Jack Tame: The fuel crisis might be the perfect excuse to diversify your transport

Living in New Zealand is like sitting on the back seat of a bus. 

You feel cool. The view’s great. But when the world goes over a speedbump, we tend to get kicked up in the air just a little bit more than everyone else. 

The Government says we have more than 50 days’ fuel either in the country or in ships that are already enroute. That’s reassuring. But as petrol prices have steadily climbed this week, I’m sure I’ve not been the only one wondering what agency I have in this situation. I don’t know about you, but it would be really nice for our household finances to be a little less dependent on the whims and fancies of Donald Trump. 

Now I totally get that everyone’s different and every household has different pressures and needs – I’m not gonna lecture you! But can I gently suggest that this crisis might be the perfect excuse to diversify your household transportation. 

One of the many reasons I hear for people not wanting to cycle is that they have kids. But in case you’ve not been paying attention, bike technology has come an awfully long way. Case in point: over the summer holidays I bought a Shotgun. It’s a special seat which attaches to a mountain bike in the space between the rider’s chest and the handlebars. It has a little harness, footrests and a bar to hold on to. And let me tell you, it is maybe the most fun you can have with a one-year-old. 

Yes. I ride with my one-year-old. We ride for fun through the local parks. We visit the ducks and the eels or cycle alongside the tram at MOTAT. He’s right there in front of me – I can whisper in his ear as we peddle. Look, a dog! We ride for practical commuting purposes, down to the local library, down to school to get his brother, to the supermarket for some milk and a fresh crop of bananas. 

My son absolutely hates wearing his sunhat but the moment I pull his helmet out he starts squealing with excitement and he gladly lets me clip it underneath his slobbery chin. It’s awesome.  

His older brother has a new bike. Well, not a new one. But a new off-Trade Me bike. He’s nine and in his second-to-last year of primary school, so I’m slowly working to teach him the road rules and get him comfortable. They finally finished the contentious cycle lanes at the top of our street, which means he now has a much safer route to ride to school every morning. The Government’s recent changes mean he can also legally ride on the footpath. I’m not going to pretend it’s a risk-free exercise, but I ride with him and we ride carefully. And with the cycle lanes and the footpath, I figure it’s a good way to build some independence and get him ready for intermediate. There’s a reason that a few decades ago, so many more kids would ride to school. It’s also an excellent way to avoid the traffic jam at drop-off and pick-up times outside his school gate. A couple of days a week, I take both the boys down to the local pump track and watch as the nine-year-old burns off a bit of gas. 

Which, speaking of, my wife and I aren’t burning when we commute to work. I ride a fantastic, light, fast gravel bike. On a busy morning for Auckland traffic, I’m in the office twice as fast as I would be if I decided to drive. Nothing makes me lose my mind like sitting in traffic, so I’m in a much better headspace when I ride to work. And I’m saving $20 on parking. My wife rides an e-bike. If you haven’t yet had a good hoon on one, honestly, you don’t know what you’re missing. For transporting a human-being from A to B, e-bikes are the most efficient powered transport every invented. By miles. Hills are a breeze. Straights are a breeze. Everything’s a breeze. It’s an unmitigated joy that opens up cycling to so many more people. 

Again, I’m not insisting cycling is perfect for everyone or every household. It’s certainly not perfect for every journey. Of course not. But I am suggesting there are many of us who might be pleasantly surprised at the upsides of saddling up. I think there are probably many more of us too, who if we were honest, could probably be riding at least some of the journeys that we currently choose to drive instead. And maybe this situation is the little push you need. 

