Simplicity Itself…

A Christmas Tale

Who remembers getting their first bike? For me, it’s a family story that’s been told countless times. Christmas circa 1973 and I awake to a bright, shiny red bike.  It wasn’t shop new; it was an old bike that Dad had painted and done up. Nevertheless, I was excited and happy. That is, until my best friend Andrew Dykstra from a couple doors down knocked on the door to show us his present: a brand new Grifter, which was about as flash as you could get in those days.  Mum says I was crestfallen, so, in an inspired bit of thinking-on-the-spot, she told me that my bike was actually Santa’s old bike. Instantly, the coolness factor of my bike jumped through the roof 😊.

Freedom is a Bike

It’s a great story, but interestingly, I don’t really remember that part of it. I do remember the bike however, and others I had as a kid. They were all machines that opened up mine and my friends’ lives. Suddenly our boundaries expanded massively.  We could travel the whole district, explore, and be on our own. Bikes meant freedom and fun. They also meant being “in” the community rather than driving past it. If you wanted to know where the kids were, you just found the bikes.

And I think this is true of many of us over a certain age. Our bike was our key to greater freedoms, until we grew old enough to drive a car. Then the boundaries were pushed even further and biking, for most, got left behind; a childhood artefact, no longer needed.

A Simple Solution to Complex Problems

Well – times change and we’re finding out that the humble bike is a bit of a miracle machine. It has the ability to transform our heath, increase our longevity, and can lead the way in making our communities connected, safer, and people-centric rather than car-centric.  This doesn’t seem to come, however, without some initial angst, as has happened the world over.

Which Brings Me Home

The old state highway, running through town (and the district) has recently become a local road with the opening of a new expressway via a different route. Now there is a lot of public hoopla about plans to define some space for people to ride bikes along this piece of road.

The planned changes for the section through my town of Waikanae will see the shops gain a significant number of carparks from what they have currently, but there could have been more without the provisioned lane for people to ride bikes on the road. When this was announced, a referendum was started to stop the planned space for bikes. The council was forced into a vote with two options. The first planned for increased carparks and a defined space for people on bikes. The second plan had the maximum number of carparks (by angle parking) but no room defined for people biking. To my way of thinking, sanity prevailed; the option with the bike space (and significantly increased number of spots for people to park) won out, but by the narrowest of margins. The council is still copping a lot of flack for this decision with people still trying to find ways to stop this happening.

But Wait, There’s More

There’s the bigger picture of redefining the entire length of the old state highway, to better highlight the space for people to ride bikes. There’s plenty of room for this on almost the entire 15km stretch, and the properly defined space will make the road safer for all people using it. Where there isn’t room they are looking at ways to make things as practical as possible for all.  But this too has attracted much gnashing of teeth on social media, with the council (and often people who ride bikes) being slammed in the comment sections.  It’s even made the national news, with people seemingly outraged at the slightest change.

The amazing benefits

It seems totally bizarre to me that some people are so vehemently against something that, we are finding out, can be a miracle for our health. 

Don’t believe me?  Check this out…

“Imagine if a team of scientists devised a drug which massively reduced people’s chances of developing cancer or heart disease, cutting their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%. This would be front page news worldwide, a Nobel prize as good as in the post.”

Well a 2017, 250,000 people, long term study in the UK shows that instead of a drug you could ride a bike a modest distance to work and reap those same benefits. (more info HERE) To state it again….  40% less chance of dying early, from all causes!  Just by riding a bike! Not just from cardiovascular events as you might expect, but also from massively reduced cancer incidents in regular bikers. These are near miraculous health dividends.

What’s interesting also is that as a healthy way of moving people around, riding a bike comes out streets ahead (excuse the pun) of even walking. Walking is certainly a healthy way of getting about but the benefits are not as marked, and you need to walk a considerable distance each week to see those benefits.

This study, and others like it, has been such a concern to a group of Wellington doctors, that they formed a group that is advocating the creation of protected bike lanes to encourage more use. (click HERE to find out more)

One such study that has just come out, shows that Kiwi kids weigh more and are less fit than their parents were (find out more HERE).  It’s sobering and will end up being a huge drain on our health system unless something can be done.  Riding a bike is clearly one simple solution, making it a complete no-brainer.  Seeing massive rows of bike stands at schools, brim full of bikes like we used to see, would go a long way to addressing this situation.

But isn’t it dangerous?

To quote Bilbo Baggins “It’s a dangerous business, going out your door”.  But given that, riding a bike isn’t particularly dangerous in the scheme of things.  Certainly not as dangerous as many things we do every day.

I know people are often worried about the safety aspect of riding a bike on our streets, but the benefits massively, massively, massively outweigh the risks.  In the Western world if you ride a bike 47km you have a one-in-a-million chance of dying (more info HERE). Not bad odds I reckon, and with the health benefits you’ve just read about, it’s incredibly less risky than sitting on your couch.

I know people are concerned about safety when I see (older people especially) riding bikes wearing Hi-Viz vests. To me that just screams that they are doing something dangerous – but they aren’t. About one in 1000 bike riders are in injury crashes every year, compared to three in 1000 for people driving cars.  ACC figures show that it is far safer than rugby, cricket, basketball, soccer, netball and tennis. (much more info HERE)

Making riding a normal, everyday thing, that can be done in regular clothes, would help encourage others, and then the safety in numbers factor would also kick in. If you follow our blog (subscribe in the right-hand panel) you might have seen Glynis’s post about this very subject and her cool bike Poppy (HERE are the awesome details)

Now Go, Get Out There…

Waikanae is quiet and predominantly flat, which is perfect for getting about by bike.  And age is no barrier. Get out there and rediscover the fun you had as a kid, explore and get involved socially with other people riding and reap massive health benefits. 

I know some of the local businesses are concerned about the potential lack of trade the expressway may cause by taking traffic away. The perception is out there that a protected place for people on bikes might do the same, but studies have shown, the world over, that when you make a space more people-centric rather than car-centric it helps the economy of the area (have a look at the video below).  It’s good for the environment, it eases congestion, and when you develop a place to be more walkable and bikeable, we all get far more social neighbourhoods.

Hugs all round

So I say let’s embrace this Waikanae!  Ride to the local shops to do your shopping and business. Help local businesses embrace this too, by letting them know how you got there, though they’ll surely see it in your vitality and youthful smile, having just had the wind in your hair and your dose of the miracle which is simplicity itself; the humble bike.