20 June, 2021. By Navan Cycling Initiative
“Look! There’s thousands of people on bikes!”
Locals in the Johnstown and Athlumney areas of Navan were treated to the unexpected sight of a group of us (not quite thousands!) cycling around Navan last Sunday morning, at our second Family Cycle event.
At our first event last September (see here for full review) one hundred of us cycled around Navan on a gloriously sunny autumn day, and since then we’ve been looking forward to meeting you all again.
For the second family cycle we were encouraged by a growing number of participants, of all ages and levels of experience, from six to sixty and beyond!
The event was a leisurely spin around the quiet Sunday morning roads of Navan, supported by Meath County Council and the IDA who generously allowed use of the Meath County Council car park at Buvinda House.
Councillor Yemi Adenuga took the support up a gear by cycling the route along with well over a hundred local residents, continuing her fantastic support for our aim to make cycling in Navan safe, easy and fun.
Chairperson Kevin Corrigan said “It was great to see such a fantastic turnout for the event, which really shows how fast interest in cycling is growing. The past year has shown us that residents of all ages expect to be able to use their bike to get to school or work, to shop or go to the gym, and this needs a safe and integrated cycle network”
Photos from the day
Click on each photo to see bigger
We rolled out just after 10am under a bright cloudy sky, turning left down Bothar Sion hill and past the end of the cycle lane to the traffic lights at the Dublin road.
Cycle Garda Francis Scully was on duty to keep traffic at bay as we turned left onto the Dublin road, with our own Dónal Ó Murchú in the safety car bringing up the rear.
Several of the group remarked how lovely it was to cycle on the main road without having to worry about cars. At the Willow restaurant we turned left to cross the river Boyne at Old Kilcarn Bridge.
After a slog up the hill we turned left onto Metges Road and headed through Johnstown, past Supervalu (noting the new bollards to prevent parking on the cycle lane) and up to the Kentstown road.
We enjoyed the slight downhill bringing us down toward the entrance to Athlumney Castle, while the sun started to peek through the clouds.
At the rear of the estate we cycled through to Athlumney Abbey, where the estates are “permeable” for walking and cycling. You’d be surprised at how many of these handy shortcuts are sprinkled around Navan, making trips much more direct and along roads with 30 km/h speed limits.
We finally made our only right-hand turn across Bothar Sion and back into the car park where we began.
Route
Meath County Council and the IDA generously allowed us to use the Buvinda House car park, which gave us plenty of space for social distancing.
With a little help from our friends
Our group of volunteers and Meath Civil Defence ensured a safe and comfortable event for everyone, and we’d especially like to thank our marshals Asia, Maria, Eric and Conor for their help corralling the group safely around the route. We’d also like to give a shout out to Dylan our drone photographer for getting some amazing photos and videos of the group (coming soon!)
And Finally
If you’d like to keep informed of future events, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter, or join us and become a full member of Navan Cycling Initiative. Bike Week is 12-18th September and we’re planning to have an even larger event, and we’d love to hear your ideas or suggestions for other events or initiatives.
