Bike Week 2022 was another action-packed one for Cyclist.ie’s groups countrywide. Local groups organised a wonderful array of events for all ages and abilities.

The incredibly diverse events enabled newbies and existing cyclists to gain more confidence, find new routes and make new friends. A credit to all of the groups for all of their work in running events. 

Below is just a sample of just some of the events that Cyclist.ie’s events ran over the course of the week in May. 

Cycling Without Age / www.cyclingwithoutage.ie
Dublin City Council, with Lord Mayor Alison Gilliand, on 12 May launched a new Bike Hub, in partnership with www.thebikehub.ie, at Eamonn Ceannt Park in Crumlin. This will operate on a booking system similar to that in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. This photo has all the Dublin City Council staff who attended the launch. 

At the Dublin City Council PedalPalooza, in Fairview Park on 22 May, Cycling Without Age had 5 volunteer pilots (all from DLR Bike Hub!) taking people out for spins during the day.

We also had CWA trishaws taking part in the Fingal and DLR Bike Week promotions. And trishaws were in action in several events nationwide as well. Apart from time and effort, no costs were incurred by CWA. 

The launch took place of the first of three CWA trishaws in Co. Tipperary, to be based in Cahir, Clonmel and Roscrea for community use. Sponsored by Tipperary Council and Tipp Sports Partnership.

Navan Cycling Initiative, County Meath
NCI ran three events for Bike Week 2022. They were:
– A family-oriented community cycle on the first Sunday around Navan town
– A nature-oriented evening cycle mid-week beside the River Boyne
– A social cycle event to a nearby tourist/cafe destination

More details at http://navancycling.ie/bike-week-2022/

Cycle Sense, Skibbereen 
Highlights included the Skibbereen Cycle Bus Trip to Tragumna Beach and eating pizza. 

And the return of the Fairfield Family evening of obstacles, bike doctor and cycle round town.

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMFOGw6ewC8YSA1DtVUKBw_X-D_0CXPJL9-W__L/photo/AF1QipMIBMnsjMv_vIG7jKW_1eq1IkJqpunhKw75Ea5h

And the idyllic day of River Lake and Sea – Watercolour on Wheels. We became artists under the guidance of Caoimhe Pendred. 

More at https://www.cyclesense.ie/ 

Clonakilty Bicycle Festival and The Bike Circus
We held 11 events over Bike Week including our highlight – a ‘cycle the river’ all ages cycle with our local river-wellness group. During the event we collected water samples and identified insects living there. We had a kidical mass cycle through the town, where kids as young as two years did a lap of the town. We also held numerous workshops and information sessions in the Bike Circus community bike workshop. Overall we had about 280 participants in the various events. Our own bicycle festival is in its 11th year and we will be hosting another week of events June 9-12th with a focus on inclusive and fun cycles and events to celebrate the beauty of bikes – www.clonakiltybicyclefestival.org.

Galway Cycling Campaign
We ran a Galway United Bike Valet service for a soccer match. We set up a gazebo and volunteers minded patrons’ bikes. The club pitched in generously with complimentary admission, while the Bike Week funding provided burgers and drinks.

More at https://twitter.com/GalwayCycling/status/1526897911241531393?s=20&t=2F4BB4PnB6NIV76xZ9IOQA

Galway Cycling Campaign also organised a family leisure cycle bike trail along quiet “Rothar Roads” to join with the wind farm trails. This is a stunning route and would complement a future Connemara Greenway. In fact this is more scenic than the proposed route, but it is not so populated so we coordinated with our friends in the Connemara Greenway Alliance to ensure we advocate for both.

https://twitter.com/GalwayCycling/status/1525948908853239808?s=20&t=2F4BB4PnB6NIV76xZ9IOQA

Leitrim Cycling Festival
This year our roving festival was in the lovely little town of Drumshanbo on the shores of Lough Allen. Our weekend festival had a busy and eclectic programme. It started on Friday evening with a Pretty your Bike workshop and a Launch Lap of Drumshanbo led by some weird and wonderful bikes.



