Photos courtesy of Emma Synnott

Muddy bikes and big grins bounded through St. Anne’s Park last Sunday, 19th June, for Bike Fest, the family cycling festival run by Cycling Ireland, which serves as one of the flag ship events for National Bike Week.


With the clouds descending on the beautiful Dublin City Council Park the young riders who turned up on balance bikes, mountain bikes, first bikes and racers made sure that nothing would rain on their parade for the sixth edition of the family festival that celebrates all things cycling.


Sprocket Rocket was the centre of attention, with a fun obstacle course with fully qualified instructors guiding and coaching the riders making their way through the cones, over the planks and under the limbos.

     
The Sprocket Rocket character, Reilly, was hanging out all day to meet and greet the enthusiastic cyclists.


Gearing Up Off Road provided a challenging and exciting mountain bike course that brought the cyclists into the forest, down hills, over ramps and tree stumps, and was an opportunity for the more seasoned bikers to show off their skills.


The Cycling School was another hit, with expert advice being offered to the children as they made their way through a realistic reconstruction of a road setting.



Little Big Bikes provided a fun circuit for the newer tots, with an area for the balance bikers to test their skills. Balance bikes are the best bikes for children starting out on their cycling journey.


This year Savage Skills wowed the crowd once more, with three stunning shows where the talented stunt crew mixed trial bike jumps and BMX bike skills all the time entertaining and inspiring the cyclists watching on.


In the past few weeks the RSA created a new and impressive educational truck, including a bicycle simulator which allowed you to navigate through virtual streets, a motorbike simulator and a brake reaction test.


Thanks to 360 Cycles, to all the stall holders who attended, the marshals who volunteered their time, and to our fantastic coaches, some of whom travelled a great distance to be there.