Cyclize your city

Image by Daniel Peeters

As part of this years National Bike Week is a photoshop mash-up competition that wants to see interpretations of how Ireland's citys would look ‘Cyclized’. Think the M50: just bikes. The N17: cyclists have taken over. Patrick Street: bike zone only. Imagine the streets of Belfast, the stone walled roads of Galway and your city's quays taken over by the motor car's greatest rival: Man and his bicycle.

The winner will receive EUR1,000 and the opportunity to see their work used in a nationwide campaign promoting the development of cyclized cities in Ireland. The winner along with 20 of other entries will be displayed as part of a 'Cyclised' art show in Gallery Number One for the duration of Bike Week where the winner will be announced on the 17th of June at an evening award ceremony. The show wil then travel around Ireland to help with the nationwide cycling awareness campaign.The winning entry will be on public display on a variety of billboards throughout Dublin city for three weeks after Bike Week finishes on the 20th of June.

Passengers buy bikes for ferry

Great Story via the Irish Times

A British businessman stranded in France said he was had to buy a women’s bicycle to board a ferry in a bid to get home.

Tom Noble (52) from Highgate in north London, said ferry operator Norfolkline had no foot passenger tickets left and would only allow him to make the journey if he was a genuine cyclist.

The managing director said ferry staff at Dunkirk even made him ride the “rustic” contraption, which he had just bought from a second-hand shop, up the ramp.

In fact, half a dozen people grounded by the volcanic ash had the same idea, and boarded the boat in a wobbling parade of two-wheelers.

One man, a British Airways gold card member, was riding a children’s bicycle.

Cycling in Dublin

On RTÉ last night was an excellent programme featuring the lives of Dublin's cyclists and also recent developments in Dublin's cycling culture and infrastructure. The show features Dublin's Bike Couriers, Commuters, and introduces the Bike to Work Scheme, Dublin's Cycle Routes and also the Dublin Bikes scheme.

Watch the show online here.

The Future Of Urban Mobility

Keep an eye on current.com/urbanmobility for more videos over the next while and remember that the future is mobilized.....

Bikes not Bombs

Bikes Not Bombs has sent over 37,000 bikes to Central America, the Caribbean and Africa (and New Orleans) in the last 24 years. They do more than just speak about the social and environmental costs of increasing global motorization - They provide technical and material resources for transportation alternatives.

next generation electric bikes

Winner of an International Forum of Design award, the HMK 561 prototype pushes the limits of bicycle design. German Designer Ralf Kittmann has re-defined the function of the bicycle frame by allowing the one-piece carbon-fibre frame to distribute power from the motor without wires.

Built-in to the design are also some other fantastic features such as regenerative brakes that convert the heat energy from braking into electricity and in-built lights powered by the motor. We are led to believe that the frame is covered with a variety of isolated fibres that run parallel to each other and act as capacitors storing electricity for the bike, although I have my doubts on that one. The most important aspect of this bike is its aesthetic appeal, it just screams sci-fi chic and from now on is to be referred as the Luke Skywalker.

Electric Cars in Ireland

Selection of electric cars available from Renault

In an announcement by Minister Eamon Ryan yesterday, Ireland has set a goal to have 10% of all vehicles in the country running on electricity by 2020. The country is to become a test bed for the roll-out of electric vehicles and in an effort to get people to make the switch to electric, the public will receive a €5,000 grant towards the purchase of a new electric car. On top of this, electric cars will not have to pay vehicle registration tax. The grant will make the electric cars comparable in price to their combustion counterparts, but the real plus is tat they will run at 20% of the cost of a conventional car.

Yikes! Here comes the YikeBike

This innovation in urban transportation is definitely pre-destined to end up in the scrapheap of outrageous designs that people regard as simply a step too far. I mean, whats wrong with the bicycle, or even the electrically assisted bicycle? Segway's aren't cool, YikeBike is definitely not cool.