Cambridge 10th grade boys rode their bikes to footy on Saturday. From left: Levi van der Westhuizen, Sam Wood (both Cambridge East), Ethan Ryan (Leamington), Dallas Pope (Kaipaki), Joshua Corbett (Goodwood), Mikko Peden-Cullinane, Reuben Wood, Harri Williams (all Cambridge East), and Austin Campbell (Goodwood). Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The full bike park at John Kerkhof Park for the last Bike Saturdays to Sport event is testament the initiative is catching on, says one of the organisers.
Penny Thompson is a member of Bicycle Revolution Cambridge, formed to get more ordinary people onto bikes.
And that includes the town’s children heading off to football, netball or rugby in winter.
The lure of a free pot of hot chips might have been one influencer for more than 70 cyclists on Saturday, says Thompson.
But what has become clear is that parents and caregivers are confident Cambridge’s cycling network has become a lot safer so their children can ride to sport.
That confidence is borne out by figures released to The News showing cyclist numbers captured on the Hamilton Road Cycleway between Grey and Hall streets average 2161 a month since March last year.
The point of the Hamilton Road Cycleway where a traffic counter is installed.
Last month there were 2292 cyclists clocked on the counter, just near the bus stop, up from 1438 in July last year.
A similar counter on Te Awamutu’s Park Road cycleway shows a monthly average of 1056 cyclists but numbers plummeted during the winter.
“We have tirelessly been trying to get our Community to Bike to Sport over the winter period and it has been well received,” said Thompson.
“But we just need a higher profile and if we get that, we hope the council will fund big bike parking pads.”
Meanwhile Bicycle Revolution has a number of other events planned for the rest of the year including the Café Crawl next month, Kids Kerfuffle and the Karāpiro Flyer in October.
A maintenance session is also in the planning stages so women can learn how to repair punctures and maintain their bikes.
Bicycle Revolution also ran the popular Cambridge Cycling Festival on Anzac Day earlier this year.
Dallas Pope, 10, of Kaipaki School was unable to cycle in from Kaipaki but was dropped off into town to do the last section. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
