Thanks everyone for turning out on a glorious Auckland day, to join us at the rally. Here's my speech as written; I think I varied from the script a little here and there, but the sentiment remains.
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Welcome! Amazing, great, and wonderful to see you all here at the Bikes For Life rally; when we kicked off the idea of a ride or a rally barely three weeks ago, we didn't imagine such a great turnout.
There are three reasons this rally is called Bikes For Life, and I'm going to tell you about them in a minute. But first, I want to dispel a rumor. There's a rumor that I'm involved and here today because I'm one of those bloody cyclists.
It might be because I ride a Specialized Tarmac, a Namaiki DS-Y, and a GT Avalanche. Or because I ride to work three or so times a week, and sometimes turn up in the office wearing lycra. Sorry about that. Or because I've ridden the Whanganui River Road; the back-streets of Singapore, the city walls of Lucca, the dirt roads of Malaysia, and from Papatoetoe to Mt Eden via Papakura. Or maybe because when I was young, I worked in bike shops all over this city, and taught countless kids to ride.
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But it's not true. I'm not a "bloody cyclist".
I'm Ruby's Daddy, on a bike.
I'm Russell's mate, on a bike.
I'm Vanessa's sweetheart, on a bike.
I'm Rochelle's workmate, on a bike, and she's expecting me to get home and fix the copy on a piece of work that's going live tomorrow.
I'm not a "bloody cyclist" – because there are no cyclists, only people on bikes. And there are no motorists – only people in cars and trucks and vans. And it's time we started getting along.
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So now that we've got that straight, let's talk about those three reasons this rally is called Bikes For Life:
One is four years old. One is two. And one is due in April.
They're my babies, and I want them to live in a world where they're free to ride bikes if they want to. And unless we do something about it right now, the way we're heading, that's not going to happen.
Here's why: after Morrinsville, my heart sank. But when I heard the news about Jane Bishop on Tamaki Drive, I felt sick.
The utterly tragic loss of life, the tainting of that gorgeous road, the revelation of prior warning all really upset me. But the most horrific thing to me was the speed with which places like the NZ Herald's comments section and some columnists turned an ordinary 27-year-old woman riding an ordinary bike home by herself within the law, from being someone's friend, someone's workmate, someone's nurse, someone's sister, to being a lycra-wearing, peloton-forming, three-abreast-riding, red-light running, footpath weaving, no-tax-paying arrogant smug idiot "bloody cyclist."
Because we seem as a nation of people to have developed a them-and-us attitude to this cycling thing. But there is no them-and-us. There is only us. People on bikes, and people in cars.
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So welcome to Bikes For Life: We're rallying for a safer cycling city, and a safer cycling culture across New Zealand.
Because it's time to change the culture. And regardless of what that defeatist [person] Mike Hosking thinks, we're doing it.
There are three clear and simple things we need to move on, and move now:
- Invest in infrastructure that fixes specific problems. Bike lanes where they need to be; pinch points fixed. We need money for that.
- Invest in education to help people in cars and on bikes learn and remember to share the road better than we are. It'll take money, but it's also something we can do every day.
- And invest in changing attitudes -- away from "them and us", and towards a better, safer cycling city. And as well as needing money spent here, that last point is something we can all do, every day. Talk to your friends, your workmates, let them know you ride a bike, and spread the word.
And I'm not demanding all that because I'm one of those arrogant bloody cyclists.
I'm doing it because my name is Greg, and I ride a bike.
Thank you.
