Cycling

Cycling is becoming very popular in New Zealand. This is good news for bike shops.

There are many different kinds of cycling and often cyclists use a different bike for each kind.

First there is cycle racing. This has been popular for some time. New Zealand has had very successful racing cyclists, both female and male, in World Cup and Olympic events. Most high schools offer road cycling as a sport which students can choose. They can join a cycle club too and train with others. Track racing is another kind of competition – indoor or outdoor. For racing, you need a racing bike, lightweight with thin tyres.

Mountain biking is also very popular and there are more and more mountain bike tracks throughout the country. You need a bike with thick tyres and good suspension for the bumps.

More cyclists commute to work these days and more cities are trying to provide cycle lanes for safe cycling in the traffic. However, it is not easy to separate cyclists from cars on narrow roads, and safety is an important issue. A commuter bike is usually heavier than a racing bike but lighter than a mountain bike.

Many adults enjoy social cycling, especially on weekends. They join with friends and cycle 30, 40 or 50 km, depending on their fitness. New cycle trails throughout the country attract social cyclists and tourists. These trails travel through forests, beside lakes and rivers or along old railway tracks. Often you can hire a suitable bike at the beginning of a trail.

Listen to May 24th 2009 to hear about John Key’s plan for cycle trails.

Have a look at this website
which shows a map of cycle trails in New Zealand on page 6. There are now 2,500 km of cycle trails.

Vocabulary

• bicycle, bike, cycle (n) – all 3 words are used; however, people who ride bikes are called cyclists (not bikers or bicyclists)
• tyres (n) – note British spelling (used in New Zealand)
• lightweight (adj) – “light” has 2 meanings so often “weight” is added to make it clear
• suspension – has springs so that you don’t feel the bumps so much
• commute (v), commuter (n) – travel to and from work each day
• cycle trail (n) – cycle track

Question

What reasons can you give for the increase in commuter cyclists?