During the last week, I’ve been out on my very first multi-day cycling tour, and it was an awesome adventure, seeing all kinds of beautiful parts around the Wairarapa and the Southern Coasts of the North Island.

Since I’ve been back a friend mentioned this great website, BikeEverywhere, whose Facebook page can be found here and which certainly gets my tiny cycling advocate heart all a flutter. It’s similar to some of the things the Wellingtonista has mentioned in the past. Essentially the idea is this:

“BikeEverywhere is an initiative to encourage more people to cycle (well, everywhere) by helping cyclists navigate the busiest routes in and out of the central business district.”

This excites me: it really makes cycling more accessible to beginners by providing clear, simple, accessible resources. One example is the videos they use to explain routes in and out of major Wellington suburbs. Launched right in time for Bike Wise Month 2013, BikeEverywhere also aims to raise awareness for how enjoyable and rewarding all types of cycling can be. For you that might mean joining the Lycra clad Velominati, with their simple list of only 91 rules. More to my tastes would be following BikeEverywhere’s interpretation of them.

I won’t get too preachy, because as I’m sure you all know, cycling is good for you, good for the environment, and good for your wallet; ultimately what really matters is that cycling is cool, and I know a lot of people think it’s a whole lot of fun.

If you’re wondering how you can get involved, the best place to look is here; and if the idea of free food appeals, come down to the Go By Bike day this Wednesday (the 13th) under the sails at Queens Wharf. Introduce yourself, I’m the guy with lots of curly hair and the blue Surly Long Haul Trucker.

John Anderson is a Wellington cyclist and slam poet. He is not affiliated with Bike Everywhere.