OPINION: Rewind three weeks. The holidays are here, and I'm joining Aucklanders in a military-style evacuation of the city.

The enemy: work. The only solution: the beach.

The traffic is heavy but flowing, including countless trucks and milk tankers.

I'm heading through a tight stretch of road called Dome Valley north of Auckland; this narrow section of State Highway 1 has seen so many accidents that the speed limit was reduced to 80 kmh.

ISTOCK Cycling is a great way to see NZ, but our main roads are too busy over summer.

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I round a tight bend going up a steep section of the valley and jam on the brakes. There, right in front of me, is a cyclist pushing their bike up a hill. The road is so narrow, and the traffic so heavy in the opposite direction, there is no room to pass - so I quickly come to a crawl. Thankfully the car behind wasn't following too close.

I just want to take a pause here, for my blood pressure to recalibrate, and point out: I'm not against cyclists - especially in cities. It's an efficient, environmentally-friendly way to get around.

However, it's a very different story on our highways, especially over the peak summer period.

We all know who I'm talking about: the long-distance cyclist. They put themselves through untold agony weighed down like a camel, often with a bright orange flag, and pedal their way through our brutal, hilly, skinny roads.

Two English women, who have cycled across Western and Eastern Europe, South East Asia and Australia recently said New Zealand motorists were the least friendly they've encountered.

I understand the cyclists' point. Raz Marsden said, "Kiwis couldn't be nicer, kinder, more helpful, more supportive, just great, fantastic ... but when they get in a car, something happens."

That something is called "cyclists using a road not designed for cyclists."

BROOK SABIN Brook Sabin doesn't think many of our roads can safely accommodate cyclists.

It's not fair for the pedalling duo to compare us to Europe or Asia. Europe has many, enormous, multi-lane highways that take much of the long-distance traffic, meaning cyclists have a much more peaceful experience on quiet roads. That's not to mention Europe has many more cycle lanes.

Much of Asia is so chaotic - with nobody following rules - that everyone watches out for each other in a constant symphony of uncertainty.

Whereas New Zealand is a very long, but sparsely populated pair of islands, with skinny, narrow, hilly, winding roads that don't have room for cyclists. And, for better or worse, the speed limit on many of those roads is 100 km/h.

Very few New Zealanders would ever travel along State Highway 1 on a bike between Auckland and Tauranga, or up to the Bay of Islands. It would be a gruelling, unenjoyable, hilly, dangerous ride where you end up sucking in vehicle fumes and playing Russian Roulette every tight blind corner you go around.

Yet, tourists get off the plane and do exactly that.

Supplied Cat Dixon and Raz Marsden have cycled all over the world.

I'm not against the idea of exploring New Zealand on two wheels. Whatever happened to the 3000-kilometre national cycleway that was going to stretch from Cape Reinga to Bluff? It was a brilliant idea that would inject tourism dollars into small communities right up and down in the country. Imagine places like Kaikohe and Matamata having cyclists rocking up looking for accommodation.

Yes, there is now a network of 22 Great Rides - but they don't link up. And instead, the NZ Cycle Trail website suggests backcountry roads to join the routes. It's now 11 years after the initiative was announced - and I hardly think the dream was a network of country roads, linking official cycleways.

The Greens were always quick to point out their involvement in the cycleway, when former Prime Minister Sir John Key first announced it.

Now they are in Government, it's a real shame there's not more urgency and leadership to create a true national cycleway. Yes, a few million is chucked at the project each year too - but where's the deadline? Where's the vision? Why are they not getting us excited about it? At the current rate, it's just going to plod along as some piecemeal, backcountry, join-the-dots-and-hope-for-the-best type cycle way.

We need - as was initially envisaged - a dedicated path that starts at the top, and ends at the bottom. What a tourist drawcard that would be; I've no doubt it would be one of the greatest cycle adventures in the world. And I'm sure it would become a bucket list trip for many New Zealanders as well.

And it would mean we could offer those long-distance cyclists a ready-made nationwide solution. Because one thing is for sure, cyclists shouldn't be travelling to our holiday hotspots on the main highways. We owe it to them, and our blood pressure, to give them a safer alternative.

What do you think? Should cyclists be able to use our main highways? Or do drivers need to be more accommodating? Let us know in the comments below.