Just like in days gone by, bicycles could be spotted outside shops, cafes and pubs throughout Drumshanbo.

The festival was filled with the sounds of laughter, the crunching of gravel under spoked tyres, the squeaking of bicycle brakes, bells ringing, poetry, music and good conversation.’ said Jo Sachs-Eldridge, organiser Leitrim Cycling Festival.

Leitrim Cycling Festival 2022 brought people to Drumshanbo not just from Leitrim but from Donegal, Louth, Sligo, Galway, Roscommon and Dublin as well as other further flung places such as Germany, New Jersey and New Zealand. Some arrived on a whim, some on a recommendation, some returned with delight. Yet however they came they all enjoyed exploring Leitrim by bicycle and the magical programme of activities put together by the festival team.

Leitrim Cycling Festival is more than just a celebration of bicycles – it is a celebration of communities. As the festival grows each year, as people return, bringing friends and family with them, so the community grows.

At this year’s festival little ones learnt to cycle, some completed their biggest cycle yet, some rediscovered the joy of cycling, some shrieked while cycling the many crazy bikes on site, some discovered the 7km downhill from Bencroy and some took part in the art, poetry, puppetry, feasting, singing, dancing, ice baths and slow bicycle races.

The Leitrim Cycling Festival team worked closely with the community to bring together their fullest programme to date. Whether you were new to cycling or had been cycle commuting or cycle touring for years there really was something for everyone.

As part of BikeWeek, Leitrim Cycling Festival 2022 was supported by Leitrim County Council, Leitrim Sports Partnership and Leitrim Tourism.

The festival team would also like to thank all who contributed to the festival including Drumshanbo Tidy Towns, Moran’s Bike Shop, Trailblazers, Lough Allen Adventure, Electric Bike Trails, Eileen O’Toole, Wayne Frankham, Grainne McMenamin, Johnny Gogan, Fiona Heenan, Brían Farrell, Brendan Barry, Leitrim Branch of DSI, Scollan’s Gala, The Shed Distillery and all the people who helped out in a myriad of ways.

I learnt that I will never win a slow bicycle race 
Or ride a penny farthing
And that cycling round and round 
a village roundabout is mesmerising

I learnt that a colourful friend 
is the key to colourful gear
And that for some, moving clouds
is something you can hear

I learnt you can take a line for a cycle
And that bikes are instruments too
And cycling up hill is not easy 
after two platefuls of stew

I learnt you can fit six people on a single bicycle
(according to the Rock)
And that wise men like Ken
know how to take a knock

I learnt that the Tottenham Estate 
cleverly grew within their grounds
pineapples and lemons
while famine raged all around

I learnt that the ‘nuachta’ of old was always the ‘buamai’ in Belfast

I learnt that the fiercest streets of Dublin 
are learning to care
and that within every community  
there are gardens to share

I learnt that when the measurements are wrong 
a curry feast can go on 
and on and on..

I learnt that ‘Kilty Live’ 
brought life to the street
and watched with glee as the Wandering Bandstand 
brought people to their feet

I learnt that the pub has only 24 pint glasses

I learnt that you can dance in the rain
with the Cosmos in an awning
and that sticks for the fire 
can be delivered at two in the morning

I learnt that Leitrim
is even more beautiful than I knew
And that Kilty can definitely 
teach me a thing or two

So thank you Kilty
From all of us cycling crew



Jo Sachs-Eldridge


A poem inspired by a wonderful weekend 
of playing, listening and gathering stories
 inspired by the 
Human-on-a-Bicycle Library project

The bicycle is an object of love for so many reasons.

Are there many other items that were in everyday use a century ago and are equally so today? Can you think of a means of transport that is suitable for a three-year-old and a ninety-three-year-old, that is at home amid gleaming skyscrapers and rural Rothar Roads?  Is there another invention as versatile, convenient, space-saving, cheap to run, good for you and as gentle on the planet? Most of all is there another invention which is as much fun!

