Bike to School Week is a sick joke…

bicycle, character, bike path

Today is the start of bike to school week. Or a more realistic name for it would be watch your child die under the wheels of a car week. I am a cyclist but the last thing I would ever do is bring my child out on the roads of Belfast. The cycle lane infrastructure in Belfast and throughout Northern Ireland is absolutely pathetic. In Belfast there are only 2 miles of protected cycle lanes in the whole city. The …

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A cycle tour of the NI Border/North-South Frontier/Squiggly line…

Andy McMurray is an Alliance Councillor in Newry, Mourne and Down Council. I like cycling. I like spending nights under canvas. I am 12th generation Planter. I like to get between a Point A and a Point B without really knowing what lies in between. The squiggly line which runs across Ulster turned 100 this year. Since its inception it has managed to predominate the political discussion here. However, it is not the year’s only salient milestone. This year I …

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A reminder to drivers and cyclists to share the road…

Philip O’Neill is a Civil Servant from Belfast and a keen amateur cyclist. Spring has sprung early and is most welcome following a very challenging winter for us all. Along with daffodils, lambs and brighter nights, we now see middle-aged men oiling their chains, pumping their tyres, checking their brakes and seeing if the lycra still fits. As someone who cycles it has to be recognised that there are significant health benefits, not just physical health but getting out into …

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Stupid cars ruin everything. Why we need to go back to the past and make our towns more people friendly…

You may have seen the photo above on social media. It shows the old entrance to Queen’s University before it was removed to make the entrance suitable for cars. Throughout the world, there are very few places that have been improved by building massive roads through them. Here are some old photos of Donegal Street, Carlisle Circus and Clifton St before somebody had the bright idea to run the Westlink through them. When you look at some of the terrible …

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Cycling – One of life’s simple pleasures…

Normally at this time of the year, cycling fever would be in the air with the Giro d’Italia a recent memory (remember the year it started in Belfast?), and that other famous pharmaceutical warehouse on wheels (sorry, bike race) the Tour de France just about to start. This year it’s all different though, but it hasn’t stopped the Middle-Aged Men In Lycra (MAMILs, I believe the modern terminology is) – ie people like myself – from making the most of …

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Queen’s Quarter superblock – Freeing a city quarter from vehicle traffic and pedestrianising Botanic Avenue…

Following Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon’s announcement of a new Walking and Cycling Champion, to lead the emergency measures needed to immediately increase active travel space and priority, we take a closer look at one aspect of plans: superblocks. The term has been used to describe work to reduce traffic levels within areas of Barcelona, and Bikefast has proposed a superblock-style approach to re-configuring Belfast’s Linen Quarter. Coronavirus has claimed many lives and devastated families, and will continue to do so – in greater …

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Coronavirus: A chance to reshape our roads for the future…

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Jonathan Hobbs is a cycling campaigner from Belfast The coronavirus pandemic has affected life in Northern Ireland in unprecedented ways. Thousands have becoming infected and hundreds have died, devastating families and communities. Lockdown has changed how go about daily business in ways that we would have thought unbelievable at the start of 2020. One of the very few positives to emerge has been the general outdoor environment, especially in my city Belfast. Vehicle traffic is almost non-existent compared to normal. …

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Belfast Bikes: gearing up for a spoketacular revolution?

It’s been 25 years or more since I last rode a bicycle when I was a teenager. Cycling proficiency is a dim memory of riding along a road painted onto the tarmac playground with an arm stuck out to indicate I was about to turn. It doesn’t take long to walk across Belfast. Yet the ten minutes from the Waterfront Hall to the Cathedral Quarter could be halved if who wheels took the strain. And in dry weather, biking across …

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#UCIHourRecord Live

Join celebrity cycling fan Stephen Fry [loving the on screen metrics! – Ed], and others, watching paralympian Sarah Storey attempt the UCI Hour Record live on the UCI YouTube channel.   The current record stands at 46.065km, set by Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel of the Netherlands in October 2003 in Mexico City.  Storey is in London’s Olympic velodrome, at sea-level. Update Sadly not a UCI Hour Record for Sarah Storey.  Distance covered in the hour – 45.502km.  A consolation prize of a new British …

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Year Zero for the Belfast Cycling Revolution

Coca-Cola Zero has been announced as the headline sponsor for Belfast Bike Hire, due to begin operation this April. Other cities have debated the merits of letting major public health interventions be sponsored by fizzy drinks, but there is a bigger picture for Belfast – sustaining the rise of cycling as an everyday activity. With bicycles now powering 4% of all commuting journeys in Belfast and radical strategies being developed on the back of broad political will, we appear to have the right …

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Giro d’Italia 2014 announcement expected tomorrow

It looks increasingly likely that confirmation of the rumoured plans to start the 2014 Giro d’Italia in Belfast, before heading to Dublin, will be made tomorrow.  As Cycling Weekly reports The Giro d’Italia organiser RCS Sport has a lot on its plate this week, announcing the 2014 start from Belfast tomorrow and dealing with 19 WorldTour teams. The organiser sent an invitation on Friday for the “Official presentation of a new collaboration between RCS Sport and the Island of Ireland.” The presentation will …

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Belfast start for 2014 Giro d’Italia? – “Discussions are ongoing”

It could be some time before we get an answer to that question – official confirmation that cycling’s 2013 Giro would start in Naples only came in June last year.  But there’s been a flurry of activity following a L’Equipe report last night that sources were confirming that Belfast would host the start of the 2014 Giro d’Italia. As the Guardian reported There are strong indications that in 2014 the United Kingdom will host the Giro d’Italia as well as the Tour de France, which …

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Tour de France 2012: Allez, allez!

Barring outrageous fortune, Bradley Wiggins will become the first ever British winner of the Tour de France this afternoon. It’s been a dominant performance by Wiggins and Team Sky, emphasised by his stamping his authority on this year’s race with a second stage win in yesterday’s 53.5km individual time trial.  That result, 1 minute 16 seconds ahead of his second-placed team-mate, the Kenyan-born British rider, Chris Froome, silenced the critics who had speculated that Froome, who will finish second overall, was the stronger …

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POTD -Last minute preparations

for Lap the Lough Moochin PhotomanPhotographer and visual artist based in Belfast. I have facilitated community based workshops with groups as diverse as visually impaired individuals in Dungannn, Travellers across Northern Ireland, Young Offenders and many community groups across Belfast. My work has exhibited extensively here in Northern Ireland in group and individual shows and has been shown in North America and i had my first solo international exhibition in New Zealand. I have been the recipient of a number …

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Tour de France 2011: Crikey Cadel!

If the story of the first half of this year’s Tour de France was that French television car, the story of the second half has been one of daring, courage, and strength.   In the process the maillot jaune has passed between three riders on three consecutive days, finally settling on the shoulders of Cadel Evans ahead of today’s final stage – leaving him in position to become the first Australian to win the race. It all kicked off on the second day in the Alps …

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2011 Tour de France: Stage 9 Carnage

If the “defining moment” last year was a breach of Tour etiquette in the mountains, the first week of this year’s Tour de France has been notable for the number of bone-crushing crashes and big name retirements.   Most of the crashes, but not all, have been caused by road conditions and/or rider error.   It’s a rest day today, after 9 testing stages, and the cyclist welcoming that respite the most has to be Dutchman Johnny Hoogerland.  In yesterday’s stage he was part …

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