First Riding Session

So! I finally got myself onto the road and cycle in Auckland for the first time! Haha not really because it was in Cornwall Park. But anyway. Good first time experience!

Ironically though, I admit that I had to drive to the park. Just like how they mentioned in the Transport Blog. But i figured that if i were to begin by cycling on the road alongside a number of cars, I will never start.

I wanted to cycle on Puriri Drive:

 It was a very nice experience: I felt the breeze on my face, and really connected with the surrounding environment I was in. I rode past a man on the footpath and could almost say “hi” to him. It was extremely different to when I was driving here. When driving, you focus on the road, the traffic lights, your speed… but when you’re cycling, yes you focus on the road, but you also cannot help but notice the air around you, what people around you are doing. You can hear the kids in the school playing out on the field. You’re aware of what’s around you, not only visually, but also because you can hear, feel and smell it.

I got off here (picture below) and walked to the traffic lights. Not sure if it’s because the road started splitting into more lanes so I was afraid of taking up car space for those that wanted to turn left (there were barely any cars but I still considered it).

The video below shows the contrast of the small road to the busy road. I came out on Greenlane West and you can see the cars just zooming past. Although there’s a marked bike lane, it’s so narrow I would never want to ride on that… 

The trail at One Tree Hill below. Nice paved path, not as smooth as Puriri Dr so it was a slightly different experience of riding. The path was windy but quite flat, and it was narrow enough - 1m wide or less. There were a lot more pedestrians, but I’m not as scared of them as I was when riding at Mission Bay two years ago. I still feel like I need a lot of space to pass people though… I happened to pass a man pushing a pram and the road felt so narrow for the two of us I had to get off the path and pass him by riding on the grass.

On the way back to Puriri Drive, this is a snapshot of me turning left to avoid having to pass this pedestrian. Riding a bike is quite intuitive; you lean left and then you turn left.

 Here’s a little video of me riding the path. Bicycling sure is a balancing act and I know I’m not good at it! So forgive me for the shakiness of the video. We’ll see how it improves with time..

Back on Puriri Drive, this woman and girl were crossing the road. I think they slowed down to let me pass but I wasn’t confident to ride between the two of them and the car. I ended up slowly down, almost to a stop, to let them know to keep walking. I felt like I could still hurt them, riding on my bike, even though it wouldn’t be so bad if I hit them by driving a car… but this may explain why cyclists aren’t allowed to ride on the footpath? Though I don’t see why they can just stop of pedestrians in cases like these. They have so much more control and not so much inertia because they’re not as heavy or fast as cars.

In any case, these moments define the difference between cyclists and pedestrians.

I feel that with riding a bike, it’s really while you are riding that makes you feel good, not so much afterwards. Not like doing exercise where (in most cases) you only do it for the results and don’t enjoy it while you’re in the middle of it. Although you don’t seem to feel as good after the ride as you do while you’re in the middle of it, it does still resonate a sense of happiness for the rest of the day. It may just be that it’s a sunny day today, but I swear that I still feel more cheerful than I normally do on a sunny day. It may be due to the fact that I feel like I’ve actually done something, like some exercise. I may feel the same when I walk, but sometimes walking feels more like a necessity, and in all honesty also like a waste of time when you just want to get somewhere (I’ve had this experience in Dunedin when I walked to work or my sister’s place). 

There’s a difference in riding a bike and driving a car (obviously). But when you pedal on a bicycle it feels like you’re doing work, yet at the same time you’re not stuck in some enclosed space travelling from A to B. You connect with the surroundings around you and experience the city along the way. In a car, for the most part you are stuck in traffic, or at least between other cars; you’re essentially moving only one foot for the brake/acceleration, and you’re only going from A to B. 

It’s been about 2 or three hours after my cycling session today so I hope my thoughts aren’t too assumptuous haha

As an end note, I was riding the foldable bike. It has no gears and smaller wheels which equals more pedaling. The speed I could travel at was limited and I would like to have a bike with bigger wheels. The frame is also quite heavy, which makes me realise how “important” it is to have a lighter bike! It’s not too bad when you’re riding it, but to lug it around with you (especially if you’re to put it folded up in a vehicle) can be a pain if it’s heavy.