For the week that’s in it, when love is in the air, we want to pay homage to the love bicycle owners everywhere feel for their chariot by posting two poems on the theme of bicycles. We do this by kind permission of the author and poet, Bernadette McCarrick. The poems are taken from Bernadette’s most recent collection of poems “To Walk in My Native Place New and Selected Poems”

Bernadette is an award-winning poet, and this is her third collection. The other two were “My Fathers Barn” 2009 and “A Swan in Flight” 2015.  This latest book was completed in collaboration with her brother Pat McCarrick who took the photographs which accompany the poems. Pat is also Chairperson of Sligo Greenway Co-op.

We hope you will love the poems as much as we did and that you too might pen a poem to celebrate the love of your bike or share a photo of bikes being used and loved by you or previous generations.

Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with #LoveYourBike and #NowAndThen.

We look forward to seeing the love!

Learning to Cycle

Although it had been lowered

the saddle on my mother’s bike

was still a bit too high.

So, I stood on the pedals and pushed

took hold of handlebars with grips

for steering, for veering into grass

hoping for a softer place to fall.

My first trip was a hundred yards

of squeal and freewheel and after

ten or twelve of these

with all the balances achieved

the next run was a country mile

of triumph to the local shop

for liquorice and sugar barley.

My lap of honour took me

three miles down the road

and I was an eight-year old

arriving for the first time

on my own

at my grandfather’s house

where I was welcomed

with a silver coin, a trophy

better than Olympic gold.

Midsummer’s Day

On this hot midsummer’s day

here he comes again

the same man

who wheels his bike to town

the bike his prop

his beast of burden

for carrying his purchases

for leaning on

while he halts

where it’s cool

under the copper beech

while he stops

to chat to people

tending their gardens

while he takes

a break at Boyle Abbey

on the bridge

resting

one elbow on the saddle

before continuing on his way

breath by managed breath

back home.

Poems copyright: Bernadette McCarrick; Pat McCarrick (Photographs)

“To Walk in My Native Place New and Selected Poems”- published by Mayo Books, Castlebar Co Mayo, Ireland (www.mayobooks.ie) September 2020 and available to order from Mayo Books, Liber Sligo, Foxford Woollen Mills and Reading Room Carrick on Shannon.

In this article, Jo Sachs-Eldridge from the Leitrim Cycling Festival and Cyclist.ie reflects on the importance of good design and how we might achieve it using the input of diverse voices. 

The announcement of additional funding to create almost 300 jobs in active travel is a very exciting step towards a more sustainably mobile Ireland – as we reported here . 

As the Minister for Transport notes ‘Developing high quality walking and cycling facilities will encourage more people to switch to active travel and will contribute to tackling climate change. Really good design is what is needed to connect communities and make walking and cycling attractive, safe and accessible to everyone.’

He is absolutely right we need really good design. But we also need to consider the questions of who determines whether this is really good design? Who gets to make those decisions? Who is involved in the whole process of design? Are everyone’s voices being heard – particularly those who may not traditionally engage in the process such as women, young people, people with disabilities and other people who may be even more significantly impacted by the quality of the infrastructure. 

As noted in the recent TII ‘’ report, ‘Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes’, “Transport is often seen as gender neutral, providing benefit to all equally. However a growing body of international research highlights that this is not the case. Women and men can have different needs, constraints and expectations for using transport”.

Really good design is often a highly complex process with no definitive right answer but lots of wrong answers. There is guidance out there, good guidance, but that doesn’t guarantee good design. We know that. So how do we now do things differently? 

My experience in Cardiff, where I previously managed the programme for cycling, is that engaging with the right people at the right time is key to good design. It sounds simple and in some ways it is. But to do it right requires a considerable amount of time and effort. Every aspect needs to be considered – the timing, the information, the audience, the wording, the method. But the time and effort invested will make a considerable difference to the result.  

Because good cycle design is all about lines. To start with are the desire lines of the people who live, shop, work, play, learn in a place. The desire lines matter but they are not the only ‘lines’ that need to be considered. 

We also need to think about the line taken on introducing innovative design; the line we take on deviating from the status quo; on reallocating road space; on removing parking spaces; on reducing the capacity of a junction for motorised private vehicles; on prioritising active travel road users over motorised traffic. 

And then there are all the detailed lines, the lines that can get so easily lost in translation – every millimetre of road space reallocated, every kerbline, every sign installed, every barrier is another decision. Another line.  

