Smoothies, fancy dress, orienteering, the Wild West, films, bling, castles and even a visit to a shuttle all form part of the broad range of biking activities on offer for Galway Bike Festival, which runs from Saturday June 15 to Sunday June 23.
The programme, which was officially launched by the Mayor of Galway city, Cllr Terry O’ Flaherty today seeks to encourage everyone to experience at first hand the multiple benefits of cycling.
The festival features numerous bike events for children and teenagers including: National BMX stunt and trick competitions, mountain biking, racing (slow and fast ), accessible cycling, maintenance workshops, cycle safety, orienteering and a Fancy Dress Cycle to the Prom.
More experienced cyclists can participate in the 45k or 120k tour of Connemara beginning in Dangan on Sunday June 16. Those wishing to cycle at a more leisurely pace with stops en route have a range of options in the City and County including a 25k guided heritage cycle taking in seven castles on Sunday June 23, a gentler 3k family friendly cycle along the river and canals of the city (also on June 23 ) or fun cycles taking place in Tullycross, Caltra, Ballinasloe and Clarinbridge during the week.
With increased emphasis on encouraging greater cycling to work and education, NUI, Galway and Galway University Hospital are hosting a guided cycle for staff and students along the new Seamus Quirke Road cycle lane on Wednesday June 19 departing Gateway Retail Park in Knocknacarra at 8:00am.
Work the Bike Scheme, organised by Jigsaw Galway is another new addition to the programme, which encompasses a 25k cycle of the city’s employment hubs, departing Fairgreen Road on Friday June 21 at 7:00am. And, the 10 Minute Cycle Challenge offers an opportunity for workmates to compete with one another in a fun cycling initiative, which gives bonus points to new cyclists.
Commenting on the launch of the programme, Joe Tansey, head of Galway Transportation Unit stated: “Galway Bike Festival features a packed programme of cycling events and initiatives for all ages designed to increase awareness of the positive benefits of cycling for the city in terms of alleviation of traffic congestion, health, environment, youth and community development.
This year, our aim is to encourage particularly new cyclists to discover or in lots of cases rediscover, the many benefits of cycling.”
The full bilingual programme can be viewed or downloaded at: www.galwaycity.ie or www.galway.ie
