Kerre Woodham: Cycleway a jolly idea

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What started as an airy fairy, wouldn't it be lovely, just putting it out there kind of an idea is rapidly gaining traction.

John Key's proposed cycleway that would extend from Cape Reinga to Bluff looks like being a goer despite the fact that when he first promoted the concept at the Jobs Summit with a price tag of $50 million, he was just guessing and had absolutely no idea at all how much it was going to cost.

Anyone who's ever concreted a drive will know that a 2500km paved cycleway is going to cost considerably more than $50 million. It costs nearly that to get from your backdoor to the letterbox.

But after much discussion about it with other people, I'm ready to dust off the Raleigh 20, pack up my panniers and head off merrily, on an adventure.

An image of the Famous Five keeps coming to mind. I loved cycling when I was a kid. In those days, cycling was a means of transportation not a hobby.

But these days, I wouldn't take up cycling in Auckland unless I found I had a terminal illness. And then it wouldn't matter so much when I was inevitably knocked off my bike by a crazed motorist.

I miss it, though. And the idea of being able to pootle along safely, seeing parts of New Zealand that I hadn't seen before, helping bring dying villages and towns to life with my tourist dollar really appeals.

Look at the success of the Otago Rail Trail. Multiply that by 20 and you'd have the cycleway.

Oh, there are all sorts of potential problems. Would it follow disused railway routes or follow the coast? Who would build it and what would it be made from?

The Cement and Concrete Association of New Zealand is licking its lips at the prospect of all that lovely concrete pouring out of their members.

And one wary soul thought there could well be the prospect of highway men robbing unsuspecting tourists.

So these are all matters to work through. But after being lukewarm about the idea initially, I'm now all for it.

Could there be anything more heartily wholesome than a nation of lederhosen-clad cyclists exploring the bucolic beauty of their homeland?

*www.kerrewoodham.com