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Irish Posts

Cycling Ireland AXA Community Bike Rides

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Cyclist.ie has had a strategic partnership with Cycling Ireland since 2016 – the aim is to jointly promote and advocate for the development of cycling on the island of Ireland. We meet Cycling Ireland staff and volunteers on a regular basis, we and keep up-to-date on what is happening in the sports and leisure side of two wheeling – and equally, we share what is happening in the campaigning and advocacy spheres with them. Mary Corry, Development Officer for Cycling Ireland’s AXA Community Bike Rides, sent us the following update on what is happening with the bike ride programme they organise during the COVID crisis.

With the current restrictions in place, unfortunately AXA Community Bike Rides are unable to take place in their current format. For now, we are conscious that many of our members may like to take part in other cycling related activities within their home environment, such as taking part in strength exercises for cycling or learning about interval training. Others may like to find out – Is my saddle the right height for me? How do I fix a puncture? Is my helmet fitting properly? How do I clean my bike chain? 

As a result, the AXA Community Bike Rides team have worked on developing short video clips on the above such topics so that for those who want to improve their cycling technique, they can look to engage with strength training clips or interval training, or for those who may like to improve their bike fitting and maintenance skills, they have access to short tutorial clips on how to go about doing this, see below

See also AXA Community Bike Rides

Another 6 clips being shared over the coming weeks …

Irish Posts

Clonakilty Bicycle Festival 2020 is going Global

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This year the Clon Bike Fest will widen its spokes, reaching wide and inviting bicycle lovers all over the world to participate in a series of events, online and on your bike – wherever you are!

While the organizers are still finalizing details of the weekend, they are offering this snap shot:

The main on-yer-bike event of the weekend will be a 4 day ‘Photo Scavenger Hunt’ – open to small groups of bike lovers around the world. Register a team of 2-6 people (respecting your local COVID-19 guidelines) and prepare yourselves for 4 days of cycle hunting and photo posing – each item on the list will be assigned point values – and the team with the most points will win a wheely wonderful prize pack! Scavenger hunt list will be published on the evening of Wednesday June 3rd and entries will close mid-night on the 8th.

The Bicycle Festival will also host a live streaming ‘Bicycle Lovers’ Forum’ to discuss topics from ‘Cycling beyond the Pandemic’ to community bike shops to bike-buses, and everything in between. You can also expect live streaming Bike Repair with community bike mechanics from our very own Bike Circus as well as a virtual Cycle-in-Cinema and ideas and invitations to set up small cycle obstacle courses for your street!

T-shirts are being designed, digital posters and programmes will be available from May 15th – Please spread the word!

Details here, or email or call 085 757 4338

Irish Posts

A New National Sustainable Mobility Policy

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A lot of cycle campaigning work takes place behind the scenes – pouring over plans, drafting submissions and participating in public consultation events.

One of the latest events attended was the Stakeholder Engagement Event on a Review of Sustainable Mobility Policy organised by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) on the 21st of November. Dr. Damien Ó Tuama was there for Cyclist.ie and Mairéad Forsythe for Love 30 (a member group of Cyclist.ie). On the day we restated some of our main campaigning demands: 10% of the transport pie for cycling (or 20% for walking & cycling), making built-up areas permeable and attractive for active travel, and radically improving the integration between cycling and public transport.

The purpose of the event was to start the process of developing a new Sustainable Mobility Policy and to seek the views of the main stakeholders.

Cyclist.ie will be examining the various papers prepared by DTTAS and preparing a submission ahead of the deadline of 24th of January 2020. Details of the formal consultation process can be seen here.

If you have time to help out with examining some of the background papers (in particular, Paper #2 on Active Travel) or with helping to draft a response to the consultation, we would love to hear from you. Contact us.

Irish Posts

Great Southern Trail Christmas Walk/Cycle, Rathkeale, Co Limerick

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Organised by Great Southern Trail Greenway (a member group of Cyclist.ie), the annual Christmas Walk/Cycle along the GST Greenway will take place on Friday 27th Dec 2019. This is an important event to maintain and build public support for the completion of the GST Greenway. Assembly is at the car park of the Rathkeale House Hotel, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, V94NP54 between 12.30pm and 1.30pm. Bus Éireann services from Kerry and Limerick stop a few metres from the hotel for those who wish to reduce their carbon footprint.

Walkers will be transferred by Coach House Travel courtesy of shuttle coach from the hotel car park to Ardagh from where they will have a 5 mile [8 km] stroll (a shorter option can also be provided) along the old railway back to the Rathkeale House Hotel which is alongside the Greenway. There they can enjoy seasonal mince pies, whipped cream and tea/coffee at their leisure. Cyclists are also welcome and we suggest that they also meet at the hotel at 12.30 and cycle outwards along the Greenway for approx one hour or more towards Newcastle West / Barnagh Tunnel and then return in time to enjoy the refreshments. The round trip to the tunnel is close to 30 miles [48 km]. Bike hire will also be available (preferably by prior booking) with [email protected] 0868134061. Nollaig Shona do gach éinne agus beidh fáilte romhat ar an 27ú.

