With a major corporate partner and a slick and interactive site geared for organic growth, these Axa Community Bike Rides look set to become cycling's 'Park Run' in Ireland. They are being rolled out in a partnership between Axa and Cycling Ireland.
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Having begun 15 years ago as a single run with just seven participants, Park Run has become a global movement, and hugely popular in Ireland.
The 2km and 5km runs are organised by volunteer organisers in their local communities. And runners turn up and take part on the day.
It’s a movement that has gotten millions of people off their sofas and back in to exercise; organised and fun but non-competitive.
And now a new scheme has been launched for cycling in Ireland by Cycling Ireland with the backing of the Axa Insurance company.
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In a nutshell, anyone can organise a community ride and anyone can take part in the rides. It is hoped the scheme will get people out on their bikes in huge numbers.
And one of the big attractions is the two-tier offering of rides at locations all over the country; introductory rides and those that are more advanced.
Anyone can become a ride leader, though leaders must be vetted. Once they pass the vetting system, the leaders can choose a route in their area and post the location, date, time and distance of their ride on the site.
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Once a ride is up online, anyone can click to join. When riders register to take part, they are fully insured on the ride.
Pilot Rides will take place in 11 counties from April 12th. These initial pilot rides are restricted to cyclists over the age of 18 years. But family friendly rides will be rolled out in the coming months.
"AXA Insurance dac developed this programme with Cycling Ireland to inspire people all over the country to get out on their bikes,” the insurance company said of the new Axa Community Bike Rides.
“Take part in a healthy, social and safe cycle with our fully-trained, insured and vetted ride leaders,” it added of the new rides.
If you’d consider becoming a leader you can follow this link and find out all you need to know.
So far a number of individuals have been cleared to become ride leaders and have their rides live on the site.
In an interesting development, some bike shops are organising rides from their shop under the new Axa Community Bike Rides project.
Anyone looking to simply take part in the rides will get all the information needed by following this link.
And if you want to have a look at what rides have already been established and are ready to go, you can do that at this link.
The scheme is only getting underway now and is at the pilot stage, so the number of rides on offer will grow quickly.
If there’s none organised yet in your area, there soon will be. Maybe you’d be interested in becoming a ride leader and getting the ball rolling in your community?
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