sky ride Dublin

Bikerbhoy

What a fantastic day we had yesterday cycling around the closed roads of Dublin city not a junction or a car to worry about which meant we could let the kids off the leash none of the usual frantic screams of ''slow down'', ''watch that car'', ''stop at those lights'' were required.Massive turn out and great entertainment put on around the halfway point in Merrion Square with a variety of food and coffee stalls available for those looking for an energy boost and then inside Merrion square park itself we had kiddies entertainment face painting a kids riding skills area thanks Heather (Cycling Ireland) for that,running around that pen all day must have been great fun.
Of course the highlight of the day was the celebs signing all our ski ride hi vis bibs we had Nicky from Westlife Lisa Fitzpatrick Celeb Stylist and obviously for all the cyclists the favourite was Russ Downing Tour of Ireland winner and Professional Cyclist for Team Sky all of them were in great form posing for photos time and again and chatting to everyone in a very relaxed and casual manner.
After the VIPs had gone off to do their cycle there were dance acts, singers and Irish Dancers to entertain us well into the afternoon before we remounted and headed back on our return leg of the inaugural 2011 sky ride,where at the finish at Grand Canal Dock was yet more entertainment and fun to be had,it was at this stage I was hearing the words ''Im tired'' & McDonalds & Burger King being mentioned at which point we took our leave of the rest of the gang from Thinkbike CC and headed off,what a day, I cant praise the organisers enough .

WELL DONE Dublin City Council and Sky....... Thanks for a Very Memorable Day

Looking forward to 2012

elduggo

any photos from this up anywhere?

patrick151

Agreed, twas quite the day. I don't have kids so i did the next best thing and got my parents back in the saddle for the first time in about ten years. They managed the whole loop, with the aid of a coffee stop in the square, then headed home; afterwhich a few friends and I had a competition on the training bike for power. I didn't make the leader board but i beat them with a score of 918 Watts(Chris Hoy here i come ). Highlight of the day was how many times i got asked where i bought the bike i hand painted last week

daragh_

Had a nice day with the kids. My 10 year old (an indifferent cyclist at the best of times) really enjoyed the closed roads aspect, and was happy to go on ahead by herself and explore, something she doesn't usually get to do.

My six year is much more into cycling and really wanted to lead our little group, but struggled with the wind and was shattered by the time we got back. Still she had a blast and was really impressed by the nice Guards at the junction on Pearse Street, telling her to take her time and enjoy herself.

She was eyeing up the Sprocket Rocket Obstacle Course as well. Couldn't get her to have a go but I reckon she thought she could beat all the boys! Maybe next year.

We all shouted to the one Boards jersey we saw but the wind must have drowned us out.

Numpty of the day goes to the chap in full race gear flying around with his teenage son. The two of them were determined to 'win', regardless of how many 3 year olds on balance bikes they scared the bejasus out of.

check_six

daragh_ wrote: »

Numpty of the day goes to the chap in full race gear flying around with his teenage son. The two of them were determined to 'win', regardless of how many 3 year olds on balance bikes they scared the bejasus out of.

Saw this pair late on (after 3pm), I think. They were moving but weren't near anyone else when I saw them. I was hoping that they were being careful when overtaking.

I saw a couple of people who may have been a bit too enthusiastic with the furious pedalling, but nothing that I would consider dangerous unless you add a number of "if"s into the mix.

Fair play to the teeny-tiny ones who were trundling about on stabilisers and balance bikes. It's a long way around when you're spinning an approx. 25-30" gear (or just pushing yourself along on your wee legs)!

The Gards at the junctions we're getting into the swing of it and were waving and smiling at people going past, happily this didn't seem to be confusing the traffic.

I got the family out for this spin and they all enjoyed it. We avoided the early showers so this helped a good bit. Speaking of furious pedalling, I had a go at the exercise bike with the powermeter. It was good fun, but I made the rookie error of not tightening the pedal straps and "lost" a pedal right at the beginning which *must* have shaved a good 300(more like 10!)Watts off my recorded benchmark(mid 800s)! (Any sympathetic remarks are welcome at this point, jibes less so...)

Good event, well run. I didn't think there was a "cycling is dangerous you can only do it when the roads are closed" vibe. It was more a "cycling is fun! festival" type of thing.

unionman

Did this yesterday with my eldest son (12) and we had a great time. Not being a regular cyclist, and having been limited our local area since he learned to ride a bike, getting out on the road was, for him, as thrilling as it was debilitating with fear. He stayed in the gutter quite a bit, rolling too slowly for safety, but gradually improved as we got into town.

But once he hit the closed roads it was a revelation. As he got used to his gearing, and realised how advantageous it was to combine a tailwind with the smallest cog, he was off sprinting at a fair old clip (with encouragement from the very nice lady Garda at Pearse Street). I had to chase him down a few times as I was very much in sedate mode, surrounded as I was by much younger kids on tiny bicycles, which was great to see in fairness.

With winds picking up on a looped course, tailwinds became headwinds in an instant, and I had to remind him there were other gears on his bike. But he was completely adrenalised by the end, and declared he wanted to 'go again, right now'. We got hot spicy wraps from one of the food stalls, and he wolfed his down.

We took an easier route home, by the grand canal, using some parts of the, as yet incomplete, two way cycle track.

Saw one Boardsie but didn’t recognise him.

