My Page about Bicycles and Biking

I will write why I bike, but also about different bicycles, the gearing and other technical stuff etc.

The unicycle above is mine. I bought it after my 60th birthday.
That's the sort of thing you do when you get to my age. It also means that I have to be careful not to crash-land since I learned the hard way that my bones are not what they used to be (that was from a ladder, equally hazardous but that is another story). It took me a while to just sit on the thing even with holding on for dear live. But now at least I can go a few metres, without support from all sides.

I have used bikes for most of my life. I pedalled to school and later to work when possible. I used a bike for touring or just for pleasure. For quite a few years I took up running, but a bad back put a stop to that. So now there is no more running but cycling is just fine. There is much less stress on the body using a bike, but I must confess, I miss my running but cycling is the next best thing. I have made myself a track up and down the orchard on our property. When I go to Palmerston for supplies I often go by bike. I take the bike to Dunedin. I leave the car somewhere on a free car park and from there I take the bike to go around town. I use the bike for touring around NZ. In Switzerland I got around on a bike instead of using the trains.

Show me your bike and I will tell you who you are

<< Previous Next >>

Amsterdam Bicycles
Here is a link to a website where you can see lots of bicycles. The author is obviously not a cyclist himself and the comments are a bit repetitive, but it is quite amazing, have a look...
(82 pictures of bicycles taken during 73 minutes on 9/12/06 in Amsterdam, Netherlands)

The Gearing of a Bike

A lot of people know very little about the gearing of their own bike. There are many websites about the subject but it can be a bit confusing.
So why another one? Well just because you are here now and also because here I will work it out for you as long as you do some measurements and counting of dirty chain ring teeth on your bike.
It is basically a simple thing. If you just want to know the ratio of the gears on one bike it is just a matter of counting the teeth of all the chain rings and then work out the ratio of all the gear.
But here come the difficulties: You should not use gears that kinks the chain over a certain amount, so a 27-gear bike has quite a few that you should not use.
Further if you want to compare the ratio between different bikes you really have to take the wheel size and even the size of the pedal crank into account. Some people want to know the distance they travel for each turning of the pedal. That does not take into account the effort it takes to turn that pedal. Someone called the ratio taking the length of pedal crank into account the Gain ratio. The simplest Gain ratio of 1.0 would be for a unicycle where the pedal is on the rim of the wheel.
Gain ratio = Radius of drive wheel / Length of pedal crank x Number of teeth in front chain ring / Number of teeth in rear sprocket
Measure radius and length in same units. To find out about your bike and work out the gear ratios go here.

My Complaints Corner

(I hope there won't be too many - complaints that is.)

Moan #1: Trucks and other Hazards
I personally found that, as a rule, truck drivers take reasonable care of cyclists. Especially I want to praise the milk tankers, they usually give you plenty of space. To me the worst ones where the stock trucks and only a small percentage of them. They can come very close and at full speed it can be very frightening indeed.
I tell you another very annoying hazard. If it is big, has four-wheel-drive, is black and has tinted windows you better be on your guard. They usually come very fast and very close. Even if there is no traffic from the front they don't diverge from their straight line. I think they don't even see you there.

Moan #2: Helmets
Don't get me wrong - I'm not against wearing a helmet, especially in New Zealand where a person on a bike is still regarded as a person second class or as a target or a hindrance or a greeny or a mental nutcase. Look at the picture of the Amsterdam Bicycles. Any politician in Holland knows that even mentioning compulsory helmet wearing would be political suicide. It would be like someone mad enough to mention the number of injuries we get each week from rugby......
As I said I'm not against wearing a helmet but why I have to wear one when I'm on a trip over the Danseys Pass where there is a car coming about every two hours or on the Central Otago Rail Trail where after a fall it is more likely you will be cut to shreds by sharp gravel (see my next complaint). Anyway is wearing a helmet in a motor car compulsory where the likelihood of brain damage by sideways impact is probably more likely or in the home where most injuries happen? I have banged my head many times in my live, mostly at home, never by falling off my bike.
New Zealand introduced compulsory helmet wearing for bicycles in 1994 because they where pressured to do something to promote cycle safety. So instead of cycle-lanes etc. we got the helmets. It is the old 'ambulance on the bottom of the cliff' syndrome. After the introduction the number of cycling trips in NZ fell dramatically, but hey - maybe that is a good thing, if no one uses a bike we have no injuries.

