North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Recreational cyclists lack training space
All cyclists face the same challenges on urban New Zealand roads, regardless of how quickly they are riding, but part of the solution could come from overseas initiatives.
Separating commuters and competitive riders, by providing dedicated training facilities, is common practice internationally.
North Harbour Cycling Club president Ian Lochhead sees potential for a criterium track to be built in north Auckland, to provide an off-road alternative for competitive riders and the general public.
A criterium is a circuit race held on either a road circuit or purpose-built off-road course between 800m to 3km in length.
A 155-hectare property between Dairy Stream, Green Rd and Sunnyside Rd, just south of Dairy Flat, was sold to the former Rodney District Council in 2005 to establish a sports park and reserve for a range of recreational pursuits. It is within this development proposal that Lochhead would like a purpose-built outdoor cycling criterium track - it would be the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Lochhead says there are very limited facilities on the North Shore for the competitive cyclists to train on.
‘‘It is important not to take competitive cycling out of the context of cycling as a whole,’’ he says. ‘‘All cyclists that ride in built-up urban areas will have to assimilate into traffic at intersections and crossings, have to ride around parked cars and road works, and abide by the road rules. The biggest difference for a competitive cyclist is they travel significantly faster than the average commuter and often will ride in a bunch.’’
This month, a group of competitive cyclists, from a school cycling team, were injured by a car during an early morning training ride in Bayswater.
‘‘The big issues for competitive cyclists on the North Shore is to accept that the roading network is unlikely to change dramatically in favour of cyclists in the near future,’’ Lochhead says.
Current options for competitive cyclists to train include; mountain biking at Riverhead or Woodhill forests, velodromes at Manukau and Cambridge, cyclocross on gravel roads north of Wainui and Orewa, riding out of the North Shore via the main gateway north up the Albany Hill, or riding on the local roads around the North Shore.