Skyride Dublin 2011 - beware children on bicycles

Skyride Dublin at Grand Canal Square

Overall the event was enjoyable but I found myself more stressed than I would be in normal traffic. The main reason being that the streets were littered with children on bicycles, contrary to cars small children are notoriously spatially unaware, unpredictable in their movements on the road and follow a cycling pattern that could be likened to a shoal of herring being attacked by dolphins. Lucky I wasn't going anywhere fast or I'm sure I would have had the great joy of discussing bicycle safety with the parents of many crying children.

Cycling in Ireland - pack wet gear

Wet Gear. This is probably the most important set of words that you will use in reference to cycling in Ireland.
Following one random day of sunshine on my arrival there has followed the usual predictable set of squalls, showers, and looming grey clouds.
Like going to a club you know will be bad or boring, you can compensate the sheer awfulness with copious amounts of alcohol, and so it is with rain and wet gear. Especially for longer journeys, e.g.. more than 5 minutes.

Sky Ride Dublin vs Critical Mass Dublin

With Sky's tag line "where will your bike take you" the answer is pretty simple; probably along the route you have designated and cordoned off from traffic.

This is the first time that the "Sky" Ride has made it over to the Republic. Now in all due respect the concept of cycling uninhibited through the worlds major cities is not a new one but contrary to the critical mass phenomenon the idea is less "lets piss off all the people trying to just get around in cars, by having a completely unplanned event where we have no leaders, no route and will just stop traffic through sheer numbers" and more "lets sponsor the event and co-operate with the police and traffic department so that we can have the traffic diverted, streets shut down and proper safety features".

So to summarise less anarchy and more family.

My Giant Black Bike

So after a long absence from the home of Guinness, rain and left hand driving I have once again set foot on the emerald isle that is Ireland. I’m sure that anybody who has been away from home for a significant amount of time will appreciate the comforts of arriving into a country where you can perfectly speak the language, know which bus to take, have somewhere to stay and have a large group of people who are delighted to see you.