Trip in to the viaduct checking out the Whittakers Egg Hunt

 Stopping at Pt Chev for our first coffee.

Me, checking out an egg from the egg hunt at Aotea Square.

43 km ride to waterfront and back

 A very pleasant ride on a sunny Autumn day last weekend, through from Te Atatu Peninsula to Kingsland and the Connon Bakery Cafe for the first stop.

 Then on through K Rd and Grafton Bridge to go into the Domain.

 And then down to the waterfront. I went along toward Kelly Tarlton's for a while, and saw the crowds on the walkway and decided to turn back and go under the harbour bridge and up through Jervois Road for a change.

 This was the splendour at the Viaduct.

Very successful blinging of comfort cruiser

 My sister has popped a few delicious decals on her previously black Pedego, which really pump it up! Looks like it captures the zeitgeist of the bike adventure era we are presently enjoying.

Bike to Work Day 12th Feb

 We set off from Te Atatu Peninsula at 7.30 this morning, just for the thrill of partaking in the Bike to Work day. It's not so pleasant along the side of the motorway these days, with all the work going on, but at least it promises to look good and be cycle friendly in years to come. At least they ensure we can still get through. . .

 This is my sister approaching from the offramp to Te Atatu.

 Getting close to high tide so that side of the cycleway was very nice.

 A great coffee at Pt Chev corner and a bike check.

Long trip into the city on hot summer day

We're enjoying some long days of mild summer weather, which is perfect for a long trip in to Auckland city and along the waterfront. On my return I caught up with a friend at the Domain, which is where I stopped for an ice cream and took this photo. Lovely shade trees and from this point on just a few main roads and then the long cyclepath back to Te Atatu Peninsula. All up a round trip of 40 kms.

Meandering leafy goosy paths

 The pictures tell it all. Forget the post Christmas shopping rush, this is the way to live. Western Springs park in Auckland.

New Year's Eve ride

A group of five of us cycled around the Te Atatu Peninsula last night on a lovely still evening. It was a great way to end the year, and a promise (I hope) of heaps more cycling in the year to come.

Christmas bike bling

How nice on a sultry pre-Christmas evening, to pop some blue solar lights on the bike and cycle around the Peninsula looking at the lights. All I think I needed was some soft tinkly music playing from the panniers.

In to Ponsonby at night to see Franklin Road lights.

 Magic! The trip in, the mingling among the excited crowd, the lovely quiet dark trip home.

And the second bike

 Here's my new electric bike: Pedego. It brings back all sorts of happy memories from my month in Jacksonville, Florida, when I was loaned the Pedego (non-electric) to cycle on there. See below.

We've already been for a long cycle along the North Western motorway, and up to Kingsland for a celebratory drink. SO easy and effortless, and a huge pleasure to hit the cycleways.

End of one cycle - the start of the next

BOTH my bikes went yesterday - the Cyclone road bike because it was dead, and needed replacement, which is shown above. I LOVED the shape of my old bike, but it was basically a 'Hungarian Kmart Bike' and some of the cheap parts had definitely worn. This is an Avanti Discovery, which is much better made, and should see me to the shops and local places with ease. I enjoyed a whip around the Te Atatu Peninsula last night on it.

And my trusty green electric bike is now on Waiheke Island, where a grateful owner rode it from here at 6.30pm after work as a surprise Christmas gift for his wife. He sent me a text this morning saying what a good ride home it had been. I'm very pleased, and yet still feel a pang, because I have done a few great trips on that green one, and were it not for the fact that my flatmate and my sister both recently purchased much more comfortable and longer enduring electric cycles, I'd still be using it. NOW I am scouring websites for the type of bike frame that I will better enjoy, with a plan to do MUCH more cycling because of it.

Henderson Creek Cycleway now open

 It was a glorious day for cycling today and I took my bike along the Twin Streams bikeway to The Packing Shed for coffee with a friend. THis is she, walking toward me after seeing Just Plane Interesting.

 I am very pleased to see that the sewage piping etc along this strip of the Henderson Creek cycleway is well and truly over. It just goes to show how long it has been since I went along here, because the grass looks quite established and the path well used. What a relief not to have to avoid the pedestrians on the narrow footpath up by the road any longer.

Pleasant weekend rambles on the ebike.

 This is a common sight on Saturday or Sunday mornings these days. I'm parked outside Farro Fresh in Grey Lynn, about to fill my panniers with goodies.

 Perfect breezy leafy weather for cycling.

Heading home after checking out Moa in Grey Lynn.

Spring and increasing spoke action

Every weekend has seen a cycle trip or two, but no photos. The call of the cycleway is strong, and the number of potential places has increased since the advent of the battery bike. I just had to record something to say that the wheels have been turning, and normal transmission (of photos) will resume one of these days.

Midwinter ebike ride

 My sister (below) bought a flash electric bike and was bursting to use it, and the first really blue fine day this winter happened yesterday. We took full advantage and set off from Te Atatu.

 Weather cold, but still, and a wonderful day for testing the endurance of the battery power.

 We cycled from Te Atatu to Pt Chev, then up to our first stop at Garnet Station cafe and down to Grey Lynn. Stopped at Bread and Butter cafe for lunch, and then down to Ponsonby and down Franklin Road to end at Victoria Park. Along the waterfront to the Yacht Club, and back to Queen Street, and then up to the library to charge up our batteries (literally). Finally we returned home via Wellesley St and the North Western cycleway. Great day.

Summer 2013

 Finally, after returning from two months overseas, I have got this little beauty up and going, and this is me on my longest trip yet, from Te Atatu Peninsula in to Mission Bay and back. That's about as long as the battery lasts too. It still feels a bit of a cheat, but at the moment, with a touch of siatica and the looming potential of less cycling, this electric bike has opened up a whole new vista of possibility. AND I still have my other bike for shorter trips. It's a win win.

The ebike that wasn't

IF you read the link below you get the whole story. This is the ebike I just bought, online, and had delivered. I guess if I ride it in a virtual environment, I might actually get places, but certainly not as it came to me yesterday in this box. SIGH.

Oops, put this post in the wrong blog.

http://inkyblots.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/almost-ebike.html

Out and about to Oratia

 This is where we ended up - at the packing shed cafe after strolling round the farmers market at Oratia. Nice coffee and chat before heading back a different way. We went there via the Twin Streams pathway, and returned by Henderson Valley through the park. Lovely meandering paths.

Stopped here on the way at The Falls bridge.

The start of cycling season for us

So Helen bought a new bike (Gazelle) and we had a good day, and were meant to meet up for a picnic at the Domain, so three of us got out our bikes and set off from Te Atatu. Apart from a terrible squeak in my bike, which got so bad it sounded like I had a couple of geese trapped in the panniers, we had a great trip to the first stop at Pt Chev for a coffee. There we decided that I would go on down to Adventure Cycles near Western Springs, and see if we could rid ourselves of the noise. Dear old Bruce was willing and able - it was merely a broken spoke - and before long the three of us were hurtling forwards towards the Domain again. A very pleasant trip and much needed. The only I will say about the agony I found myself in at the end of the day, trying to get comfortable in easy chair with book, was that the lack of bicycle-specific exercise recently has worked havoc on my joints. A couple of panadol, some baking soda in warm water (for the lactic acid build up) and a hot water bottle and I am fully restored. Ready for the next trip.