Who makes these decisions? 

Who draws these lines? 

There is a myriad of conflicting needs and wants and a myriad of potential decision makers. 

And there are no simple answers. 

The only way we get can this right, the only way we can overcome these conflicts and draw the best possible ‘lines’ is through engagement and collaboration with as many people as possible at every stage of the development. 

From my experience I would argue we need: 

• strategic cycle network plans developed in collaboration with the people who matter and based on real desire lines; 
• the integration of these network plans with all other relevant local area and national plans; 
• routes that are designed based on best practice and through collaborative design workshops that involve all relevant parties – members, internal officers, external stakeholders – all with a clear understanding of the ambitions of the scheme;
• community street audits or walk-throughs incorporated into the design process – for both internal officers and external stakeholders; 
• simple audit tools to allow a broader and wider range of people to be involved in the process and to ensure that no aspect of high quality design is overlooked; 
• effort made to ensure that voices from those harder to reach groups are heard – the right lines to be drawn by the right people at the right time.  

We know that designing for the expedient movement of car drivers no longer fits with our policies, our future plans, our targets, or our long term sustainability. 

Cycling benefits all of us regardless of who is doing the pedalling through the reduction in congestion, pollution, pressure on the health service and improved community cohesion. 

Key to developing a high quality cycle network that will have an impact on travel behaviour is the answer to the question ‘whose line is it anyway?’

In order to create quality networks that make cycling an attractive option we must make the time and effort to engage with everyone that matters.

As ultimately no one has a claim to the line.

It is all of ours. 

Photo credit: Luciana Prado

As printed in the Leitrim Observer 26th August 2020

Over the last few months a new group has been established in Ireland – the Rural Cycling Collective.

This Collective is made up of members of cycling campaigns/clubs/festivals from all over the country and is part of Cyclist.ie, the well established national cycling advocacy group. The Collective was set up to give a voice to people who live and cycle outside of the cities and to rebalance the debate on active travel so more of those everyday journeys by bike and on foot across rural Ireland are enabled and supported.

The Rural Cycling Collective’s first action was to produce a Vision document that encapsulates what they believe needs to happen to enable more people to cycle and walk more often.

Jo Sachs-Eldridge, organiser of Leitrim Cycling Festival, led the creation of the ‘Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland’.

Jo is passionate about the group having a shared vision “From my experience in Wales as both a Transport Planner who specialised in walking and cycling and an active travel campaigner I felt it was hugely important for us to create this Vision so that we had a clear set of ‘asks’ and spoke with one voice.”

“It has been such a privilege to be part of such a positive, proactive group. The creation of our draft Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland, has been a wonderful collaborative effort that has brought together those that have an intimate knowledge of every policy document related to cycling in Ireland, alongside those who have experience of cycling in rural Ireland and those who have big dreams of what we could do to make change happen.”

“The clearer we are about what we want the easier it will be for our representatives to make that happen, particularly now that there is so much more funding available for active travel.”

The Rural Cycling Collective are keen to get more people involved and for as many people as possible to have their say on the draft Vision before it is presented to the Dail in late September.

Jo added “We know that the strength of this Vision will come from the gathering of knowledge and ideas from everyone, not just those within the group but also those who have yet to get involved. That’s why we have published it as a draft so that others can help shape it before the final Vision is taken to our representatives. We want them to know that this is a truly collective vision.”

The draft Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland has 8 priorities. It calls on Local and National Government to –

•         Create an environment in our towns, villages, and rural roads where cyclists are expected and respected
•         Create and map useful, connected cycle routes throughout Local Authority areas
•         Implement best practice design so that routes are safe and comfortable for all ages and abilities
•         Create safe cycle routes to school and car-free zones at school gates
•         Lower Speed Limits to make our roads and streets safer and more accessible for everyone, and to reduce casualties
•         Ensure clear and timely access to funding by improving capacity at all stages of local and national government
•         Collaborate with all stakeholders including cycling and community groups at all stages of planning and design
•         Provide Cycle Training for all ages especially children

 

‘A vision for cycling is a vision for the future’

Taken together these measures would transform active travel throughout Ireland. The co-benefits would include improvements to health, safety, congestion, air-quality, noise levels, and the public realm.  More cycling will also help us to meet our climate change obligations.

