Love 'em or hate 'em, bicycles are growing in popularity and those who love them are here to stay. From the law graduate running a cargo bike delivery company to the velodrome track racer, Abbie Napier finds out more about our cycling culture.



THE GENTLEMAN CYCLIST



Barry Bryant is a "dress for the destination" kind of guy. Every morning he can be spotted zipping into Wellington from the northern suburbs, kitted out in a well-cut suit and a Kangol hat.



He doesn't believe in dressing specifically for cycling, choosing instead to model his everyday work wardrobe - mostly merino suits - around his cycle commute. Some might call him a "gentleman cyclist", but he prefers "a gentleman on a bike".



Back in the day, he says, wearing every day clothing on a bike was "totally unremarkable". "Lycra? Been there done that in my teens."



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Now 44, he has been biking all his life, choosing the speed of a bike and public transport over Wellington's endless commuter traffic. On the way home, his bike rides the train with him, free of charge.



One of 14 bikes stashed in Bryant's basement, his 1983 Raleigh is right in line with his love of old touring bikes.



"Old bikes are really good value for money," he says.

MONIQUE FORD/FAIRFAX NZ Deborah East is a Wellington realtor who uses an electric bike to get around town for her work.

His favourite is a 1982 Trek and he recently purchased a "choice" Fat Bike with extra wide mountain biking tyres.



He finds Wellington is the perfect place to cycle and it would only be once or twice a year that the wind puts a stop to it. Rain doesn't faze him in the least.

The key to commuting in style? Buy good quality mud guards, wear breathable fibres like merino and invest in proper trouser clips.

THE E-BIKER

Supplied Russell Silverwood owns Nocar Cargo - a cargo bike courier service.

Real estate agent Deborah East can easily cycle up steep Brooklyn Rd in Wellington's hillside suburbs.



She is 61 years old, suffers from arthritis and works a busy schedule that sees her flitting all over the city for meetings, property showings and business demands. Her electric bike is the gift that keeps on giving.



The hills in Wellington were just too tough for me," she says. "This enables me to exercise when I otherwise wouldn't.



"I don't always have the time unless I build it into my day."



East tried an electric bike at a home show a couple of years ago and enjoyed it so much she purchased one online. With the electric bike giving her a power boost on the hills, she can get around the city with ease. It's fast, there are no parking problems and it keeps her in shape.



"The first time up Brooklyn Rd nearly killed me, now I can even take Ohiro Rd in second gear which is much steeper. "So I am getting fitter."



Her current bike weighs 25 kilograms and she plans to buy a lighter one soon. She had to upgrade to hydraulic brakes to handle the capital's slopes but for $1450, the bike was a bargain. It does 30 to 40km per charge and is plugged in every third day or so.



On the Wellington roads, which can often be narrow and windy, it's all about cyclist awareness. "You have to keep your wits totally about you," she says.



THE CARGO BIKE COURIER



When 29-year-old Russell Silverwood started up Nocar Cargo a year ago, he figured making it through winter would be a pretty good indication of whether the business would survive.



As he faces another winter on wheels, he says it's all about wearing a rain jacket and always moving forward to stave off the cold.

A recent law graduate, Silverwood took part in a start-up business accelerator programme to kick his idea into the real world. He now spends forty hours a week in the saddle of his Danish Omnium cargo bike, delivering packages across central Wellington.



"There's a wonderful array of cargo bike iterations," he says. "What I like about my bike is that it's very enjoyable to ride. It feels like a bike and it's easy to manoeuvre. "It's so nimble and fun to ride."



For the most part, Nocar Cargo delivers parcels for the likes of the Hannah's Laneway artisan collective. His bike can take up to 80kg and the biggest thing he has ever carried was a four-seater couch for a mate - it was on a quiet road.



The decision to become a bike courier came after some down time post-university. Silverwood realised that most of his time revolved around bikes and there weren't many courier options like his in the city. The business is a "green" way for companies to get their goods from A to B.

"I've been really pleasantly surprised at how supportive Wellington businesses have been.

Stacy Squires/FAIRFAX NZ Christchurch cyclist Connie Christensen runs Frocks on Bikes, a social community cycling groups that does fun group bike rides at weekends.

"It's just organically grown. I'm definitely feeling the fittest I ever have and I'm eating all the time really. It's pretty dreamy."

THE TRENDY CAMPAIGNER



Connie's Christensen's mint green vintage-style bike and hot yellow helmet turns heads. People frequently say hello when she cycles past, and the sound of her bell is more important to her than whether or not she is wearing sporty clothing.



In fact, Christensen is one of the organisers for Frocks on Bikes, a Christchurch community group running social bike rides for anyone who would like to pedal along. "I've cycled all my life as transport, but after the quakes I wanted a more social experience, which is why I enjoyed Frocks on Bikes.



