Back in the saddle

At 71, Jean Bell is back on a bike. The retired midwife used to cycle to work and to social events around Christchurch. But many years ago, her bike needed some repairs, was taken to pieces in the garage, and never put back together again.

Now, with a new knee and a new electric bike, she’s back on two wheels and enjoying the recently completed Papanui Parallel, one of the city’s three new major arterial cycleways, which runs through north Christchurch close to her St Albans home. She bikes to the local Edgeware Village shops to buy groceries, to the community centre where she helps out, and around town for appointments and pleasure.

Every fortnight, she bikes with a small group in her community who tour the city and try out the new cycleways. “It’s been good fun, good exercise and good for my mental health,” says Bell, whose husband died two years ago.

The decision to go electric has revived the joys of cycling for her, at the same time as providing worthwhile exercise. “You still have to be aware of the road, but you can stop and look at things. And this was very obvious one day recently – the flowers, the smells. Wow! It’s just been most enjoyable.”

Bell is one of thousands who are taking to e-bikes, which overcome headwinds, flatten hills, reduce the level of exertion required and enable heavier loads of shopping to be carried. Imports surged to about 20,000 last year, compared with 2500 in 2014. A report on e-bike regulation for NZTA predicts sales of up to 65,000 a year by 2026.

Kirsty Wild, a University of Auckland researcher working on a project called Future of the Bike, is investigating the potential for e-bikes in hilly Auckland and says they are opening biking up to non-traditional groups.

“It’s breaking that link between cycling and athleticism … Cycling has so many benefits – people who cycle are the happiest commuters, they tend to enjoy their neighbourhoods more and they have better social connectedness. E-bikes mean more people can enjoy that.

“The big problem with e-bikes is the people who could benefit the most are often those who can least afford them … My big challenge is to think about how New Zealand could make them accessible to the people who could benefit the

Jean Bell, left, and members of her group. “It’s been good fun, good exercise and good for my mental health,”she says.