Cyclists take centre stage during Mobility Week 2008

European Mobility Week 2008: Galway cyclists are playing a prominent role during this year’s Mobility Week, September 16th to 22nd.

The Galway Cycling Campaign (GCC) is joining a number of other bodies in Galway City and County to promote sustainable modes of travel including cycling.

The GCC’s promotions include the launch of a new cycling skills manual in the City Library at 6pm on Tuesday September 16th, the first day of Mobility week.

Galway City and County Libraries are stocking twenty copies of the new and revised edition of Cyclecraft, a hugely popular and influential cycling skills manual written by international cycling expert John Franklin. The author himself, who is currently on a cycling tour of the West, will be there to introduce the book.

On Sunday September 21st, Cycling Campaign member Bart Venneman will deliver a bike maintenance workshop in Eyre Square.

Other GCC-led cycling promotion events include an information stand on Shop street and public talks on cycle safety, Galway’s cycling potential and on ways to beat the traffic by combining the bicycle with other modes of transport.

A full week of events dedicated to sustainable mobility will be organised in more than 2000 cities and towns throughout Europe to highlight the necessity for changes in behaviour in relation to mobility and in particular the use of the private car.

The themes for Mobility Week 2008 are Air Quality and Carbon Emissions.

“The bicycle is the cleanest and most energy-efficient form of transportation yet devised, which is pretty impressive for a technology first developed in the 19th Century” explained Galway Cycling Campaign PRO Simon Comer.

“For 350 calories, the equivalent of a bowl of cereal, a person can travel 15 kilometres. And when you cycle you burn off the calories while getting fit, without having a detrimental effect on air quality or carbon emissions.”

“In contrast, the average petrol-driven car consumes about 18,000 calories of expensive, non-renewable, carbon-emitting fossil fuel for the same trip.”

“The benefits of cycling for personal health and the environment are obvious. During Mobility Week we hope to encourage more people to switch to the bicycle by offering them ways to improve their cycling skills, knowledge and confidence.”