The best and fastest way to get from A to B by car can be the worst way to get there on a bicycle, Cycling Action Network instructor Julian Hulls says.
He advised cyclists to choose routes with fewer and slower vehicles - parks, cycleways, dead end streets with walkways rather than busy main roads.
He and fellow instructor Will Andrews were in Whanganui on Monday to give a Share the Road workshop for 12 cyclists. The cyclists were contacted through the networks of Lyneke Onderwater and Norman Gruebsch, and between them had 390 years' biking experience.
The workshop started from a room at the Splash Centre, then took the cyclists in a loop around the central city, with stops to talk on the way.
Its special focus was cyclist safety around heavy vehicles like trucks and buses. The cyclists heard about avoiding a truck's blind spots.