Held each Wednesday next to the cycle path on Lakeside Rd, the pit stop was the product of a collaboration between the Queenstown Lakes District Council, not-for-profit organisation Wao and The Lightfoot Initiative, a charitable trust advocating for more sustainable transport networks across the district.
Passing cyclists could stop by a coffee cart offering free drinks and pastries, while a bike mechanic was also on hand to offer free tune-ups for the more well-loved machines.
Mechanic Nigel Lines said the response from the town’s cycling community had been "very awesome", and they had seen upwards of 50 people make a pit stop during one of their two-hour sessions.
"Doing initiatives like this, it just shows people, ‘actually it’s really nice to be out’.
"It’s a good opportunity to connect with people doing stuff like this. Just have great yarns," Mr Lines said.
The pit stop was timed to coincide with the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, a nationwide event encouraging individuals and workplaces to swap out car pedals for bike pedals during the month of February.
A similar pit stop was set up in Queenstown, while Wānaka also hosted Little Pedallers, a free bike confidence course for under 7-year-olds, at the Wānaka Recreation Centre.
The Lightfoot Initiative co-founder Amanda Robinson said the district’s cycling community had turned out in force this year, and that events such as Little Pedallers had been "really well subscribed".
"We’ve had really great feedback that parents are now motivated to get out on their bikes — or buy a bike for themselves — now that they have a child who can cycle independently."
She said Queenstown Lakes cyclists had logged more than 113,000km over 8500 trips during the challenge, and that she hoped to see more Upper Clutha businesses register for it next year.
