Sunday, May 23, 2010

Around Onehunga and Ambury





We took a ride around Onehunga yesterday and discovered a whole area previously not found: Ambury regional park, with its animals and the bike track that goes from there all around the coastline. Only managed to begin that portion of the trip before we needed to return, but it is fixed in mind for a longer jaunt another day.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Homewards in the dying light

After such a long summer and mild Autumn, the days are starting to get much shorter and more unpredictable. Last night I just made it back to Te Atatu before the sun dipped below the horizon. Still, it was satisfying to be on the bike and not one of the many cars crawling along on the right.
Just a few light showers but nothing like the weather today - strong gusts and sideways rain - so I'm glad I'm working from home today. I actually took the camera to capture images of some of the many motorscooters that use these cyclepaths, which personally, I find very annoying. Some of them go quite fast, and come upon you without warning. I don't know how other cyclists feel about them, but despite signs up to show they are not allowed on the cycle way, they still persist - even to the extent of taking their license plates off.

I didn't come across any last night. Phew. Just long stretches of open path, golden light, and tight streams of slow moving traffic on my right.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Snakes on a plane - er BIKE, I mean.

It took me a moment to realise what this strange apparatus on the front of the bike was, when a friend uploaded this photo, taken in her garage in Atlanta. Not some clever new basket holder, but a rat snake! Something I'd rather not find on my own bike in the early hours as I headed out to work in the dark.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

To market to market to buy a fat . . . cabbage.

We went further afield with the trailer on this perfect Sunday ride - from Te Atatu along Rosebank Road, to Avondale market. Had to ride along a fairly busy/narrow road (been spoilt with many cyclepaths lately), but today they were fairly sedate weekend drivers. Very glad NOT to be a car in the queue to get into the carpark.
It was jam packed with people, and we didn't choose the best place to park our bikes, but mental note for next time to park closer to the fruit and vegie section.
Huge range of cheap produce - can't believe we haven't been here before. For a pittance we loaded up our panniers, baskets and trailer, and negotiated the traffic at the entrance to get out.