Biketober starts Thursday 1 October
What festival involves two wheels, is a heap of fun, and encourages exercise? Biketober of course! Biketober is a month-long community-created bike festival that is brought to you by the wonderful team at Bike Auckland. Biketober celebrates the joy of cycling, with activities for all ages, abilities, and bike styles, so it’s a great chance to get your mates together and get your family involved.
Biketober activities are self-run, which means you can make them as creative as you like! If you’d like to host your own Biketober event simply visit the Biketober website and click the ‘submit your event’ button.
Auckland Transport is offering KidsLearn2Ride sessions and Adult Bike Skills courses throughout the month if you would like to learn to ride or repair your bike.
This year’s events will be a mix of both face-to-face and virtual events. Some events may also require physical distancing. This year’s calendar gives you all this information and more. Check it out below and add your event to the calendar.
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From 1 - 31 October
This game is a month-long series of biking missions to keep you, your friends, and whānau active and having fun by bike all through Biketober. The game goes live on Thursday 1 October, so it’s perfect family fun for the school holidays and beyond.
The missions include everything from snapping a picture of your favourite bike spot, family fun rides, helmet safety, and getting art and crafty with bike art.
Just download the Goose Chase app, search for and join the “Biketober 2020” game and get ready for the fun to start!
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Good news! As part of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Southern Corridor Improvements project, a range of walking and cycling improvements are expected to be completed in late 2020. These include:
- A new 4.5km off-road 3-metre wide shared pedestrian and cycle pathway (the Southern Path). This path will run alongside the northbound side of the Southern Motorway between Takanini and Papakura Interchanges and will include two separate bridges across the Pahurehure Inlet
- New shared paths along both sides of Great South Road through the Takanini Interchange, with signalised crossings at the intersections
- Community links into the Southern Path at Brylee Drive, Walter Strevens Drive, and through the reserves at Conifer Grove, Gardone Terrace, and Pescara Point
- A bridge crossing the motorway between Pescara Point and Rushgreen Avenue, linking the communities either side of the motorway and connecting them into the Southern Path below.
Working in partnership with Auckland Transport and Bike Auckland, Waka Kotahi has developed a map showing how the Southern Path will connect into the local walking and cycling network.
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1 – 31 Oct
Our friends at Ecomatters have launched an awesome new challenge for Biketober. Yet another great reason to get out and about by bike this Spring.
Next month, visit painted power boxes by bike and upload your photos to the EcoMatters Bike Hubs group to be in to win a $800 gift voucher with 99 Bikes NZ.
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Guided walks
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) might be over but there are plenty of opportunities around the city to connect to the whenua (land) by going on a hīkoi (walking tour). Activate Auckland will be hosting two upcoming guided walks:
- Walk the Original Shoreline of Tāmaki Makaurau - Retrace the original inner-city shoreline of Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). Participants will be led from Victoria Park to Britomart stopping at heritage sites along the route. Pocket maps are provided if you’re interested in exploring past the stopping point at Britomart.
- Te Paparahi, Toi Māori - Walks in the City - Whakamanatia, a Kaupapa Māori community group led by Grayson Goffe, will guide a hikoi celebrating Māori public art, architecture, and design elements that have become a quintessential part of the City Centre.
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What do the gears on my bike do?
A range of gears enables us to work at a comfortable and efficient speed. Typically, bikes come with external gear mechanisms, known as ‘derailleurs’, which move the chain up and down the different sized cogs on the rear wheel cassette, and on the chainrings by the bottom bracket. The closer the chain is to the bike frame, the easier the gear. The biggest tip with changing gears with a derailleur? Make sure you are always pedalling when changing gear.
So, what gears does Allen recommend for tackling hills? When going uphill change into a lower gear, and when riding at speed or downhill, change up into a higher gear.
If you are new to using gears head to a quiet flat place and practise shifting them. Get used to how your bike changes gear and what the different gears feel like. With a bit of practice, changing gear becomes second nature.
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