February is the month to get out and ride around lovely Hawkes Bay on your bike. As the rain seems to have gone, for now, it is a great time to do this. I managed to fit in a 20 km ride today, over to Hastings and back, via the wonderful new Crosses Road cycleway. I feel so much safer on this new track, as the traffic is a safe distance away, not like the treacherous trip down Crosses Road before the cycle way was built. There were times I felt physically terrified cycling on that road, by the behaviour of the motorists. I can remember looking in to the distance to see a car thundering down the road, heading directly for me, passing another car at about 120kph! The road is now only 80 kph and the cyclists are well away. Three councillors, Anne Wilson-Hunt, Wayne Bradshaw (also from Havelock North) and I are the only councillors, so far, who have registered for the bikewise challenge, as part of the HDC team. We are challenging the other councils in Hawkes Bay to ride as much as possible during February, this mayoral challenge needs every member, both staff and councillors to register and ride! The HBRC have the highest number of councillors participating so far. 11% of the HDC have clocked up some km so far, a total of 1960 Km. We will need many more if we are to move above last year’s third place, behind HBRC and Gisborne District Council!

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