The lack of good cycling infrastructure has meant that until recently the vast majority of the cyclists you saw on the road were the 'hardened' cyclist. Like plants, those cyclists who battle against hostile environments end up looking like a particular species - for plants it’s cactus and in cycling it's the road-warrior above on the left.

But things are changing, and the reality for cycle commuting is increasingly that of a different image and approach. The type of cycle commuter BNB and the council are providing for through improvements to infrastructure, such as the off road cycle lane on St. Vincent St. and the shared boulevard on Rocks Rd., is more like the rider on the right. This is what cycle commuting increasingly looks like in overseas cities as it becomes mainstream, and not the preserve of a few 'road catcti'.

So we understand a concern raised by The Waterfront Association about the Rocks Road boulevard; they see "any shared pathway that mixes commuting cyclists with walkers strolling around the waterfront …" as a bad move, and we understand that position when ‘commuter’ means high-speed road-warriors. The cyclist on the left is almost certainly going to be happier on the road than sharing a path with pedestrians. And fast moving cyclists like this aren’t welcome on our shared paths right now - it's not who they're designed for, they're designed for less confident and slower riders.

With the 'food and water' of better infrastructure we’re now starting to see the 'blossoming' of a cycle comunity consisting of ordinary people out there on bikes, and road cacti are becoming the minority. The future that we see is one where the car is used less for shorter journeys and where we don't need to use so much of our valuable city spaces to store them. It's a future where children can cycle safely to school or the beach with their friends. It's happening around the world in other cities and it’s almost within the grasp of us here in Nelson, but we're not going to get there without everyone doing their bit.

How you can help?

1. When councils call for submissions or feedback on big cycling-related projects send something in - even a sentence. If you know a councillor send them an email or have a chat - the silent majority doesn’t get heard if it remains silent. 
2. ‘like’ our facebook page if you haven’t, and if you’ve done that please get other cyclists to do the same. To work effectively on behalf of cyclists we need to show that cycling is a big, informed and healthy community - 'critical mass' is a concept with more than one application in cycling!
3. Some changes may seem like compromises, but they’re a means to get to the next stage and ultimately a more livable city. So there’ll be some wins and losses along the way - in some cases we may lose on-road cycle lanes to get better off-road lanes, and this might mean riding a bit differently for some. But hey, if riding is a good thing, why rush it?