This week, Critic Te Ārohi caught up with our favourite biker gang: Pedals Dunedin. Pedals is Ōtepoti’s first and only bike courier service and easily the most friendly, in both the eco and literal sense. The Pedals team consists of Liam Harrison and Ashley Heydon.
Pedals was set in motion at the Crooked Spoke, a must-know spot for bike enthusiasts in Dunedin. It’s a DIY bike workshop located on Moray Place, run by a wholesome crew of volunteers and stuffed with donated bikes and parts. Ashley is one of these volunteers. When Liam moved back to Dunedin mid last year, he headed to The Crooked Spoke to scope out the bike scene. This is where the pair met. Like many good plans, Pedals was set in motion over some beers. “We just got talking one night; I think it was adjacent to bike infrastructure and cities, and bike couriers in particular. Liam suggested we go get a beer. I was ready to just hang out, have a chat and be stoked about bike couriers, but [Liam] had other plans,” explains Ashley.
Liam had previously been living in Wellington, where his mates had set up a thriving bike courier service, Nocar Cargo. Liam saw the potential for a similar business here, made even more necessary by changing city infrastructure delaying traffic and cutting certain routes altogether. “I moved back to Dunedin and saw all the issues with traffic. The George Street redevelopment, which looks amazing so far, [and] the hospital build going smack-bang in the middle of the two one-ways, and expected that it’s only going to get worse if you’re in a car, van, or bus.” Dunedin is relatively flat (cries in Dundas, Clyde and Forth Street) with decent cycle lanes, perfect for entrepreneurial cyclists. Liam says that “a delivery service is actually really well suited to the geography of the space.”
Pedals kicked off in November last year. Since then, they’ve set up ninety customer accounts delivering everything from bouquets to automotive parts. “There’s been a really positive response, not only from customers but also the general public,” says Liam. They deliver between the hours of 8am to 5pm, over an area spanning from St. Clair beach to all the way past Blacks Road in North East Valley. This area is split into three zones, with the cost calculated from the number of zones the delivery crosses and the delivery’s need for speed. Same-day delivery is their norm, but they also offer deliveries as short as fifteen minutes. Pedals staunchly support local Ōtepoti businesses and are signed with a number of retailers in the city. If you need something delivered, it’s as simple as asking if they use Pedals for delivery. For you enterprising readers out there, Pedals are also keen to get delivering for some student-run businesses.
Pedals are on a roll. Their current goals revolve around ensuring their business remains sustainable, allowing them a solid foundation to expand their services. Overall, the guys want to encourage more people to get out and bike, whether for commuting or recreation. Liam: “It makes a big difference to the city as a whole, not just ourselves. The more people who ride bikes, the more positivity and more understanding the general public have about people riding bikes.” They hope their visibility on their runs and their enthusiasm will encourage others to follow suit. They even spend their downtime giving back to the cycling community by clearing the cycleways of broken glass. If you do want to get into biking in Ōtepoti, just head over to The Crooked Spoke and Ashley will help you out. As the great Charli XCX once said: let’s ride.