NEW SERIES: Steve Simpson lives in Laingholm in the Waitākere Ranges and works as an advertising sales manager in Ponsonby, Auckland. He commutes each day through a combination of driving and riding his E-bike.
Using my bike was originally a bit of a hack just to eradicate the parking hassle and cost, and then from there it’s become more of an end in and of itself.
I like that on a bike you keep moving. Just sitting there in traffic, getting wound up, was kind of lame, not good for me psychologically. I find it more tiring to sit in rush hour traffic than to bike through that traffic. It takes me about an hour to get to work now – the bike part of it is about 45 minutes, which is faster generally than if I drove the whole way.
I just bought a new bike because the frame on my old one was broken. I paid $2200 for a second-hand 2022 Trek Powerfly on Trade Me. I didn’t feel fancy enough to buy something fancy. I wanted to buy a prevalent brand that it would be easy to get parts and service for. New models are in the 6k to 8k bracket, but you can spend 20k-plus on an E-bike.
I put my bike on the back of the car, drive over the hill and park at the bottom, and then ride my bike into the city from there. People do cycle where we live, but there’s basically one windy road for about seven kilometres and if you’re behind a bike you sometimes have to wait for quite a while before you can pass it. And while it’s somewhat in the wops, it’s also quite a busy road. And it’s actually the nicest part of the drive, there are no traffic lights.
I tend to listen to either podcasts or heavy rock and then sometimes pop and sometimes audio books and sometimes a live radio stream like Hauraki Breakfast. Podcasts would be The Daily, Pod Save America and a lot of cable news shows like The Rachel Maddow Show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, All In with Chris Hayes. Sometimes history podcasts.
Let’s be honest, the heavy rock tends to be a lot of 80s hair metal. Motley Crue, Van Halen, Lynch Mob, Ratt. That’s been pretty consistent for me since the 80s. I sometimes listen to a little bit of indie rock but what I find is that it doesn’t fire the pedal power quite as much. Sometimes pop; Charlie XCX had a good run. It was a brat summer.
Cycling makes me feel better. It’s invigorating, gets the blood going and so when I’m at my desk I haven’t already been sitting in my car for an hour. I think it gives me a bit more endurance to do sedentary work. I try and use the least amount of pedal assist as I can, and that varies depending on how I’m feeling. That’s the good thing about an E-bike if you’re feeling tired you can ratchet up the pedal assist.
The whole recreational side of cycling never took off for me, but if I can incorporate it into my commute it feels natural. I like the fact that you’re in the elements with the wind in your face, navigating various hazards, the odd element of risk. I always rode a bike as a kid, rode to school and high school and it’s reminiscent of that – like if I’m at work and I’ve got a meeting to get to or I need to pick something up, I just jump on my bike and it kind of reminds me of being a boy. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it makes me feel young but there’s something you get a little piece of.
You get to access arterials of Auckland that are pretty much unknown to a lot of the population. Some of them are quite impressive – purpose-built, expensive-looking, well-lit over bridges. A lot of investment has gone into that pink path and it’s satisfying to make use of it. There are lots of good cycleways down Queen St, through Aotea Square, past all the bars and restaurants in the Viaduct; it’s quite an exciting little snippet of the city from a different perspective.
The other day there were 18 bikes waiting at the lights. Some of them are grandmas in souped-up E-bikes who have kitted them out so that the supposed speed cap is gone; there are parents with bucket seats at the back or those full front-units that look like space shuttles. And you all have to get into single file. There’s points like that where it’s all happening and plenty of other points when it’s just you.
I probably used to use about a tank of petrol a week on the commute and now it would be about a tank a month. I don’t want to take the ecological high ground because my family is running multiple vehicles, but it’s one less car on the road.
There’s a bit of admin to it. When you’re in a car you can have stuff in there in case you need it. On a bike you have to plan everything you need – clothes to change into on some occasions. Putting the bike on and off the rack, and then charging the bike, sometimes you feel like you can’t be bothered, but once you get on the bike you get the endorphins and it’s like right, this is cool.