Heather du Plessis-Allan and Mike Hosking hate Auckland's cycleways. Lots of people do. Not me. I love them.
My 8-year-old son and I enjoy our weekend rides down Grafton Gully, past Britomart on the Quay St Cycleway. Lunch at Wynyard then back up Nelson St over the pink path. It's a great option. Thoroughly recommend it.
Last time we went, there were hundreds of people pedalling round. Families, tourists, kids, commuters, fitness freaks. What a way to enjoy a day in this beautiful city of ours. Multiple festivals buzzing away, video billboards, greenery and a gigantic futuristic cruise ship spewing happy tourists into the newly developed parts of our fantastic city. The Utopian pages of the Usborne Book of the Future have arrived. I loved that book as kid. I feel grateful for the effort put in by so many to make our city better. I've been waiting for the future my whole life.
My son yelled back from his bike: "These cycle tracks are swag, Dad." I thought to myself "this is the future".
"Cycling isn't the future" was the headline of a du Plessis-Allan Newstalk ZB article. She was stoked "Auckland Council made the bold, bold move to slash its budget for cycling projects from $65 million over the next two years to only $6.5m".