Well done to the organisers and staff/helpers on the day. Great event.

daragh_

unionman wrote: »

.....he was completely adrenalised by the end, and declared he wanted to 'go again, right now'.

he didn't lick it off the stones.

unionman

elduggo wrote: »

any photos from this up anywhere?

Small selection here

Tenshot

More photos here: http://www.facebook.com/SkyRideDublin?sk=wall

I brought our three-year-old around some of the circuit on his balance bike during the afternoon - he had a ball. Good fun, and great to see such a friendly crowd out for the day.

Towards the end of the circuit, coming along the south of Merrion Square, a nut came loose on our lad's bike and tightened itself in against the axle, locking the front wheel. We walked the 200m to the activity area (near the big Skyride entrance arch) and found a bike tune-up/repair place there who got it going again in less than a minute, no charge.

I did a spin of the circuit myself later on and really enjoyed it; loads of entertainment en route, and a lot of decent food stalls in both Grand Canal Square and Merrion Square. A bit windy on parts of the circuit (especially Blood Stoney road!) but not much to be done about that.

The assorted stilt walkers, jugglers, unicyclists, and penny farthing rider were good fun too; really good day out overall.

(And the violinist playing in Merrion Park was pretty impressive!)

I did a drive through town later that evening, around 8pm, and couldn't believe how quickly everything was back to normal! Not a hint of the activity that had happened earlier.

Hopefully this will be an annual event.

etak

Had a fantastic day! Hadn't been on a bike in years (can feel it today!) but am definitely back on the bike now. Really lovely atmosphere.

elduggo

Tenshot wrote: »

More photos here: http://www.facebook.com/SkyRideDublin?sk=wall

cheers.

Does anyone know who the guy in the Sky gear in the 23rd photo of that set is? Hes to the right of shot riding alongside woman (and neither are wearing bibs).

The reason I ask is that I met him in the airport on saturday. He had been over with Team Sky for the Vuelta and was coming to Dublin for the Skyride. From talking to him he seemed well in the know and well up on his procycling. I was just curious who he was. Really nice bloke and happy to stop and chat.

Gavin

unionman wrote: »

Saw one Boardsie but didn’t recognise him.

Well done to the organisers and staff/helpers on the day. Great event.

I hope he wasn't on an orange bike !

happytramp

elduggo wrote: »

cheers.
From talking to him he seemed well in the know and well up on his procycling.

He'd want to be

http://www.teamsky.com/profile/0,27291,17543_6638019,00.html

elduggo

happytramp wrote: »

He'd want to be

http://www.teamsky.com/profile/0,27291,17543_6638019,00.html

nope, its not Russell Downing. We chatted about Russell Downing, and I know full well who Russell Downing is enough to know that wasn't him (though they do look not too dissimilar). He told me Russell Downing was over for the skyride and they were having dinner together the saturday night.

This guy is part of the management. He knew the lowdown on the Sky transfer speculation, and was able to confirm that a certain 'rumour' on a big name signing was true. I don't see him listed in the management page on Sky's official site, so it has me wondering. He cycles but he ain't no pro (would need to shave the legs and shed a stone or so). Anyways, maybe hes a relative nobody - he just sounded to me like he was someone fairly well connected.

Lumen

Took along the kids (6 and 4), and they had a good day out. Seems like we missed some of the fun stuff (obstacle course, power bike) as the attractions of the Grand Canal activity area proved too compelling. Mmmm, pizza.

The marshalling was flawless, much better than the "closed roads" of the Phoenix Park a couple of months ago.

Putting my cycling advocacy hat (helmet?) on, I still can't get my head around the concept of practically forcing hi-vis on people cycling on closed roads. I had to keep turning down offers from enthusiastic hi-vis hander-outers; my polite refusals were met with complete bemusement.

I'm not sure that this sort of event does anything to counter the common perception that cycling in traffic is an extreme sport.

But it was fun and didn't seem to cause much disruption, so what the hell.

There was a good bit of smugness on display. I saw one family with both a Christiana and an Xtracycle. Win!

tomasrojo

Lumen wrote: »

I'm not sure that this sort of event does anything to counter the common perception that cycling in traffic is an extreme sport.

But it was fun and didn't seem to cause much disruption, so what the hell.

Tend to agree on both points.

monument

Lumen wrote: »

I had to keep turning down offers from enthusiastic hi-vis hander-outers; my polite refusals were met with complete bemusement

Thankfully they seemed to be out of them when the other half and myself cycled the route around 2.30-3.30pm

Also I counted at least five or six cargo bikes, excluding trailers, around that time.

Bikerbhoy

Lumen wrote: »

, I still can't get my head around the concept of practically forcing hi-vis on people cycling on closed roads. I had to keep turning down offers from enthusiastic hi-vis hander-outers; my polite refusals were met with complete bemusement.

I think it might of had more to do with the fact that the word ''sky '' was on everyone of them and not so much as a safety aspect on the day.

Sarah44

elduggo wrote: »

any photos from this up anywhere?

https://www.facebook.com/SkyRideDublin#!/studioten

Some pics of the day . Glad you all enjoyed it our Event team/DCC and Sky Team really worked hard to get it up and running. Everyone seemed so happy on the day as I was on the entry gate to Merrion Pk for a few hrs and everyone seemed to have a smile on their face when they entered.
To everyone involved a huge well done!