Moan #3: Bike trail
The Central Otago Rail Trail is a great thing and it is a real asset to have it. It goes through a beautiful part of the country and being a former railway track it is never steep, so it makes it ideal for the not so fit or inexperienced biker. That said, I think the surface you drive on is too rough. At many places the gravel are crushed big stones like they use for the bedding of the rails (I suppose that is what it was). Anyway you are left with two narrow tracks, probably about 20 Centimetres wide, to drive on. The rest is loose, rough gravel you don't want to drive on. That leaves you looking in front of your wheel all the time instead of enjoying the landscape or your company. I have seen a elderly lady that came into the loose gravel, fell and got badly cut on her legs. I like it to be unsealed but it should be smoother and rolled, so the whole width of the track can be used.

Moan #4: Rumble Edges
Now, who the hell came up with this bright idea? I don't think this person has ever ridden a bike, especially not along a highway. I suppose we are meant to ride on the left of it. I tell you what, there it is bumpy, rough, strewn with rubbish and stones and glass. Even people on bikes like their surface they drive on reasonably smooth, so if there is no other traffic we like to ride just on the right of the white line, if we hear traffic, we go if possible to the left of the line and often we drive just about on the line. Along come the damn ramble edge. Instead of watching the traffic or admiring the landscape you better watch where you are driving or you get a shake up. All the roads get straightened so we get to our destination faster. Motorists go not only faster they also get bored and fall asleep. I guess the idea is to wake them up just before they hit the cyclist. What about having the things in the middle of the road so they wake up before they hit the other car head-on.

Moan #5: Wind and Hills
Just kidding - it would be boring without them.
That's enough..... for now.

My Bike Trips

Southland
That was back in 2008. I started here in Dunback up to Stoneburn along the Golden Bar Road to Macraes Flat the via Nenthorn to the coast at Waikouaiti. A very hilly, very beautiful, very lonely back country road. Avoiding the Nr. 1 Highway I chose the route along the coast, Karitane, Seacliff and over the Hill to Port Chalmers and Dunedin. Further along South via Brighton along Akatore Road to Milton where I chose the Highway to Balclutha.
I was lucky to have reasonable weather passing through the Catlins. After Invercargill I followed the beautiful route along the South Coast. On the road inland to Manapouri and Te Anau I encountered just about everything that can be thrown at you. From hot and sunny to rain and cold wind, even some snowflakes for a short time. I wasn't spared some gear breakage, but nothing that can't be survived or fixed.

Then I chose the gravel road to the Mavora Lakes and on to Walter Peak from where there is a steam boat connection to Queenstown. Now let me linger a bit on the Mavora Lakes part of the trip. It is absolutely worth the effort, but there are a few points to consider when planning the trip. I think it is best to avoid the school holidays because the lakes are very popular with campers. The spot is also visited at weekends for picnickers. It is about 40km to the lakes and on a nice day the road can be very dusty. My luck was that the surface was just newly gravelled so it was very soft and difficult to drive on with a bike, even a mountain bike. So I tell you some drivers in their big four-wheel-drives will not slow down (see my comment in the Complaints section). The second part from the lakes to Walter Peak will have much less traffic and is very picturesque. I was lucky to have perfect road condition for biking and found that the best part of the whole trip.
Arriving at Queenstown I could not get out of the place fast enough (after looking at the camp ground and stocking up on some food). So I pressed on to Frankton although it slowly got dark by then. As an anticlimax I had the absolutely worst day on the section to Cromwell. The road is quite narrow for a lot of traffic. The drivers seem to be in a frenzied hurry and certainly seem to think that a lone man on a bike should just not be there! It absolutely fits in with my gut feeling of who lives or likes to visit our 'Main Tourist Place of the South'. Anyway some food and drink in Cromwell revived me enough to press on to Clyde.
Of course in Clyde is the start of the Central Otago Rail Trail, or for most people the finish point. That brought me to Hyde from where it is only a hop (quite a big hop) over the hills to my home in Dunback.
There is a lot written about the Rail Trail so I will only point out my Complaints section. I had a wonderful experience on the trail. Since I had no accommodation booked I could stay on the trail as long as I liked. After having a meal I just enjoyed the evening not yet thinking much about where I will stay for the night. Behind me the sun set and just in front the most amazing full moon rise. So I just kept on going with the moon giving me plenty of light. It was sooo quite with no one around, very amazing indeed. Before midnight I had a rest in one of the old 'workers gangs hut' with the sleeping-bag wrapped around me. Next it was daylight and I had a short pre-breakfast ride.

