Why Cycling?

My family and I are an international family that spent the last 19 years between London, Prague, Phoenix, and a tiny village in Eastern Slovakia where I am originally from. We moved to Drogheda back in July 2019. I have been cycling for a few years now, and I am a Youtube certified bike mechanic with aspirations to learn the trade properly one day.

Why Cycling? Cycling has always introduced me to the type of people I enjoy being around. It has helped me grow social circles in whatever new city or town we relocated to. It has also helped me get to know each place really well, and at the same time sharpen my navigational skills. Win-win! The positive influence cycling has on the body, mind, and environment is the second most important reason why I cycle. The main reason though is that I can enjoy a second breakfast or lunch after each long(er) ride. 

Drogheda is certainly not a cycling town yet, but it could become one. Cycling as a mode of transport has the ability to revitalise a town and connect its people and local businesses. Throw in a few bicycle lanes, some bicycle racks in front of local shops, perhaps some incentives for cyclists to be motivated to come to town to shop on bikes, and this could spark change. 

That said, you will not hear me complain too much about the lack of cycling infrastructure, dangerous drivers on busy roads, or new potholes that have the potential to swallow your bike and never give it back. 

I became a member of a small advocacy group of Drogheda based cycling enthusiasts with the ambition to spark an interest in cycling, meaningfully engage with the local authorities and promote a healthy and happy way of life.

All I hope for is to grow the interest in cycling organically and to build a critical mass of people who are willing to give it a try.

Here’s one of my favourite cycling quotes:

“But I think the world needs fewer people like me, or perhaps more accurately, it needs bike riders who don’t treat cycling quite so seriously. If cycling is indeed going to save the world, it won't be by Lycra-clad road warriors who’ll be doing it. The big changes and they can be huge, happen when a nation doesn’t see cycling as a hobby, as a sport, a mission, let alone a way of life. They happen when it becomes nothing more than a convenient, quick, cheap way of getting about with an unintended bonus that you get some exercise in the process…”
(Peter Walker, How Cycling Can Save the World)