The Saturday and Sunday included film screenings of ‘Love Song to a Bicycle’, commissioned cycling poetry from Gerry Boland, puppetry, personalised bike songs, an art workshop, Wim Hof method breathing and ice bath, spin classes, balance bikes, a céili, live music and DJs. We also enjoyed lots of food including the Launch Feast, sourdough pizzas, a family picnic, free ice-cream and lots of tea & cake!

There was plenty of cycling too including the family cycle to the ‘snake across the lake’, self-led rides following our RouteYou maps, the 99 Reasons to Cycle ride with the Leitrim Branch of DSI and our annual Slow Bicycle Race. At least two of our youngest participants learnt to cycle during the festival and lots rediscovered the joy of cycling again.

More at https://leitrimcyclingfestival.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/leitrimcyclingfestival 

Wexford Bicycle User Group (WexBUG)
This year, WexBUG put on an all encompassing event called ‘Get Back on your Bike’. This was a 3 in 1 event involving an hour long hands-on bicycle repair session, essential bike skills delivered by two Cycle Right trained cycling instructors.

We then put it all together with a gentle 16 km ride around Wexford Town where we practiced not riding in the door zone, road positioning, the considerations made in using/not using available cycling infrastructure – and of course, a coffee stop!

We had around 20 people between all three events and maybe 10 for all three.

Dublin Cycling Campaign
What a wonderful collaboration it was between Dublin Cycling Campaign and Dublin Community Growers as we visited a selection of community gardens throughout Dublin by bike on Sat 21st May.

This included the north and south city, and it culminated in a joint celebratory session in the fabulous Mucky Lane Community Garden in Donnycarney! A magical collaboration and a magical experience!

Dublin Cycling Campaign was also delighted to present a webinar during Bike Week on the Cycle Friendly Employer (CFE) scheme, a European Cyclists’ Federation initiative to establish a European standard for cycle friendly companies.

We heard from Froso Christofides, Members and Networks Manager (Cyprus) from the ECF, on the overarching European context and then from several other informed contributors on their experiences. There were presentations from Workday Enterprise Software (Killian Ormond, Green Team), DBFL Consulting Engineers (Robert Kelly & Mark Kelly) and the Department of Transport (Rebekah Maher). Michael O’Boyle from Cycling Solutions Ireland gave further details of the CFE scheme for Ireland.

The event was recorded and can be watched here. 

Limerick Cycling Campaign – St Pauls NS
Cycle to School week bumped cycling numbers to a record high of approximately 80-90 per day with a peak of 107 children cycling on the day of our bike mechanic visit.

Sligo Cycling Campaign
On June 15th Sligo Cycling Campaign held its first Pedal Parade through Sligo town. The Parade linked in perfectly with the Family Fun Day organised by Sligo County Council. It was supported by local schools who are participants in the Safe Routes to School Programme and by members of the public.

Sligo Cycling Campaign also hosted two showings of the short film “Love Song to a Bicycle” – one showing in the Building Block, Sligo was for adults and the second in Strandhill National School was for pupils and their parents. In both cases participants travelled to the film by bicycle and we were fortunate that filmmakers Johnny Gogan and Laura McMorrow were present for both screenings. 

Later in the summer or in the early autumn, Cyclist.ie will begin to think about Bike Week 2023, so if you have particular ideas you would like to share with us about possible events don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.  

Hurray! Bike Week 2022 has now started and it runs from Sat 14 to Sun 22 May. 

Cyclist.ie’s member groups are running some really fabulous events countrywide and in this article here we give you a flavour of just some of the events happening. 

Note that the header image above is from the beautiful poster produced for the Leitrim Cycling Festival which you can see in full below.

