Bike Waikato February 2024 Newsletter

In this newsletter from Bike Waikato:

• Great progress on the Aotearoa Bike Challenge – help us reach 10,000 km!
• Join us for our ride to Ngaaruawaahia
• Boon Sculpture Trail and Tour – Thursday 29 February
• What else is going on?
• Other bike news

Great progress on the Aotearoa Bike Challenge

It has been so exciting to see so many people out on their bikes this month!

We have accumulated nearly 5,000 km so far this month – what an awesome effort! This has saved an estimated 900 kg of carbon dioxide emissions that would have been emitted if those kilometres had been driven.

Join our team on the Aotearoa Bike Challenge to help us reach 10,000 km by 29 February.

Join us for our ride to Ngaaruawaahia

A great way to get some kilometres is to join us and Go Eco for our bike ride from Hamilton Gardens to Ngaaruawaahia this Saturday 17 February. We will be departing from Hamilton Gardens at 10.10am and stopping at the following timing points. We welcome you to join us at any point along the way!

There are also reduced bike rentals and shuttle transfer rates available from River Rides. There are also trikes available courtesy of Ride Your Trike NZ.

Please register for the ride so we can make sure that everybody is well supported to complete this monster of a ride.

We will also be hosting a mini-session about blind-spots for truck drivers for you to drop into before the ride.  This knowledge will help you know where you need to be to help keep yourself and your whaanau safer on the roads.

Share the Road & Hamilton City Council will be onsite from 9am.

Here are some tips and things to keep in mind to make the ride safer and more enjoyable for all:

• It’s going to be hot – Bring your water bottle, apply sunblock, and consider long sleeves or pants.
• It’s a long ride – If 52 km is too ambitious, consider making the route shorter or turning around early.
• Be patient – It’s a group ride, with people of different abilities joining. Please be considerate of other users of the trail, too.
• Bumps and hills – The Te Awa trail is amazing but does have the odd hill and uneven bits (especially around St Andrews)
• Please pre-register to help us plan and make this a safe and enjoyable ride for everyone.

We post regular updates to the event page on Facebook.

Boon Sculpture Trail and Tour

Our friends at Boon Arts have put together a fun treat in Kirikiriroa Central – twenty-three temporary outdoor sculptures over eight public sites. The sculptures will be in place from 3 February to 31 March.

The sites are clustered between the Te Awa River Ride and the Western Rail Trail and so could make a great destination or stop along the way of a bigger ride.

See more information on here.

We are also teaming up with Boon Art for a bike tour to take you to the key sites and teach you about the art and the artists behind them. Tickets available soon but mark your calendars – Thursday 29 February at 6pm!

What else is going on?

Other events for Bike Month in the second half of February:

• 22 February in Cambridge and 27 February in Hamilton – Big Bike Film Night. Buy your tickets here.
• Saturday 24 February – Join us for a bike-themed picnic at Potter Trust Playground in Callum Brae Drive.
• Thursday 29 February, 6pm – Join us for our classic Boon Art Bike Tour starting from Victoria on the River and exploring the newest Boon murals and sculptures. This will be hosted by Boon Art. Tickets available soon.
• Tour de Coffee Culture (1 February – 31 April) – Use the code BIKECHALLENGE or BIKEWAIKATO for free registration for the Waikato Tour de Coffee Culture.

Is Graphic Design Your Passion?

Bike Waikato is preparing designs for a merch store, but we need your help. We’re looking for someone to help us come up with some great designs. We have design guidelines and logo files. You would only need to bring your creativity.

Get in touch if you’re interested!

Other Bike News

As resurfacing work is done on some roads across the city, Hamilton City Council has also taken the opportunity remark streets to provide more space to people on bikes.

The following roads have been recently remarked:

• King Street (Norton to Lake)
• Heaphy Terrace (Four Square to Sare)
• River Road (Clarkin to Donny)
• Clarkin Road (various sections)
• Comries Road (various sections)
• Hall Street/Mill Street (sections between Kent and Norton)
• Tuhikaramea Road (parts of SH23 to Kahikatea)

Not all sites may have green paint yet as the new surface needs time to cure.

Upgrades have been started on King St in Frankton and Heaphy Tce in Claudelands. The bike lanes are wider and provide more space to avoid the door zone of parked cars. Future work may involve adding protection (“tim-tam barriers”) and moving the parking lane.

Photos via Mastodon.nz.

Please continue to let us know if you are encountering any infrastructure issues on the network so we can follow up with Council. You can also submit requests via the Antenno app (Android / Apple) – We are happy to follow up on any Antenno requests on your behalf if you do not hear anything back.