Whether you have an e-bike or not, cycling’s obviously a lot cheaper than sitting in traffic. And trust me it’s way more fun, too. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks a'd be you know.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I reckon that living in New Zealand is kind of
like sitting on the back seat of a bus. You
feel cool, the views great, but when the world goes
over a speed bump, we just tend to get kicked
up in the air a little bit more than everyone else.
The government says we've got more than fifty days fuel,

(00:34):
either in the country or in ships that are already
en route. That is that's great, isn't it. That's reassuring.
But as petrol prices have steadily climbed this week, I'm
sure I'm not the only one who's been wondering what
agency I have in this situation. I don't know about you,
but it would be really, really nice for our household

(00:56):
finances to be a little less dependent on the whims
and fancies of one Donald Trump. Now. I totally get
that everyone's different, Every household is different. There are different
pressures and needs, and I promise I'm not going to
lect you this morning, but can I gently suggest that
this crisis might be the perfect excuse to diversify your

(01:22):
household transportation. It's funny. One of the many reasons I
hear for people not wanting to cycle more is that
they have kids. But in case you've not been paying attention,
bike technology has come an awfully long way. We're no
longer in the age of crusty old ten speeds. Case
in point. Over the summer holidays, I bought a shotgun.

(01:46):
Not a double barrel, single gauge, etc. Shotgun. No, No. A
shotgun is a special seat which attaches to a mountain
bike in the space between the rider's chest and the handlebars.
So picture someone riding a bike right, they've got their
arms outstretched. In that space between the rider's chest and
the handlebars is a little seat. The seat's got a

(02:07):
little harness, there are footrests and a bar to hold
on to. And let me tell you it is maybe
the most fun you can have with a one year old. Yes,
I ride with my one year old. We ride for
fun through the local parks. We visit the ducks and
the eels, or cycle alongside the tram at motat. He's

(02:27):
right there in front of me. I can whisper in
his ear as we pedal along. Look a dog, dog,
Can you say dog? We ride for practical computing commuting
purposes as well, So we ride down to the local library,
We go down to school to get his brother. We
ride to the supermarket for milk and a fresh crop
of bananas. My son absolutely hates wearing his son hat,

(02:51):
but the moment I put his helmet out of the garage,
he starts squealing with excitement, and he gladly lets me
clip it underneath his slobbery chin. Honestly, it's awesome. His
older brother's got a new bike as well. A new
one is such a you know, a new off trade
me bike, a new second hand bike. He's nine and

(03:13):
in his second to last year of primary school, so
I'm slowly working to teach him the road rules and
just get him comfortable. They finally finished the contentious cycle
lanes at the top of our street, which means he
now has a much safer route to ride to school
every morning, and the government's recent changes mean he can
also legally ride on the footpath. I'm not going to

(03:33):
pretend that it's a totally risk free exercise. It's not.
But I ride with him, and we ride carefully, and
with the cycle lanes and the footpath, I just figure
it's a really good way to build some independence and
get him ready for intermediate. I mean, there is a
reason that a few decades ago so many more kids
would ride to school. It's also just an excellent way

(03:57):
to avoid the traffic jam at drop off and pick
up times outside the school gate. And a couple of
days a week I take both of the boys down
to the local pump track as the nine year old
burns off a bit of gas, which, speaking of, my
wife and I aren't burning when we commute to work.
I ride a fantastic light, fast gravel bike on a

(04:20):
busy morning in Auckland traffic I'm in the office, I
reckon twice to maybe three times as fast as I
would be if I decided to drive. Honestly, nothing makes
me lose my mind like sitting in traffic. It makes
me crazy just sitting there crawling along. So I'm in
a much much better headspace when I ride to work,

(04:40):
and I'm saving twenty dollars a day on parking. My
wife rides an e bike. If you haven't had a
good hoon on an e bike, honestly, you don't know
what you're missing. They're amazing for transporting a human being
from A to B. They reckon that e bikes are
the most efficient powered transport ever invented by miles. Hills

(05:02):
are a breeze, Straits are a breeze. Everything's a breeze.
It's an unmitting a joy that opens up cycling to
so many more people. Again, I am not insisting that
cycling is perfect for everyone or for every household. It
might not suit you. It's certainly not perfect for every journey,
of course not. But I am suggesting that there are

(05:24):
many of us who who might be pleasantly surprised at
the upsides of saddling up. And I just think there
are many, many more of us who, if we were
totally honest, could probably be riding at least some of
the journeys that we currently choose to drive instead. And honestly,
maybe this situation is the little push you need. So,

(05:46):
whether you have an ebike or not, cycling is obviously
a lot cheaper than sitting in traffic. But trust me,
it is way way way more fun too.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news talks he'd be from nine am Saturday, or
all of the podcast on iHeartRadio.