Biketober is a celebration of bikes and cycling throughout (you guessed it) October. Bike Auckland hosts Biketober here in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, but Biketober also takes place in Hamilton, Christchurch, Otago, and Queenstown, as well as internationally in places such as in Australia and America. Our Biketober is community-led, with many of the activities across the region being organised for their local communities by their local Bike Burbs.
We’re crowdfunding to make this year’s Biketober the biggest celebration of bikes Tāmaki Makaurau has ever seen. You can donate here by 9 April (or through our website after that), and find out more about how you can help here.
Read on to find out what Biketober means to us, why we back it, and some of our favourite memories from Biketobers past.
Karen, Chair of our Board
For Karen, Biketober is about giving more people access to fun experiences on bikes, which will lead to more people choosing to cycle for their transport, and it’s about increasing the visibility of demand for cycling, helping to bring decision makers on board.
“Everyone deserves to experience the joy of riding a bike in a safe and familiar environment… Together let’s help people experience the joy of riding a bike among family and friends and in their own community”
– Karen Hormann
Rose’s story
“I can’t drive and for a long time that really limited me… But this! This works! That’s why I connect so much with what Bike Auckland is doing, especially with the Big Bike-Off Challenge. Cos if micro-mobility has made such a difference for me, I know it can for so many others too.”
– Rose Scott
For Rose, Biketober changed her perception of how she could get around. Rose is neuro-diverse and cannot drive. Public transport doesn’t always work for her, so she has found it quite challenging to get from A to B, and was often reliant on others.
We recruited Rose as our Student Intern for Biketober 2024, and sent her along to various Biketober events across the region to take photos and videos. Throughout the month, she rode shared e-scooters to join in on the group rides, chatted to people about using bikes to get around, and was impressed by the diversity of people using micro-mobility, and the mental health benefits she experienced from riding. She realised that an e-scooter would be a good transport option for her – and she now owns one, giving her freedom to travel from A to B independently. You can read more about Rose’s experience here.
Sue, Communications Manager
“I think the power of Biketober is that there is something for everyone. Because there are so many events, there is the space for everyone to find their tribe – whether that’s talking about a sustainable lifestyle by bike, or learning how to make a fish bike! From events with babies, to events with fur babies, to bike raves and beyond, the vibe is unique, whimsical, joyous and celebratory – everything there is to love about bike life.”
– Sue Cardwell
Teva, Community Activation Manager
For Teva, Biketober is about community connection. He has seen that riding together creates opportunities for locals to meet and get to know each other, strengthening the resilience of the community, and reducing isolation. For him, Biketober creates opportunities for local communities to have the long lasting positive impacts that are created through cycling.
“In the Biketobers that I’ve been involved with, the community really shows up and the connections made are like amazing.”
– Teva Chonon
Fiáin, Chief Biking Officer
For Fiáin, Biketober is about visibility and representation; showcasing the diversity of bike types and people who ride, and locals seeing that other locals cycle. They believe in the power of that representation to get more people cycling, challenge harmful stereotypes, and to bring local decision makers on board.
Fiáin’s highlights from Biketobers past include Kidical Mass from Biketober 2022, and the ‘Learn to Pilot a Tandem’ event delivered by Blind Sport NZ from Biketober 2024.
“We invited Blind Sport NZ to lead a Learn to Pilot event because we knew they wanted more volunteer tandem bike pilots, and we knew our audience would be interested to learn. As well as promoting the event as part of Biketober, we encouraged our volunteers to attend, and I know of at least one of them that is now also volunteering to pilot tandems for Blind Sport NZ.
I love that this Biketober event created a positive connection for Blind Sport NZ, and I love that our volunteers now have the skills to pilot our Bike Auckland tandem bike – skills we will happily put to use to offer blind and low vision people the option to join us for a ride at future events.”
– Fiáin d’Leafy
Thoughts from our Alumni
Our ‘alumni’ are the people who have been involved with Bike Auckland for a long time, such as our old committee and prior Board Members. They shared fond memories of their excitement as more and more events appeared on the Biketober calendar. Many mentioned their stand out memory from the early years of Biketober was the Bike Rave from 2018 with its amazing array of costumes and diverse bikes.
We’d love to hear from you!
What does Biketober mean to you? Do you have any favourite memories or stories from Biketobers past? Or, are you looking forward to this year’s in particular? Send us an email, (info@bikeauckland.org.nz) or share your comments on social media and tag us in – we’d love to hear your stories!
We believe that Biketober has the power to change hearts and minds, and get more bums on bikes. Donate here by 9 April or through our website anytime, and help us to make the biggest celebration of cycling in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
