Sunday morning there was an inaugural bike ride (race) over the Auckland Harbour Bridge. John had his cruiser bike all souped up from the ride. This is the first time that bikes have been allowed on the Harbour Bridge, so it was quite a big deal. Bike organizations around the city are trying to get the city to add a bike lane underneath the bridge so that bikes and pedestrians can go over any time they want. We hope to see the new bike lane completed in the next couple years.
In the meantime though, 2 lanes of the bridge were closed to traffic - one lane was for 160 parked buses and the other for bikers. The city parked something like 160 buses over the bridge and up the motor way to add a barrier to protect the cyclists from traffic that might go out of control at the sight of bikes on the bridge. After the bridge the remainder of the ride was on a dedicated bus road. We road the 15k option but there was also a 110k option for the hardcore riders. 15k's isn't much until you add a 35k headwind for the ride and John on his one speed cruiser bike!
Check out the link below to see some pictures from the ride. John is about 1/2 way down - the one with the horns on the front of the bike.
http://cyclingauckland.co.nz/events/2011/12/coathanger-conquered/
You will also note that medals were provided for completing the ride. New Zealand doesn't do organized social bar to bar rides ---- they just do races. That means that massive organization is required, fees are paid to ride and medals are given out.
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