Posts by Carol Stewart
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Maz,
Oh, well said, Maz. I was recently in Norway and Germany and thought the environment for cyclists was much, much nicer. My aunt, who is approaching 70, thinks nothing of jumping on her bike and setting off to run errands around town. A small town, admittedly. My uncle cycled for decades from this same small town into work in Bonn, and the only mishap he ever had was when he collided with a wild boar in the forest.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Stephen Judd,
Yes, I lived in Christchurch during my student days, and remember the cycling very fondly indeed. The ease of getting around the city, no real need to own a vehicle except for mountain getaways, and the wonderful roads all over Banks Peninsula, which are mostly still accessible apart from Evans Pass to Lyttelton and Evans Pass to Rapaki rock (I think). The ride along to Gebbies Pass is still open and awesome.
There's quite a lot of glass on the roads - I got some Armadillo tyres last year and they are totally worthwhile.
To keep it in perspective - even with earthquake damage, Chch is still awesomely more conducive to cycling than Wellington. Depending on what part of town you'll be in you may find a sturdy fat tyred beast more useful than a road bike.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Stephen Judd,
Likewise, another problem with riding on the footpath is that it encourages motorists to believe that’s the right and only place for bikes.
My lad aged 12 has been happily scootering or walking to school by himself in Wellington for two or three years now, but here in Christchurch I am really struggling with the idea of him cycling by himself as the traffic alarms me. I don't want him to ride on the footpath because of the driveways and what you said, but I'm also not relaxed about him riding on the road because of the cavalier way in which the bike lanes are treated. Current compromise is that I ride with him all the way there and back which does erode my working day somewhat.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Lilith __,
Sad to see the hatey comments on this article about a cyclist injured in Chch.
Yes, we've just moved to Christchurch and are cycling a lot more as part of our daily routines (to school and work) than was the case in Wellington. It's nice to see a reasonable network of cycle lanes, but boy, some of those motorists are shockers.
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Hard News: A modest appeal, in reply to Islander,
may I note my sadness at the not-unexpected death of Hitchins?
Nice appreciation here from his friend Ian McEwan.
This is rather good too - Hitchens takes on Nietzche, and wins, I think.
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Capture: Colour is the new black, in reply to Lilith __,
Best you track down Kleinzeit, Lilith. It is all kinds of awesome.
And if you enjoyed Hoban's children's books you might enjoy William Steig as well..pining for a book thread? Moi?
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Turtle Diary was his most accessible.
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For you book people .. Guardian obit of the much loved Russell Hoban.
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to Russell Brown,
But I do think he's obliged to have something coherent to say
Reminds of the following poem by the lovely Roger McGough:
The Leader
I wanna be the leader
I wanna be the leader
Can I be the leader?
Can I? Can I?
Promise? Promise?
Yippee I'm the leader
I'm the leaderOK what shall we do?
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Capture: Colour is the new black, in reply to Joe Wylie,
If ever you find yourself in England don't miss the remarkable Bekonscot. Pixietown on steroids.