Consideration for bikes in the design of buildings

Something I would like to add which I experienced after my fourth ride around Auckland. Here you see a little video of me having difficulty bringing the bicycle back into the house. I didn't want to open the entire garage door just to wheel my bike in, but going through the front door was a bit of a pain, having to lift the machine up the step into the lobby, and the door wasn't very big for the bike to fit through.

What if we just had some sort of bike door within the garage door? Then I wouldn't need to worry about opening the whole darn thing. It's these little things too that come to increased use of the bike. If we park our cars smoothly into the house, why shouldn't it be the same for the bike?

Introducing my flatmate's bike

This is my flatmate's bike. I rode it the other day because I was afraid the wheels of mine were getting a bit flat. It definitely felt different with the bigger wheels (meaning it's not as flexible to turn) and that allowed me to pedal less to go the same distance as I would on my fold up bike. The handlebars were something I had to get used to since they came back at an angle rather than going straight out to the side, and the saddle was a bit narrower at the front which gave me memories of when I would hop off the bike and feel sore for the rest of the day (my fold-up felt so comfortable, I never had a problem after I got off it).

One other very noticeable thing was that the rear wheel brakes when you press backwards on the pedal which means you can't just reverse the pedals to the position you want when you're about to push off from the kerb... I found that incredibly inconvenient... Wonder how many other bikes brake like that..

It's a pretty basic bicycle - no fenders really, fixed gear, and the basket is detachable.

Fourth session: 2nd April

Sorry for the lack of update! The blog's been a bit quiet, but I have been out on a few sessions of cycling! This time I tried to take the same route as last time. Funnily enough, it was so hard to just get out there and ride I had to convince myself that it will only take half an hour (I had to be somewhere at a certain time so I was starting to think it was getting too late to go). It was such a good day I couldn't just let it slip by and not take advantage of the good weather!

This time I took my flatmate's bike because the wheels of mine felt slightly flat. She has a second-hand full-size bike and you could feel the difference! For one thing it was more difficult to turn, with the big wheels, but it also meant that I didn't need to pedal as much to get moving. Going up the hills felt slightly easier though gears are most ideal. The saddle was different (a bit less comfortable than mine) and handle bars jutted out on an angle instead of mine sideways so ergonomics and design really make a different fit! The bike also has "reverse locking" or whatever it's called, where you can brake the rear wheels by pushing the pedal backwards. I'm not exactly sure how it works and how common it is, but I found it rather difficult to work with - every time I wanted to get back on the road after stopping I couldn't just wind the pedals backwards to get into the right position to push off.. which wasted a lot of time, energy and face.

So I mentioned I tried to take the same route as last time, turns out I made a wrong turn and ended up going down a different road which led me to explore a few places. The traffic this time was a lot busier than last time, despite it still being around 11am on a weekday. Perhaps it's because it was the day before public holiday (Easter) which made everyone get ready on that day? I don't know. I went through all the smaller roads and tried to take the flatter ones. It was a 40min ride but it sure included a lot of hills!

Below is a rather draft map of where I went. I planned to take the same route down and go all the way down Valley Road and end up at the Esplanade where Mt Eden Cycles is, but I took the following route instead.

I stopped at the end of a lot of roads because, for example, they ended at the intersection with a busy road (Dominion Road) or they were just too hilly.

I ended up going down this cul-de-sac and finding a really neat little sneakish pathway just for bikes! I decided I'll try ride through that place next time. It's these little things that I love about the nature of a small machine as the bicycle - that you can just cut your way around the city! Shortcuts... I love it.

I found that by cycling in a place I was barely familiar with, with small identical roads making the whole network a maze, I made the roundabout a sort of landmark which I could navigate myself around. Since it was the first intersection I came across after getting off Mt Eden Road, that's the only way I knew how to get back (I could look at and use other streets to get back too, but most of them are too steep...)

I noticed later, on my way to uni, there was a girl wearing her work clothes that came out of Pencarrow Ave and took the same bus as me to the Esplanade. The distance is only 2km, so why didn't she just take a bike down to work and save the money? Two things immediately sprang to mind. Apart from the assumption that she doesn't own a bike, perhaps it's just the lacking mainstream cycle culture here in Auckland - there's  no consideration of taking your bike to go around Auckland. The other excuse I can think of is the hill you would have to tackle on the way back...