Fun riding down under

Fun rides, Hawera-style... _________ pic: Taranaki Daily News

I've been in New Zealand a few months now and it's already pretty clear that cycling is a bit different here. The biggest deal is not forgetting to wear a helmet, about the only thing you can get fined for while riding a bike. Back home you can get a spot fine for all sorts of nonsense, like running a red light which, depending on whether you're talking to a motorist or a cyclist, is either spot on or as dead wrong as compulsory helmets.

English law is a bit of an ass when it comes to bikes, making it illegal to do all sorts of stuff (like £200 fines for "cycling furiously", believe it or not) but that's probably best left to another post... I only mention it cos it seems the Kiwi cyclists, by contrast, are free to go completely nuts and the rozzers can do next nothing about it.

Yesterday's "Tyres of Fire" bike skidding championships took place on the public highway in North Shore, Auckland, where the world's longest skid of over 250 metres was recorded by some guy on a fixie. Do it in a car and they'd throw away the key, but on a bike? Not a cop in sight. It's like bikes don't count on the roads, which of course has it's downsides but does make for a helluva lot more fun.

Want a few beers and ride home? Another spot fine in most countries, maybe even a spell at Her Majesty's pleasure if you got caught "drunk in charge" in the UK, but not here. It's not illegal to drink & ride in NZ. One way of celebrating the fact might be a pub crawl, get a few other riders involved perhaps... like the 1600 riders that took part in this weekend's Beers On Bikes event down in Hawera. It's marked the start of the crimbo holidays here for over thirty years and is amazingly well-mannered, all things considered. As you'd expect with such a large number of inebriated cyclists in one place, the police were out in force, hoping to catch someone not wearing a helmet...