Navan Cycling Initiative, County Meath
They are running three events for Bike Week: a family-oriented Community Cycle, a nature-oriented evening cycle beside the Boyne river, and a chit-chat-snack-and-tea-oriented Social cycle to Bective Mills. Details and registration can be found at http://navancycling.ie. 

Sligo Cycling Campaign (SCC)
SCC is organising three events for Bikeweek: Camchuairt Rothar ar Chlocha Teorainn Shligigh i gcuideachta an Staraí Dr. Fiona Ní Ghallachóir, a Pedal Parade for all ages and abilities, and the premiere of the short film “Love Song to a Bicycle” for which patrons will travel to the film by Cycle Bus.

More information at https://www.sligocyclingcampaign.ie/.

Drogheda Cycling Group / County Louth
The Drogheda Group will be hosting three events:
1. Bike Clinic in Courtyard Coffee on Sunday 15 May at 10 AM.
2. Community Cycle to Oldbridge House on the 15th (free tea/coffee and snack to all participants)
3. Community Cycle to Oldbridge House – on the 22nd (again free coffee and snack).

Wexford Bicycle User Group
WexBUG will be hosting two events. 

On Saturday 14 May, we will run our ‘Get back on your bike’ session. This event is aimed at people who may not have cycled for a while and are looking for a place to start. As such this all encompassing event will involve bike maintenance, safe cycling lessons, a guided spin around Wexford town and FREE coffee. Details here. 

Then on Thursday 19 May, WexBUG will pay a visit to Rosslare National School to do a Question & Answer session with the pupils. It also plans on delivering some essential bike skills and handing out a few freebies. 

Leitrim Cycling Festival 20-22 May
This is a weekend of events taking place in the lovely town of Drumshanbo. It includes something for all ages – workshops, feasting, music, dancing, camping, puppetry, ice baths, ice cream and celebrating bikes. 

Full details available at https://leitrimcyclingfestival.com/.  

Galway Cycling Campaign (GCC)
GCC are organising a social spin near Loughwell between An Spideál and Maigh Cuilinn on Sunday 15 May. The plan is to bring a group of adults and families with older children (8-12) along quiet “rothar roads”, through Coillte forest trails and some gravel paths through the Galway Wind Park. Details here. 

Galway Cycling Campaign is also hosting a ‘Bike United Bike Valet’ for Galway United supporters at Eamonn Deacy Park, Terryland, for their match against Athlone Town on Friday 20 May. There will be a dedicated, secure area where supporters may safely park their bikes, cargo bikes, and bike trailers, under the supervision of volunteers during the game, with a raffle and spot-prizes and discounted admission available for those arriving to the game by bike.

Dublin Cycling Campaign (DCC)
DCC is organising / co-organising three events for Bike Week. 

The Bicycle Kicks! event on Saturday, 14 May 2022 combines a bicycle maintenance demo and workshop, a Critical Mass cycle through Dublin 7, and a ‘break the record attempt for attendance at a Women’s League of Ireland match’ between Bohs v. Shelbourne (with free admission to the match if you arrive on bicycle).

Details at https://www.dublincycling.com/events/bicycle-kicks.

Then on Wed 18 May (1-2pm), DCC is delighted to present a webinar on the Cycle Friendly Employer scheme, a European Cyclists’ Federation initiative which is an employer certification programme to establish a European standard for cycle friendly companies. Details here.

Then on Saturday, 21 May 2022 (starting at 10:30am), there is the Community Gardens Cycle. This is a wonderful cycling odyssey through a selection of Dublin’s Community Gardens, where one can meet its members and join a talk on rewilding for biodiversity with native wildflowers.

Details at https://www.dublincycling.com/events/2022-community-gardens-cycle. 

We are aware of a couple of organisations in Ireland that are accepting donations of used cycles to pass on to recently-arrived refugees.