West Coast
I started my West Coast trip just because I wanted to go to Wellington for Christmas. I took the car to Christchurch and biked from there. It took me three days to Picton. Thanks to a marvellous tail wind I was able to go from Kaikoura to Picton in one day. There I could go straight on to the ferry and over to Wellington, a long but great day to remember.

For my trip home I chose the West Coast. Without going int much detail, I just want to say that I can highly recommend it, as long as you consider a few points that I found important. First of all I think you have to allow enough time for the task. I would hate to have to go on the road just because of a tight schedule. If the weather packs in it is nice to sit it out, rather to get soaked to the skin just for the sake of it. The coast is too beautiful to miss because you can't see the front of your wheel. If you like diving, by all means go diving but I would suggest do it in the sea rather on a road.

An other thing to be aware of are the millions of camper vans. They are big and fast. Keep in mind that many of the drivers are not used to big vehicles. Often they seem to be in a terrible hurry to get as many kilometres as possible behind them each day. So just stay save is the important thing. I really question the value of tourism these days. The mighty dollar they spend is probably something we all profit from, but is it really what the world needs? One visible result from this fast traffic in an area that should be remote is the amount of roadkill you see. Now the saying goes that there is only one good possum and that is a dead possum, but I tell you the flat possums are in a minority these days. In the open country it is manly Pukekoes and in the bushy areas it is Woodpigeons. And there are hundreds of it! I was really shocked. Well I can't proof it but I reckon it is manly these big camper vans that travel at full speed through the countryside that cause these accidents leaving the birds no chance at all.
At Haast I decided to take the bus over the pass because it was raining with no letting up forecast for a few days to come. As usual, Central Otago greeted me with brilliant sunshine.

Switzerland
OK I am bias since I was born in Switzerland, hence my funny English. But what I'm saying here applies to other countries in Europa it is just that I know it from Switzerland best for obvious reasons. Biking in Switzerland is easy and you can go anywhere without being on main roads. Biking routes are literally over the place. The only thing is that Switzerland is so small that you have to slow down otherwise you will miss that you have crossed the border into Europa proper. Contrary to general believes it does not need to be expensive. If you can stay away from hotels and restaurants you can have a very reasonable holiday. Camping is cheap and away from popular places not too crowded. You will need a cooker, there won't be a kitchen like on campgrounds in New Zealand.
Most supermarkets have a cafe where you can have a reasonable priced meal or cheaper still you can just buy stuff and have a pick-nick.
For accommodation there are Youth hostels, Backpackers or 'Sleeping in the straw' type farm-stays. Here are a couple of links:
Biking in Switzerland
Sleeping in the straw

Danseys Pass
My latest trip was the Danseys Pass. I started at Hempden at the East Coast, then inland to Livingstone over the pass to Nasby and on the bike trial to Hyde and over the hills home to Dunback. The pass is about 50 km of gravel road. Not too many ups ad downs, just on the North side e few, but then manly up up and up and then down down all the way to Naseby. Just right. I can highly recommend it, not too steep and not too far with very little traffic. I can imagine the worst condition (beside snow) would be dry with strong wind in your face. I heard of people had to stop because of dust wiped up by strong winds.

Go back to the top of the page

Aranea; all rights reversed; updated 27 October 2011