riding with the Frocks, renewed some faith that I had lost in cycling in NZ. It still has a long way to go, but moments like this give me hope.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our 2012 2012 calendar or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing.)

NZ Cycle Trail and Rural Communities

I’ve done a re-edit of our last video that focuses specifically on the interviews with the NZ Cycle Trail Team. We hope to share it as a resource for other bike advocates trying to make an economic argument for cycling. Although we find it pretty amazing and daring for the New Zealand government to tackle a cycling project of that scale, it is not the only model. Sustrans in the UK was funded to create a project for the new Millennium that was free for masses of people to enjoy and benefited the entire country and they developed the National Cycle Network!

While the NZ Cycle Trail network is still in its infancy and will have a few more years to fully mature, there are already signs of promise. We’ve seen local councils take the lead and make steps to improve trails and roads in their region. We’ve seen some businesses that were started to meet the growing demand of cycling. Most encouraging is that we’ve seen an increase in locals using cycling resources that were developed for tourism. The most exceptional example we’ve come upon is a ferry operation in Nelson. Two people built a flat bottom ferry with bike racks to shuttle tourists to Rabbit Island where there is a lovely meandering path. An unexpected benefit is that locals are brushing off their bikes and using the ferry in droves. It has become quite the weekend activity to take the family out for a bike ride out on Rabbit Island.

There are still some hard yards ahead to change road culture and the perception of bicycles just as recreation to transportation in New Zealand. We’re reminded of that everyday we’re on a road with cars passing too close too fast. After talking to many people involved in the program we remain cautiously optimistic.

TRIP UPDATE:
At the moment we are in Greymouth and have experienced a mechanical with my Brompton. We’ve opted to take the train to Christchurch and wait for the part and deal with repairs there. So if you’re in Christchuch and want to meet up or can help us out with a home stay, email us!

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our 2012 2012 calendar or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing.)

Kiwi Chronicles: Episode 4 – The Forgotten World Highway

Check out some behind-the-scenes info on Bicycle Times!

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)

Inside an International Bike Incident

It’s been three days since the incident and things are finally calming down. We’ve had a flurry of newspaper, TV and radio interviews. We’ve been inundated with emails and comments from apologetic Kiwis. We met the mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown, for afternoon tea. Walking down the street the other day, people stopped us to tell us how sorry they were about what happened. So how did it all happen?

Just the Facts

We are fairly experienced city cyclists. I’ve taken the League of American Bicyclists (the US oldest bike advocacy group) bicycle safety course in the US, an intensive two-day course about traffic and traffic skills. It uses the same theories that are taught by other advocacy groups in the UK and in New Zealand. We’ve applied these techniques for thousands of miles on our bicycle travels without incident. I mention this to point out that we are not rogue cyclists who don’t know how to ride on roads.

We had just met up with the NZ Cycle Trail team and the Kennett brothers and were generally feeling good about bicycling in New Zealand. We were riding from the Wellington CBD back to our homestay in Newtown on Riddiford. We were on a 4-lane stretch of Riddiford (which, ironically enough, is next to a hospital), with parked cars next to the curb. We were positioned in the left lane and, because of the parked cars and driveways, we were riding further out in the lane to be seen and avoid any doorings. Traffic was light. The right lane was WIDE open allowing easy passing for a motor vehicle. We weren’t impeding traffic. We weren’t hogging the road. All it would take is two seconds for a car to safely pass in the open lane, just like they would do with any other slow moving vehicle (like a school bus, city bus or truck).

Apparently, two seconds is sometimes too much to ask.

As we were approaching Mein Street, the silver sedan hesitates behind us, then passes very aggressively. Laura is riding in front of me and and all I see is that the car just barely manages to pass without hitting her. It was completely unnecessary and an obviously intentional scare tactic. In the heat of the moment, we react, just like anyone else who cares about their life or their loved one. It’s a basic human instinct. We generally keep our cool, but there was obvious malice in his driving, and we threw our arms up in a “why’d you do that” gesture.

It is not a proud moment when, as a bike advocate, you lose your cool, but I did. Finger gestures where made, to which the driver returned the same. This is where some “blame the victim” usually creeps in and people will no doubt say that I somehow brought this whole incident upon myself, conveniently disregarding the fact that just moments before someone driving two tons of steel had threatened us with bodily injury. This point has always bothered me when I’ve read these sort of stories myself. The cyclist is suppose to not react, to be a Ghandi-esque figure at all times, not registering any discontent at the fact that two tons of steel was just maliciously steered at them with impunity. Forgive this cyclist for being imperfect and human.

It was then that time stops and speeds up at the same time. The car stopped, blocking traffic (ironically enough), and the driver bolted out of the car, yelling in a language I couldn’t understand. The hardest thing to understand, and what haunts me still, was the look of incomprehensible rage on his face. When I close my eyes, I can still see his bulging eyeballs beneath his baseball cap and hear him screaming. His anger had completely consumed him, taking over anything that was reasonable or human. It was obvious that this guy had some serious issues that went far beyond us just biking in the road.

