My favourite things

Wow, three of my favourite things (fashion, bicycles & half-naked men) in one fabulous picture ...


Lets hope that Emporio Armani's cyclewear takes off in New Zealand!

Night out

I spent a night on the town recently with some friends and decided to let someone else do the pedaling for a change.


This very nice young man (with a Tasmanian Devil on his head ... no really!) valiantly transported us across town in (on?) his cycle taxis.


It is a great way to travel on a beautiful Auckland evening and the ride kicked off the night on a high note!


The Sky Tower at night is a wonderful sight from a contraption like this - the wind in your hair, 'vin rouge' in your blood and the promise of an excellent meal ahead!

Lose the lycra; get a skirt

An old video, but between the moustaches and the content it's definitely worth a watch. It turns out that all that lycra and cycle gear is downright dangerous. What you actually need is a wig ... and perhaps a skirt and heels ... to improve your cycling safety!

'Cool' winter days

The nice weather at the weekend brought out some very cool Aucklanders on their bicycles.


This gentleman was cruising along at the top of Queen Street looking tres chic in his leather jacket and cap. He had just failed to gain entry to a shop that keeps very random opening hours - it was closed, and it's opening hours remain a mystery!


This lady had just arrived at the Library on a tres chic, purple-rimmed bicycle when I waylaid her for a quick photo. A nice combo of purple, green and yellow ... and check out those socks!

Little wheels

I spotted this interesting looking number at Britomart the other day, it has the cutest little rack on the back. I wondered where it had come from ...


Then at the weekend, I found a breeding pair on Elliot Street! This bicycle has a mate.


I was just popping in to have dim sum when the owners turned up. Very styley ... and the orange bag is a very nice touch.

Bicycles and the media

This is a great Walkers crisps advert with lovely bicycles and Britishness!

And here's Duffy in the new Coke advert.

And


Another advert for that fabulous water that gets you up hills on your bicycle.

Anybody spot any helmets? (that's rhetorical BTW)


Here is a longer video about urban planning and the bicycle. It's pretty old but I've only just found it, so I thought I'd share.

Farmers market

I love Saturday mornings at the farmers market at Britomart.


As yet, I seem to be the only bicycle that attends (excusing the Husband of course) given the admiring glances and comments from the stall holders, but it really is the best way to do it - I've only once attempted to carry this type of load home on foot, and my arms nearly dropped off!


However, I did spot this tres chic gentleman passing through - notice that he's cycling with his clothes on (no lycra anywhere!). Nice shoes by the way whoever you are.

Arty bicycles?

Art exhibition at Britomart - “One of the running themes of the exhibition is the juxtaposition of real life modes of transport" ... I wonder if there are bicycles?

Rare species

It was a glorious Saturday down on the waterfront. There were lots of bicycles around ... but they were all small.


I paused for a leisurely Latte, enjoyed the view and watched small cyclists having fun.


And yet more small cyclists gathered around a (not sure what you call these) 'bicycle powered taxi' ? ... giggles and chat abounded.

There was the occasional 'dad' on a bicycle but no 'mums/ladies' that I could see (there were quite a few 'sports' cyclists whizzing past but the combination of the speed and the 'outfit' made gender identification all but impossible).

Lady cyclist are obviously a rare breed in NZ, but how rare are we? I had some ideas ... ranging from the likelihood of DOC giving us an island to increase our population ... to arranging to meet others of my species for coffee. I decided that the latter was possibly more achievable.

Email unity.finesmith@gmail.com if the idea appeals - the coffee not the island :-)

Bikes, wonderful bikes

Here are a few pictures of gorgeous bicycles ('sans' rider) that I have spotted around town.


Love the spots - very eye catching - and the blue tyres with the yellow is fabulous!


This sad (but beautiful) bicycle lives in the garage under my building. I desperately want to meet the owner and encourage her to take it for a spin - she needs to get out and see daylight; feel the wind blowing through her spokes ...


I've spotted this beautiful machine in Lorne Street on several occasions - what can you say - I love everything, and green happens to be my favourite colour.

THE supermarket bicycle stand

This is a photograph of THE bicycle stand at my local supermarket at Britomart. As you can see in the picture another cyclist turned up while Husband and I were occupying THE bicycle stand and had to lock his/her bicycle to the railings. There is a relatively large concrete area in front of THE bicycle stand and one can only imagine that it's purpose is to provide an area from which to admire THE (one and only) bicycle stand.



Contrast this with the bicycle parking facilities in Japan reported by Mikael.

This supermarket is in the centre of the city and must service thousands of local residents. This lone bicycle rack provides silent comment on cycling in Auckland.

Marketing by bicycle

The BigLittle City advert for Auckland (the one with the bicycle in it) has reached Copenhagen. Read this astute post on Copenhagenize.com

Autumn leaves

Autumn in Albert Park ...


Beautiful colours; clear crisp days


Spending quality time with your bicycle



But all good things must come to an end ...

Girl power on bicycles

Check out the angry bridesmaids on pink cruisers



I want what she's got - you could get up a volcanic cone in no time with that stuff!

University style

Two very styley ladies leaving/arriving at University.


A touch of understated elegance here I think ... and a beautifully set up bicycle with chain and mud guards, comfy seat and gorgeous front basket.


I just love the colour combinations here - print dress, socks and bicycle. You can't quite see it in this picture but the bicycle was painted in swirls of blue, sea greens and mauves - tres chic!

Family day out

This little cutie was having oodles of fun along the waterfront. And what style - I so want a basket and tassels like that for my bicycle!



The rest of the family caught up - Mum, Dad (on a mega cool bicycle that, unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture on film) and Baby.

Something to aim for

This is a lovely video that pretty much about sums it all up



Alternatively, this is a badge my husband bought me from Real Groovy (Auckland) - sigh!



(Disclaimer: The views represented in this badge do not necessarily represent the views of this blogger)

Ups and downs

Glorious day today so Husband and I went for a ride along the waterfront. I spotted some chic (ups) and not so chic (downs) stuff along the way.

Chic ...



I love these signs along this excellent cycle path - tres chic! We should definitely have more of them ... all around Auckland would be good. However, shouldn't the bicycle icon be a bit larger?



Fergs Kayaks on the water front have some super styley cruiser bicycles for rent - very tempting.

Not so chic ...



Road signage in the middle of the bicycle lane - not chic ... or does this mean you have to cycle really fast along this bit?



There are many patches of broken glass all along the cycle lane (exhibit A above) ... not chic at all, and obviously very rarely cleared (if at all) by council as this same glass has been there some time now.

What the council needs is one of these glass vacuums shown on Campbell Live the other day.