The activity of riding the ever so humble bicycle.

I love the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. What a fantastic initiative and massive success that turned out to be! Well done Tweed Shire Council. (I hope to live long enough to also enjoy the Byron Section, one of these days).

Uki Mountain Bike park, also a really great initiative. Its hoped that Council, in recognising the popularity of this park will expand its footprint substantially (and maybe even build some others?). I reckon the Uki Township might have even benefited from the additional visitation it has attracted. How good would it be to have some trails suitable for bicycles around Clarrie Hall Dam for example.

The simple act of riding a bicycle encompasses so many benefits, both personal and to the community as a whole. A healthy community is generally a happier community and regular physical exercise is one of the keys to this. From little kids to teenagers, young and older adults, its an activity that is able to be enjoyed by an entire family or on one's own for a bit of quiet time out in the fresh air. Great for mental health in that respect.

Kids out on their bikes socialising, making friends and having some fun has always been a natural and positive thing and these days a legitimate alternative activity to spending excessive amounts of time staring at screens. Something I am of the opinion sucks the very life out of them. I have two sons, now in their late 20's and since they could walk, I ensured they could also ride. Their bicycles instilled confidence, balance, judgement, timing and of course risk management. Finding new and interesting places to take them where they could ride safe and improve their skills safe from cars was not always so straight forward. So having infrastructure provided specific for this purpose is an brilliant resource for young families.

From my own personal observations, as a community we definitely need lots more of this type of thing. Building bicycle friendly infrastructure such as challenging trails and safely segregated pathways that encourages more people to dust of their bikes or go out and purchase one, is an investment in building a healthier community. And every bicycle rider seen out and about is also one less car on the road.