Kingston Ride2Work Day Breakfast 2025

Kingston's second Ride2Work Day breakfast took place on Wednesday 15 October at Maxie Coffee on Channel Highway. We set up from 7:30am to 9am, with free coffee and breakfast, to encourage more people to consider riding for transport.

Attendance and Weather Impact

We had 25–30 attendees come through the breakfast. Down from last year's near-50, probably due to the multiple days of windy and discouraging weather leading up to Ride2Work Day. When you're trying to get people on bikes, several consecutive days of headwinds don't help your cause.

Ten riders from the Australian Antarctic Division made the trip, continuing their strong support from last year.

Quality Conversations

I got to have a great conversation with someone who doesn't normally ride around Kingston but did have a basic workhorse of a bike that they use when travelling. They often tell themselves they need to ride more often, and Ride2Work Day motivated them to choose riding from Kingston Beach to their doctor's appointment in Kingston.

That's exactly what this event is about, giving people that nudge to actually get on their bike instead of just thinking about it.

Decision Makers Present

Three members of government joined us: Dr. Rosalie Woodruff MP, Mayor Paula Wriedt and Councillor Amanda Midgley, adding their vibrant personalities to the event and giving attendees a chance to talk with decision makers. We were also very happy to have a few Kingborough Council staff from across the road, including CEO Dave Stuart with his years of experience leading active communities.

Having elected officials and senior council staff at a breakfast of 25-30 people creates informal conversations that rarely happen in formal consultation processes.

Building Tradition

The weather didn't cooperate this year, but the foundation is there for Kingston's Ride2Work Day breakfast to become an annual tradition and continue to grow. Meanwhile, the Hobart breakfast at Mawson Place ran from 7:30am with Bicycle Network Tasmania, featuring bike tune-ups, cargo bike displays, and information about the City of Hobart's E-bike Library. Streets People Love Hobart was there connecting riders with information about building support for better street infrastructure.

See you next October, hopefully with calmer winds.

This event was made possible with funding contributions from the Australian Antarctic Division, Kingborough Council and individuals, and volunteer labour from Mark Donnellon, Amanda Midgley and Michael Holloway, and the team at Maxie Coffee.