The Bike Hub social enterprise in Dún Laoghaire want to let refugees know about the availability of donated bikes. They ask donors to send photos to [email protected] so they can estimate the work needed and suitability for people on the waiting list, which also includes low income families and customers of Focus Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council. The Bike Hub have donated an estimated 130 bikes since last July.

Another organisation doing this is River Cycles on Ushers Island in Dublin city centre. See full story here.

If you know of any other businesses or organisations who are accepting bikes to pass on to refugees, please let us know and we will add the information to this article.

Cyclist.ie strongly endorses the statement issued earlier this week by Henk Swarttouw, President of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and highlighting the links between our patterns of mobility and our energy security needs and vulnerabilities. The ECF statement can be read here. Note that Cyclist.ie is the member for Ireland of the ECF.

The statement is a timely reminder of how active travel – walking and cycling for shorter trips, rather than motoring – contributes to our reduced dependence on Russian oil and gas. In other words, active travel goes well beyond considerations of improved public health, more liveable neighbourhoods, and reduced carbon emissions. 

Dr. Hannah Daly and her colleagues stressed in their Irish Times article of 8th March 2022 that Ireland must play its part in ending Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and they argue that we need “a large scale communications campaign from Government to frame our energy transition explicitly in terms of the need to cut Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuel”. Cyclist.ie strongly supports this point.

In regard to the related topic of transport emissions, we know from the most recent National Transport Authority Household Survey published in December 2018 that 50% of all of the trips we take in Ireland are under 5km – a distance very much cycle-able for much of our population (with shorter trips easily walkable). Furthermore, recently published energy and transport modelling research by O’Riordan et al (2021) maintains that significant energy and emissions savings can be achieved from modal shift in Ireland  –

the active mode scenarios, which focus on increased walking and cycling achieve a 0.2 – 1 MTCO2 reduction in annual passenger transport emissions in 2030 [while the] range of public transport scenarios, inspired by targets set out by the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan achieve a between 0.001 – 0.3 MTCO2 reduction in annual passenger transport emissions in 2030.

We note here that in 2018 Ireland’s transport emissions amounted to 12.2MT and that by 2030 the required emissions based on the Climate Action Plan are 6-7MT as per the 2021 Climate Action Plan (page 144), so the modelled emissions reductions from a shift to active travel are very significant. 

As a further practical and immediate measure to support the Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland, Cyclist.ie supports the collection and distribution of bicycles to refugees arriving in Ireland and will be liaising with its member groups in promoting initiatives in this regard. Access to a bike may allow some of those traumatised by war to avail of opportunities for social, leisure and economic activities, and hence help contribute to their recovery.

On Tuesday 1st March 2022, Cyclist.ie’s Love 30 group, which campaigns for 30kph speed limits in urban areas and safer speed limits generally, presented to the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications.

This was an important step in the process of reducing urban speed limits to a safer level for all vulnerable road users, and making our cities and towns safer. A full preparatory statement was outlined and presented, and can be viewed as an attachment on the Love30 website here.  

Love 30 was represented by Muireann O’Dea and Joan Swift (pictured above), while Dr. Lorraine D’Arcy from TU Dublin also presented – in addition to the representatives from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) – as can be seen in the recording of the session.

Kieran O’Donnell TD (Fine Gael) chaired the session in a very engaged manner, while Steven Matthews (Green Party) and Ruairí Ó Murchú TD (Sinn Féin) also made strong contributions. Gerry Horkan TD (Fianna Fáil) also attended briefly.

Love 30 was also delighted to have the further support and strong contributions from TD Neasa Hourigan TD (GP), Senator Pauline O’Reilly (GP) and Senator Marie Sherlock (Labour).

The RSA CEO Sam Waide (pictured below) urged the introduction of default 30kph urban speed limits both to increase safety, but also to bring us in line with other European countries. He emphasised that Ireland is lagging behind, and as a result deaths and serious injuries continue. The international evidence clearly supports the introduction of the lower speed limits.

