Press Release Friday 16th June 2017

​​National Bike Week [www.bikeweek.ie] takes place mid-June each year with the aim of getting more citizens to use their bikes for going to work and families heading out to have fun together. This year​, after a busy week of events ​​Dublin Bikeweek Closes with Some Big Statements​, and Some Great Events​

Bike Week is a celebration and promotion of all that’s great about bikes and cycling, with bike themed events organised by local authorities, community groups and cycling groups throughout Ireland. Funding is provided by the Minister for Transport and his department.

The first bicycle made its appearance on the streets of Mannheim in Germany exactly 200 years ago this week so our logo above depicts the Draisine bicycle invented by Baron Von Drais and its evolution into modern forms of the bike. Baron Drais invented the human-powered bike in response to a massive fodder shortage for horses across Europe as a result of crop failure due to a temporary climate-change induced by volcanic ash clouds emanating from the eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies. With Ireland’s transport greenhouse gas emissions rising again, contrary to our Paris 2015 undertakings,

​National ​Bike Week has a serious edge to it with the Census 2016 finding, issued ​yesterday, that “The number of people driving to work increased by 85,180 to 1,152,631 and was the largest increase of all categories”. This is quite simply unsustainable. [http://cso.ie/en/media/csoie/newsevents/documents/census2016summaryresul… One piece of good news from the Census 2016 is that cycling to work has shown the largest percentage increase of all means of transport, rising from 39,803 in2011 to 56,837 in 2016, an increase of 42.8% over the five years.

Cyclist.ie Chairperson, Colm Ryder, states that: “In 2016, 52.3% of morning rush-hour journeys by car took 30 minutes or less so why are many of these trips not being done by bike?”

​So this coming weekend in Dublin, get out and about and mark and support some major changes and proposals for cycling in Dublin

​​**Bike to the Beach **at Dollymount: Saturday 17 June​ celebrates the recent opening of the northern off-road safe segregated link of the Clontarf section of the Sutton to ​Sandycove greenway

The **​Midsummer ​Liffey Cycle **from Phoenix Park along the North Quays to the ​Convention Centre, marshalled by Garda and Dublin Cycling Campaign marshals - Sunday 18 June​, supports the proposal to build a segregated 2-way along the full length of the ​North Liffey Quays - in what will become a major iconic cycle route and a statement for Dublin City

The Annual **​​Cargo-Bike Championships **in Phoenix Park on Sunday 18 June​ celebrate the growing use of bicycles for transport of goods and people

Contact: Colm Ryder 087-2376130