Leitrim Cycling Festival invites everyone – people who cycle, people who don’t cycle, want-to-be cyclists, mums, dads, planners, councillors, Ministers and An Taoiseach – to get involved in shaping this vision and helping to make it a reality.

To find out more, add your support, share your feedback go to http://cyclist.ie/ruralvision/

As printed in the Leitrim Observer 26th August 2020.

Leitrim Cycling Festival’s small bike ride last Saturday may have seemed like an inauspicious event but it may just be the start of a small revolution. Thanks to the ‘Get to School on Your Own Fuel’ initiative being run by Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, groups all over the country have been taking part in practice runs to schools. The initiative is running from the 15^th to the 28^th August with events and a scavenger hunt competition to encourage families to practice their route before the schools start back.

Throughout the summer, children have been out cycling in their local neighbourhoods, going to parks, meeting friends, and enjoying the freedom and fresh air. With the return to classrooms in September, the advocacy groups want to highlight the opportunities for more children and students to cycle, walk, scoot or skate safely to school.

Key to getting more children to get back to school ‘on their own fuel’ is the familiarisation of routes from home to school.

Last Saturday 22^nd August, Leitrim Cycling Festival in conjunction with parents from Cootehall National School including Emily from Artwood, Sarah from Donal Neary & Co. Accountants and Mo from Hullaballoo, organised a short bike ride from Cootehall Village to the school and back. Gerry from Trailblazers met them at the school where he gave a short workshop on how to carry out a simple m-check of your bike to make sure its road worthy before heading off on a ride.

As a result of the practice run two of the parents in Cootehall School will be starting a regular Friday morning bike ride to the school from the village. This means that an extra 5 children at least will be arriving at school having had a blast of fresh air and exercise to start the day. Studies have shown improvements in performance in school for those who cycle and the active start creates energy that helps concentration levels[i]. It also saves money, reduces congestion during the school drop-off, encourages independence and can be a lot of fun!

There are already active cycle buses in places like Galway, Limerick and Dublin. The idea is simple – a group of parents and children ride along a set route, at a set time with set pick up points, just like a bus. The number of parents required will depend on the size of the group and the complexity of the route but it is recommended that there be at least one parent front and back.

Mat Warren, of Leitrim Cycling Festival and a cycle trainer, will be on hand for the first cycle bus to Cootehall National School on Friday 4^th September to help make sure the parents involved are comfortable leading the group.

If any parents in Cootehall National School would like to get involved or find out more about the Friday morning Cootehall Cycle Bus they can contact Christine or Emily.

Organiser of Leitrim Cycling Festival, Jo Sachs-Eldridge, said

“As someone whose day job used to be designing cycle routes, I’ve loved seeing so many more kids and families out on bikes this summer. We are so lucky to live in places where the roads are still relatively lightly trafficked and the distances between our schools, towns and villages mean that the bicycle can be a real alternative to the car.”

“This national campaign to ‘Get to School on Your Own Fuel’ is a fantastic initiative to give people the chance to practice their route to school before the September rush. It would be wonderful for more families to discover what might be possible. Even if they then only do it a few times a week, or even a few times a month, it all makes a difference.”

The network of cycling groups, of which Leitrim Cycling Festival is a member, are calling on schools to provide space for secure bicycle parking. They will be contacting all local authorities and the National Transport Authority with a request to support and fund this initiative where possible and are encouraging parents to do the same.

As set out in the Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland (http://cyclist.ie/ruralvision/), cycling groups want to see all agencies and organisations remove barriers to cycling and walking by reducing speeds of car drivers, creating segregated routes where needed and installing other infrastructure to make walking and cycling an attractive, safe option. The groups will also be contacting all local authorities to ask that they implement as a matter of urgency 30 km/h speed limits in all urban areas especially around schools.

ENDS

REFERENCES / NOTES

Get to School on Your Own Fuel www.cyclist.ie/school

National Scavenger Hunt Competition  www.cyclist.ie/school

A Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland. https://cyclist.ie/ruralvision/

 

[i] https://www.edu-quip.co.uk/blog/4-benefits-of-cycling-to-school-and-why-we-should-all-get-involved