Saturday is the start of the week-long Galway Bike Festival, which aims to raise the profile of cycling as a healthy and fun way of commuting and physical activity for all age groups.

This year’s festival, with the theme ‘Galway is Better by Bike’, will host a range of activities for every age and ability, including free bike checks, fun cycles, lunchtime city cycles, heritage cycles, electric bike races, school cycling events and much more.

The festival gets under way on Saturday with a number of events which include Guides Fun Cycle, Pimp my Bike, Bike Fest at Merlin Woods, and Galway City Criterium.

The more experienced cyclists will be putting their skills and training to the test in the CROI Tour de Lough Corrib starting out in Dangan on Sunday 15.

During the week there are all day events for a number of primary schools in the city and county hosted by An Taisce Green Schools, while events aimed at students and staff will be held all week in NUIG campus.

On Wednesday June 18, Galway Healthy Cities Project is holding a workshop for policy and decision makers, together with members of the pubic on ‘Active Economy: the benefits of cycling’. This will be followed by the city cycle which will take place at lunchtime on Wednesday. This event, organised by Galway city and county councils with the assistance of the Gardai, aims to get adults and children to cycle together on a city centre route.

Galway Bike Festival will end on Sunday June 22 with family fun cycles hosted by Galway Sports Partnership at venues across the county. In the city, the family fun theme will continue with ‘Knocknacarfree’, starting out in Cappagh Park.

Also on Sunday, Slí na gCaisleán (The Way of the Castles ) will be a leisurely heritage cycle from the northern and eastern sides of the city and into the county.

Part of National Bike Week, which is initiated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2009, the events taking place throughout the city and county are organised by Galway City Council, Galway County Council, HSEw, NUIG, community groups, charities and cycling groups.

The full bilingual programme can be viewed or downloaded at www.galwaycity.ie or www.galway.ie Follow Galway Bike Festival on Facebook and twitter, or email email: [email protected].