Dublin

Dubliners Reclaim City Centre Street in Fight for Clean Air

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A coalition of transport and environmental groups freed Dublin’s South William Street from motor traffic today, creating a space for people by preventing motor vehicles from accessing the area.

Dublin Cycling Campaign, Dublin Commuter Coalition and the Irish Pedestrian Network joined forces for today’s action, with additional support from Extinction Rebellion activists. The groups say that the time has come to fight back against the dominance of motor vehicles in our towns and cities.

Full Press Release

International Posts

VELO-CITY COMES TO DUBLIN

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Dublin City Council is hosting the Velo-City 2019 international cycling conference in Dublin from the 25th – 28th June 2019 in the Convention Centre Dublin. The Velo-City conference is the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) annual global cycling summit, and Dublin is proud to be hosing the conference this year. It is the world’s largest conference dedicated to cycling, cycling infrastructure, bicycle innovations, bicycle safety, and the social and cultural changes driven by cycling on a global scale. Delegates attending the conference will be involved in the areas of delivering safe cycling facilities, technology, health, behavioural change, urban and infrastructure policies and mobility. 

Approximately 1500 delegates are scheduled to attend the event over the three-day period, providing a significant boost to the local economy.  The conference title is ‘Cycling for the Ages’ and will explore visions for the cycling city of the future and how we get there from the cycling city of today; how can we support and design to ensure measures taken are inclusive for all ages, gender, abilities and nationalities. 

“I’m very happy to lend my support to this important international conference. It’s an exciting event and it’s great to that Dublin City Council are hosting it. Encouraging and supporting people to walk and cycle is crucial to help meet our climate action challenge, tackling congestion and making our cities more liveable places. That’s why this Government is increasing the funding available to support the development of safe cycling infrastructure across the country both in urban areas, like Dublin city, and rural areas, through our new Greenways Strategy”, said Shane Ross TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

“This increased investment is supporting the delivery of a number of major projects in Dublin this year and over the coming years as the National Transport Authority continues to implement the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan, including the delivery of 200km of cycling infrastructure as part of the BusConnects programme,” he said.

One of the key social activities that Dublin City Council has organised for the delegates is a Bike Parade, which will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday the 26th of June. Delegates will travel along the Sutton to Sandycove (S2S) cycle route – one of Dublin City Council’s and the National Transport Authority’s flagship cycling projects, towards St. Anne’s Park. Joining them in the cycle parade will be a host of community groups, school children and cycling enthusiasts along the UNESCO designated Biosphere, a location that is one of the most highly designated and ecologically sensitive sites in the world.  ​ Upon arriving at the Park, there will be free family entertainment for all as well as a farmers’ market with foods such as artisan cheeses and preserves, organic meat, fresh baked bread, cakes and treats.

“We are delighted to host Velo-city 2019 and look forward to interesting and informative discussions from leaders in the cycling world”, said Owen Keegan, Chief Executive, Dublin City Council. “As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable transport and delivering on our commitments to combating climate change, construction contracts will be awarded on three major cycleway projects in the city centre this year; the Clontarf to City Centre Cycleway, the Fitzwilliam Street Cycleway and the Royal Canal Way project; while design work is ongoing on the Dodder Greenway, Clonskeagh to City Centre, and the remaining sections of the Sutton to Sandycove Route (S2S). With the Liffey cycle route now out for public consultation all of these projects represent an important and exciting future for the city.”

“As a Smart City, we also constantly explore how technology can help increase cycling levels and we have worked in partnership with several companies and organisations trialling unique and smart solutions to promote and encourage cycling,” he said.

To coincide with Velo-city, Dublin City Council in partnership with Cycle Industries Europe and the European Cycling Federation, has announced the ‘Smart Pedal Pitch’, a search for the most innovative cycle tech solutions. Winning entries will get the chance to pitch to a global cycle audience as well as a panel of international judges from the tech and cycling world.

Over the course of the Velo-city Conference, sessions will focus on a broad range of engaging topics including; “Cycling & Climate Change – the opportunity”, “Cycling Road Space Design – to Share or Segregate”, Explaining and convincing for a better cycling city”. Keynote speakers at the Conference include; Owen Keegan, Chief Executive Dublin City Council, Anne Graham, CEO National Transport Authority, Philippe Crist, Advisor for Innovation and Foresight for the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), former professional cyclist, Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester’s first ever Cycling and Walking Commissioner,  Lucy Saunders, public health specialist, urbanist and transport planner, creator of healthy Streets approach, Klaus Bondam, CEO of the Danish Cyclists’ Federation since 2014 and Amanda Ngabirano is an urban and regional planner, lecturing at Makerere University in Kampala and Vice President of the World Cycling Alliance in Africa. Conference Details

EU Posts

Cyclist.ie in Erasmus at Corella

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Back in September 2017, we were delighted to be contacted – completely out of the blue – by Toño Peña, the Vice-President of Biciclistas de Corella, a Spanish organisation promoting the bicycle as a means of transport. He was inquiring to see if Cyclist.ie would like to be a partner in an Erasmus+ project funding application he was leading on. The project was to be all about social inclusion, youth empowerment and sustainable transport. The answer was an emphatic ‘yes’!

