Dear Heather,

Now that the snow has melted away it's time to get back on the saddle! We've had great news this month with the announcement of the Minimum Passing Distance Legislation by Minister Shane Ross. It is a milestone for the safety of people on bikes and it puts 2018 up to a good start!

For the week, the month, the year that's in it, our next Public Meeting is about the gender gap (only 1 in four cyclists in Ireland is a women) and the barriers to get more women cycling. There will be a panel of guest speakers, many of whom have contributed to the 2012 Conference. The meeting will be at 7pm, at our usual spot in the Central Hotel, just one hour earlier than usual.

Happy Cycling!
Dublin Cycling Campaign

Demand a Stand Survey

Have you ever arrived at a destination only to be faced with a desert of available cycle parking? Now you can tell Dublin City Council exactly where you want more bike parking. Over a two week period (April 9-23) we want you to log the locations where bike parking is scarce, using the Space Engagers app or website.

Space Engagers is an interactive mapping tool that enables citizens to gather data for social and community projects. It has already been used to map vacant lots for the Peter McVerry Trust. The Demand-a-Stand project is collaboration between the Dublin Cycling Campaign and Space Engagers to enable our members and the general public to use the Space Engagers app to identify where they would like to see more bike parking. We will use this to build a heatmap of the most popular logged locations and campaign for more bike parking here. We will also send our data to Dublin City Council.

The Space Engagers app is very easy to use. It is available for Android or iOS and once registered it simply involves taking a picture of where you want more bike parking. You can also use the Space Engagers website to log locations.

So save the dates and spread the word!

Closing the gender gap

Monday, March 12, 7pm
Central Hotel, Exchequer Street

To celebrate International Women’s Day our March public meeting will be devoted to the topic of the barriers to women cycling. In 2012 the cycling campaign organised a conference on the theme of ‘Women and Cycling - Closing the Gender Gap’, which was prompted by the Census 2011 results which showed that only 1 in 5 cyclists were female. The number of people cycling has increased by over 43% since then, but still three-quarters of all commuting cyclists are males.

We have a great line up of speakers, who are actively involved in promoting cycling:

  • Anne Bedos, founder of Rothar
  • Barbara Connolly , national coordinator of the Cycle Right programme at Cycling Ireland
  • Jane Hacket, manager of the Green Schools Travel at An Taisce
  • Moire O'Sullivan, writer, adventure racer and stay-at-home mum

Physical and Mental Benefits of Cycling

Here's another article by contributor, Jane Dawn, highlighting some of the physical and mental benefits of cycling.

Cycling is one of a handful of sports carried out in a seated position, which can significantly counter the effects of the sedentary lifestyle. In addition to being an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise which does not put weight on the joints, cycling strengthens various muscles, including the quadriceps, calves, gluteus maximus, core muscles, and shoulders and arms.

Cycling and other forms of aerobic exercise improve our mental health in many ways, with study after study showing that they lower level of stress hormone, cortisol; make it easier to get a good night’s sleep; lift our mood; and increase vitality.

Read the whole article here and happy pedaling!

Marketing and Publicity Expertise Needed!

We know Dublin could be an even more delightful city if we could change the culture to be better disposed to cycling, walking and using our public spaces in people-friendly ways, right? But changing a culture is hugely challenging.

Of course, there is overwhelming evidence for the benefits, the Danes and Dutch have already done it, and yet we’re endlessly derailed into red-light observance and similar irrelevancies.

How do you change a culture?

“A talent for speaking differently rather than arguing well is the chief instrument of cultural change” (Richard Roarty). Do you have a talent for speaking differently? Do you have experience in marketing and publicity?

Our “Perception of Cycling” Strategic Aim group needs expertise - if you’re interested please email us at info@dublincycling.ie

Get Ireland Cycling Stakeholder Consultation

Dublin Cycling Campaign took part in the first ‘Get Ireland Cycling’ stakeholder consultation this week. The event, hosted by Sport Ireland, is an initiative from Healthy Ireland and is aimed to replicate the ‘Get Ireland Walking’ project which has been running for a number of years.

Mike McKillen reports: Keynote speaker was Damien's collaborator Angela van der Kloof (Mobycon) who said unless you have a coherent network of segregated cycle tracks/path crisscrossing urban areas you will not get more people cycling. She said "Children are precious and must be protected from fast traffic".
It was good to see senior officials from Healthy Ireland and Departments of Health and Transport there too along with Road Authorities and Local Sports Partnerships folks. Super. Con O'Donohue of AGS National Roads Policing and two colleagues were also there.
I got a chance to speak and harped about the urgency of government appointing a National Cycling Coordinator in DTTAS along with a team and a promotional budget.
We need to keep repeating this as a mantra in public as often as we can. It's a key recommendation of the NCPF.
We were asked to post an estimate of the percentage of commuters who would be using a bike by 2025. I posted 6% nationally. [NCPF called for 10% by 2020!]
You can follow this discussion online under the hashtags #GetIrelandCycling, #GetIrelandActive, #healthyireland, #ReadytoPedal

Join Us! Become a Member – or Even Better an Active Member!

The Dublin Cycling Campaign is a completely voluntary group working on behalf of all cyclists in Dublin. The more members we have, the quicker we can transform the city and culture for the better. Join today! As a member you will receive a Cycling Rewards Card that gives you discounts at over 40 cyclist friendly businesses.

Active Members

We have an email list where we occasionally send out requests for help with specific jobs or events. If you would like to be added to the list please sign up here. Being on the list is not an obligation to do work, but you might see something you would like to help out with.