Dr. Lorraine D’Arcy (pictured below) emphasised the loss of human interaction in our urban roads and streets due to the preponderance of the private car, and also the need for a cross-sectoral multi-stakeholder approach to the assessment of the benefits of reduced speeds and reduced vehicle use.

Love 30 formally presented their statement, and overall the Committee accepted the rationale and evidence behind the call.  Love 30 issued a Press Release beforehand, which prompted some media coverage of the issue – including the Irish Times’ piece Streets devoid of human interactions due to dominance of vehicles committee told on 2nd March.

There was strong support from Committee members for a default 30 km/h speed limit in built-up areas, with exceptions for some roads where justified with evidence, and they would like to see it implemented as quickly as possible. 

Importantly, following the presentations and discussion it was agreed that the Oireachtas Committee will write to the Department of Transport asking for a progress report on the Working Group on Speed Limits as set up under the Road Safety Strategy. This Working Group has already met twice this year. The Committee will seek its Terms of Reference, and will recommend that Love 30 is included in the Working Group. The Committee would then look for the follow-up actions that are needed.

This has been a very positive result from this presentation, and underpins the great work that Love 30 have been doing over the past years.

If you want to get involved in this vital area of road safety and improvement in our cities you can contact Love30 at [email protected] or check out the website at https://www.love30.ie/.

If you want to support the wider work of Cyclist.ie or want to know more about the work of Cyclist.ie, check us out at www.cyclist.ie or email us at [email protected].

“Rural Ireland CAN cycle!!” Cyclist.ie Rural Collective tells Councillors.

Major campaign calls for support for cycling in Rural Ireland 

A national campaign to encourage local councillors to endorse the ‘Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland’ began this week. The campaign is based on the “Vision” manifesto, launched in September 2020 by Minister for State, Malcolm Noonan. Coordinated by the national cycling advocacy network, Cyclist.ie, an information leaflet has been dispatched to every rural local councillor highlighting the need to prioritise the 8 Asks of the Vision.

Joan Swift of Sligo Cycling Campaign said: ‘We are launching this leaflet to build on the positive conversations that are happening as a result of our ‘Vision’. Our initial launch was well received by local and national government and the public. We then brought our message to all Chief Executives and Directors of Services responsible for road infrastructure, and now we want to take that campaign a stage further and reach out to the men and women who are our elected representatives in our rural local authorities – the people who can really make this change happen.’

She continued: ‘Active travel is receiving unprecedented funding and staffing and if the funding is spent effectively it can transform peoples’ experience of rural mobility. The aim must be to ensure that in rural as well as in urban Ireland, cycling for all ages and abilities can become a reality. The 8 Asks, described in our ‘Vision’ are a pathway to achieving this.’

Jo Sachs-Eldridge of Leitrim Cycling Festival, who led the creation of the vision, explains: “We know our councillors are concerned about the same things that matter to us – road safety, rural transport options, energy use, physical and mental health. What we are proposing will impact positively on all of those and more. Our ‘Vision’ recognises the need to move to a more strategic approach to rural cycle planning and design. It also recognises the need to change the social as well as the physical environment on our roads – so that our public spaces are safer for everyone. Rural Ireland is currently very car dependent and the percentage of people who cycle is low but there is huge potential to change this. It wasn’t that many years ago that cycling was a normal way to get around. Let’s all help rural Ireland cycle once again!.’

Anluan Dunne of Kerry Cycling Campaign also stressed the importance of community and stakeholder engagement: “Local authorities and councillors should see us as partners and allies as they consider plans for cycle routes. Our expertise and hands-on experience of cycling in rural communities will be invaluable in considering what makes a safe route for cyclists of all ages and abilities.”

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Share pics of cycle routes you love

So we can ❤️ them too #LovelyRides

This Valentine’s Day, the CRAC team are looking for examples of drop-dead-gorgeous cycle infrastructure, and in particular cases that exemplify the five needs of a cyclist:

Head on over to our social media to share your favourite routes!

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