"We have women, men, young and old - you don't have to wear a frock, just wear normal clothes.



"I have a comfy seat to sit on and an upright bike so I don't need to wear lycra."



Christensen, 49, is taking six months off work to promote her favourite cause, Go Cycle Christchurch, an initiative she hopes will gain momentum as word spreads. It aims to get more adults back into cycling.



"At the moment, I ride around Christchurch putting up Co Cycle Christchurch posters."



She thinks the main barrier to adult cycling is not the cycling itself, but the change of habit. People need to make changes to their lives in order to make cycling work - for example, picking up kids from school or figuring out how to get to work on time. In a recent survey, Christensen says 40,000 Cantabrians said they'd like to cycle more. Now, it's just a matter of finding them and giving them a hand.



"When you cycle you connect with people," she says. "You actually look up, and there's a different connection with the community." The key to cycling safely is engaging with motorists, thanking them for letting you through, watching your impact on the traffic around you.



"It's really important to curb the negativity around 'us and them'. There is no us and them, we're all using the roads."



THE BIKE TOURER



Marilyn Northcote recently rode her bike for 3000 kilometres, starting at Cape Reinga and finishing at Bluff. Long distance travelling by bike is called touring. Northcote is an expert bike tourer. "I've always travelled by bike," she says. "I quite often put it together with where I want to go and how to get there."

Canadian born, she has been revelling in the amazing scenery New Zealand has to offer. When you're on a bike, you see more of the country in slower motion, stopping more frequently to enjoy views and soak up the atmosphere.

Supplied Marilyn Northcote is a keen bike tourer and recently completed the 3000km Tour Aotearoa ride.

The 30-day Tour Aotearoa challenge was "bloody amazing". "The euphoria rush that comes with finishing was a high," she says.



Friends and family could watch her progress on a GPS tracker and participants had to check in at points along their trip. Northcote chose not to camp each night, preferring to plan her daily rides around evening accommodation points.

"Cycle touring is a lot of social time - coffee stops, ice cream stops, lunch stops. I think of all the fun I had on that tour, but we're still doing massive days."



Cyclists were recommended to be off their bikes for at least six hours in every 24. Northcote rode her trusty Avanti, Dirty Gerty, with 26-inch wheels and a comfy seat. "I had to pedal a lot more than other people, but it fits me, it's comfortable, and I know it."



THE TRACKIE



The Avantidrome in Cambridge is 250 metres of slick wood cycling track and home to the nation's best athletes.



It is also home to a crowd of enthusiastic amateurs who are just as welcome as those taking home world titles. Claire Sherrington, 39, is one of the track's biggest users and spends at least six hours a week spinning around the velodrome.

She moved back to the Waikato a few years ago when osteoarthritis in her knee forced a reshuffle of her life. The knee injury meant the sports she loved, like running, outdoor track biking, multisports and mountain biking were no longer possible.

Supplied Claire Sherrington, 39, competing at a national track cycle competition in Invercargill.

"I was kind of limited and bummed out," she says. A knee operation put her on crutches and the boredom of her limited mobility prompted her to attend the official opening of the Avantidrome. "It was something to do and it sounded really awesome," she says.

"I actually had no idea it was a world class track." She realised the track was smooth, temperature controlled and open long hours every day - the perfect conditions for getting active again with a dicky knee.

About a year ago she took up the sport properly, and by the end of last year won medals at the club regionals. From there, it was an invitation to nationals where she took home a silver and a bronze medal.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Hamilton commuter Michael Cosgrove rides his bike to work.

Competition aside, the appeal also lies in the social side of the sport. Club racing and training groups bring riders together and users enjoy an on-site bike shop and cafe. She now works with a coach and is working towards the World Masters Games being held in New Zealand next year.

THE COMMUTER



Michael Cosgrove says he uses the roads as a way to get from point A to point B.



"The Saturday morning brigade who bunch ride and stop for a coffee, that's what I class as a road cyclist. "That's not me."

Cosgrove commutes to work daily mostly using cycleways. He works in IT and owns a handful of bikes but mostly uses a cyclo-cross bike to get to work. A van, mostly living in the garage, gets the other bikes where they need to go for velodrome use and mountain biking.

He got into cycle commuting when he borrowed a friend's bike.

"As a motorist and a cyclist I am quite happy to share the roads," he says. "You're particularly vulnerable on a bike.

"If a car and a cycle collides, 100 per cent of the time the cyclist will be worse off, therefore as a cyclist you have to be careful about how you ride in case you aren't seen." He would like to see more cycling infrastructure in Hamilton and would like it to be designed by people who ride bikes.

"That said, a lot of it is excellent.

"We have to create a system where cyclists and motorists can co-exist. [Hamilton] is a brilliant city to commute in.

"It's flat and we have no wind."

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