Roll on March 2019, and after many months of SKYPE calls, emails, Garda vetting of volunteers and navigating labyrinthine forms for EU projects, we were part of an exciting partnership and on our way to the lovely town of Corella in the the region of Navarra. In the intervening period, Cyclist.ie had teamed up with Green Schools Ireland, and the other project partners were Frie Fugle and Cycling Without Age from Denmark, a youth association (LAG Suduva) from Lithuania, and the Alhama High School and Biciclistas de Corella in Spain. Crucially, on board with the adults from the cycling and environmental organisations above were school children from all four participating countries – around half a dozen from each. The pupils from Ireland came from St. Tiernan’s Community School in Dundrum. The adults comprised Dr. Damien Ó Tuama from Cyclist.ie, Jane Hackett from Green Schools, Martina O’Shea linked to the school, and Allison Roberts from Clonakilty Bicycle Festival (who was joined by her partner Justin and three year old Ari, all of whom were on bigger bicycling and camper-van adventures in Spain and Portugal at the time!).

All 40+ participants who travelled to Corella were treated to a wonderfully diverse and amazingly action-packed week of activities. We have to say that the crew from Biciclistas de Corella were the best hosts ever! Each day was jam-packed with formal and informal, indoor and outdoor, day-time and night-time activities of every type imaginable. Some of the highlights included a tree planting workshop, a lovely 40km cycle through a farming region to Fitero, a trip to the Bardenas Desert with a picnic and barbeque afterwards, a dancing workshop, a pottery-making session, singing jotas with the residents of the nursing home and then heading out with them on a Cycling Without Age trishaw, evening time dinners with home-made food provided by locals, visits to wineries, a trip to Pamplona and visiting the palace of Navarra, tortilla-making workshops, meeting the Mayor of Corella, visits to cathedrals….. and lots of presentations on cycling and cycle tourism. It is exhausting listing even some of our activities! Most importantly, we got a lovely warm welcome from the hosts and from everyone we met in the school and on our trips.

The first project meeting definitely succeeded in getting cycling campaigners and school pupils from four quite different countries swapping ideas with each other over the course of the week. It was educational, sociable and a breathe of fresh air for us all. Take a bow Toño, Cristina, Quique, Chivvy and team!

The next ‘mobility’ or trip for the project participants will be to Dublin in June and – as per the funding application submitted over a year ago – the plan is for the group to be here during the same week as the Velo-city Cycling Planning Conference at the end of June. As far as is possible, we will aim to knit into some of the Velo-city events such as the Cycle Parade and other side events, and Toño Peña himself will be presenting at the conference. Further trips will be to Copenhagen in October and Lithuania in mid 2020 – and then there will be a additional trip back to Ireland in 2021 and we are exploring the idea of heading to Clonakilty for the bicycle festival!

To hear more about the project, pop along to the public meeting of Dublin Cycling Campaign taking place on Monday 8th of April – details here – and/or get in contact with Cyclist.ie’s National Cycling Coordinator.

Irish Posts

Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice

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Sign up now to Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice on 5 December

Worried about climate change? Frustrated by the government’s inaction on active travel and other measures to tackle emissions? Eager to do something to get your TDs to take #ClimateActionNow?

Then join the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition in Buswells Hotel, Dublin, on Wednesday 5th December, for Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice.

Cyclist.ie, a member of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition since 2016, will be participating on the day offering cycling as a real solution to transport climate pollution reduction through the #Allocate4Cycling campaign.

Register for this event and email your TDs to ask them to meet you at the event.  A template is provided. You can add your own message about how cycling can help us meet our emissions targets:

  • Transport accounts for 20% of overall emissions (and of this 52% comes from private cars)
  • Investing in cycling provides excellent value for money
  • Cycle trips don’t generate air or noise pollution
  • Cycling is an affordable mobility option for all

Sounds great! But what should I talk to them about?

All you need to do is share your real concerns about climate change with your TDs. Tell them that as your elected representative, they and their party should do more to reduce Ireland’s emissions, and that we can’t go on being one of the worst polluters per person in Europe.

We took part in similar SCC hosted events previously and those who have participated have found them empowering. Plus, we know that TDs are impacted by meeting groups of their own constituents who care passionately about an issue. A few years ago, running a similar kind of lobby day secured the climate law. Now, we need an action plan that actually cuts greenhouse gas emissions.