Dublin Cycling Campaign had its most colourful presence ever in the parade with around 80 taking part: 30+ adults on Dublin Bikes, 25+ on cargo-bikes / bikes with trailers (including young children and one dog!) and a further 25+ children on their own little bikes.

We adopted a floral theme with bicycle baskets filled to the brim with foliage and flowers - with flags and banners adding further to the colour. We also had a few other weird and wonderful bikes – including Phil riding a tricycle recumbent with a giant flower pot and daffodils on board (kindly loaned to us by Terry in Cycle Bike), Christoph on his Maynooth Bike and Astrid (from The Dutch Bike Shop) on a delightful tandem with her child.

We had a brilliant reaction from the crowd (which included President Michael D. Higgins, Lord Mayor Christie Burke and Dublin City Manager Owen Keegan) with many along the route spontaneously breaking into chants of On Yer Bike! The sight of small children on bikes and babies on board cargo-bikes in the heart of the city prompted many smiles and cheers amongst spectators. How sad it is though that it’s so unusual for children to ride through the streets of Dublin feeling safe and secure - that’s just one reason why the Campaign supports the development of a high quality cycling route on the north quays leading to the Heuston Station (and the many Dublin Bikes stands there) and the Phoenix Park (more again about this soon).

A sincere thanks to Georgia-in-Dublin, Think Bike and Irish Ferries for their great support, as well as JCDecaux Ireland, the operators of Dublin Bikes, who block-booked the fabulous bikes for us to use on the day. Much appreciated! The bicycle space wouldn’t have happened at all though without our core group of hard-working volunteers – particular thanks is due here to Creative Director & Wizard Artist-Carpenter, Phil Murray. Credit is also due to Campaign photographers, Paul Corcoran and Miren Samper, for grabbing some great snaps - now uploaded onto our Flickr account.

We look forward to planning our 2016 parade presence. Pop along to any of our meetings or drop us a line (to info@dublincycling.ie) if you have any ideas for next year.