Canterbury Is NZ's Heart Of Cycling

The people of Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region just love to ride. That’s why we say that Canterbury Is NZ's Heart Of Cycling. Our bike stores in Christchurch and Rangiora, as well as our online shopping operations, are busier than ever, and that further endorses our view that people in our neck of the woods are at their happiest when they’re riding our bikes.   

We can prove that our love affair for biking is the real thing. For example, the city council says that Christchurch is the “city of cycling” because more people cycle here than anywhere else in New Zealand. There are a number of factors for this: flat riding in the city, a refreshing lack of traffic, excellent air quality, relatively short distances from home to work, and a developing network of safe cycleways. There are now over 50 kilometres of dedicated cycleways that link cyclists to the central city. This includes ones that are separated from the road for most of the journey as well as shared paths, cycle lanes on the road and the Te Ara Ōtākaro Avon River Trail. All in all, 13 major city cycleways are either in existence or being further developed, and this has encouraged Cantabrians to cycle to wherever they need to go. 

Our love of cycling is not just confined to the city. Right now, there are over 70 kilometres of mountain bike tracks and scenic rides on the outskirts of the city, as well as many more in regional Canterbury. Some of the highlights when it comes to local riding include:

• Westburn Reserve in Burnside where the mini-road layouts are great for teaching kids to ride. There are also cycle skills parks for youngsters at Knight’s Steam in Halswell and Kendal bike track in Burnside.
• For great mountain biking close to the city, check out Christchurch Adventure Park in the Cashmere Hills. (We can give you the names of some other awesome mountain bike trails)
• For BMX, there are plenty of options around the city including Kyle Park in Hornby, Bexley Park in Bexley, Nepal Reserve in Burnside, Burwood Park in Shirley and Craighead Reserve in Northcote.
• Environment Canterbury is developing some very cool riding areas at Waimakariri River Park, including McLeans Island and Kaiapoi Island.  
• For something tranquil and scenic, we highly recommend The Little River Rail Trail which takes you from Christchurch, via Lincoln, to Little River.

We’re riders too, and we know plenty more hot spots for riding in Canterbury, so get in touch and we’ll tell you the best places!