As he ran at us, Laura managed to dodge him. I attempted to do the same, but he tackled me off the bike, knocking me hard to the ground. It was completely surreal. We spend most of our lives sheltered from violence, so when it comes raging at you it is hard to fathom. Fortunately, where I fell happened to be in a traffic island, so I was in no danger of getting run over by other passing cars. What little traffic there was came to a screeching halt. I got up, stunned, and not fully comprehending the situation. This was not exactly on the agenda for the afternoon. He came at me again, punching me in the face, and I went down again.

Still screaming incomprehensibly, he got back in his car, sped off, and ran a red light. Immediately, people came out of their cars and off the sidewalk to offer help and information. People handed us slips of paper with their names and phone numbers to give to the police.

And that’s just the beginning.

Internal Battles

I’ve been fortunate in never having been the victim of assault or being met with such violence before. There are a lot of strange contradictory feelings that go on. Why me? Was it my fault? As a bike advocate, I usually read or report about these stories, so it is strange territory to be the subject of one.

At weak moments, I wonder if somehow our reaction could have justified his violence. But I remind myself to take the long view and that, for all our yelling (at his initial threat on our life I might add again), his actions are inexcusable. The first day or so, I found myself just staring off and reliving the whole experience again, with infinite permutations. In some scenarios the outcome is much worse, in others I’m the victor – if there can be a winner in this type of thing. Sometimes there are intense flashes of anger and shame where my body just seizes up.

I wasn’t quite sure what my reaction was going to be after all this. Would I be terrified to ride on the street again? Would I want to end our tour? Would I be consumed by anger? It’s a little bit of all of that, but also another emotion that I didn’t quite expect – pity. Pity that something like a bicycle could make someone so angry as to lose all decency. I can’t imagine what kind of inner life you must have to fly off the handle at someone riding a bicycle, but it must be hell. I imagine he must have been a kid once, excited to ride a bicycle, and somewhere along the way things went wrong.

The other day, we rode past the spot where the incident happened, and I decided to make a video. On the way there, someone honked and I instinctively clutched the bars and wondered if it was him again. Of course, it wasn’t, but it may be a long time until that reaction passes.

Going Public

We’ve been caught up in a little bit of a media frenzy the last few days and it has been exhausting. When the whole thing first happened, my natural reaction was to just quietly forget it all. I even waffled on filing a police report. But I know as a bicycle advocate that it’s important for these stories to be told, to get them into the public consciousness, for however brief. I also knew that, because of our situation as being American tourists and journalists, with connections to several bike groups, the story would spread. If it had happened to any other cyclist, it would have just been another filed police report.

Still, it was with some hesitation that we went to the press. Our hope was to turn this unfortunate incident into a “teachable moment,” that beyond the sensationalism of an American tourist being attacked abroad, it would spark some larger conversation about road culture in New Zealand. We applaud the NZ government for investing millions into a wonderful cycle trail network to attract tourists as part of a job creation scheme. That is why we are here after all. But we are finding that, for the cycle trail plan to truly be successful, it has to be part of a larger plan to integrate bicycling. It does no good for an overseas tourists to fly here to ride the 18 Great Rides, only to get honked at while in the city.

Moving Forward

A lot of people have wondered if we would end our tour in NZ or give up bike travel in general. The short answer is no. Despite this terrible incident, we know it is an anomaly. We have seen so much kindness in our travels in NZ that we know that this is not who the people really are.

People also tell us that New Zealand has the worst drivers. Drivers aren’t an anonymous separate species. These same “drivers,” when not in their cars, are hospitable and good people. There is a strange disconnect somewhere that has to be addressed.

We are in Wellington for a few more days, then we head to the South Island. We’ll be spending some time in Nelson, which we hear is the most bike friendly of NZ towns, with several cottage industries related to bicycle tourism. From there, we will probably go down the west coast of the South Island.

We’ll continue to pedal on. I’ll keep my finger gestures in check and try to leave this nasty incident behind me.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)

Kiwi Chronicles: Episode 3 – On the Road Again

Kiwi Chronicles: Episode 3 – On the Road Again – PathLessPedaled.com from Russ Roca on Vimeo.

Latest episode is out. Check out the behind the scenes info on the episode on Bicycle Times!

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)

Kiwi Short – Damian Day – New Zealand’s Bicycling Nomad

We met Damian Day in Rotorua. He’s a blog reader who has been following our site for about a year. Through Facebook we were able to meet up in town. His story is inspiring and humbling. Despite having several nerve disorders in addition to being autistic, he rides his bicycle 8-10,000 kilometers a year. He has to. His bicycle is his physical therapy and if he doesn’t keep riding he may end up in a wheelchair. We spent a few days chatting and getting to know him better at a backpackers. We split ways on Christmas eve and wished each other well. We always keep a look out now for another cyclist on the road with small wheels pulling a trailer. Keep the rubber side down, Damian!

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new 2012 calendar or some of the fun zombie apocalypse shirts we’re designing.)