Neill Treacy is betting his business that bikes are the best city transport, writes Larry Ryan.
Neill Treacy is a desperate optimist when it comes to cycling. "People do five-minute journeys in cars," he says. "It's crazy. Bikes are the way ahead." The 25-year-old Dubliner is so confident he's right that he's expanding Neill's Wheels, his cycling business, in the hope of capitalising on changing attitudes to health and the environment.
Treacy's passion for bikes began with a daily cycle to school as a child, and even though he studied design when he moved on to third level, at Coláiste Dhúlaigh, it didn't take him long to head back down the cycle path. Couriering was the inevitable first stop. "The most enjoyable job I ever had," he says. "Getting out on a bike for eight hours of exercise a day. Cycling gives people the power to go where they want to."
He got the idea for Neill's Wheels after being asked more than once, as he whizzed around Dublin, where to rent bikes. So he bought 15 and offered them for hire for €5 an hour, €20 a day or €80 a week. Initially he was based at Dublin Tourism Centre, on Suffolk Street, and in Temple Bar, but he thought he could get more business by going mobile. "I attached a six-foot pole to the back of my bike with a large yellow-and-blue flag with Neill's Wheels written on it, and a Rent A Bike sign, and cycled around town," he says. "That made a much better impact."
Now Neill's Wheels also offers cycling tours of Dublin. "It's a good way for tourists to see the place at a better pace than being on a bus, in a taxi or just walking," he says. He gets "to show them cool little things they mightn't know of, like interesting bars or the best chip shops in town".
Cycling around Dublin may seem daunting for the lazier among us, but the tours travel at a leisurely pace, with numerous stops. Traffic is a hindrance, however. "Trying to do tours can be dangerous," he says. "Some people aren't that great at cycling. We're meeting articulated lorries all the time, even though the HGV ban is in. In fact I had two Italian people who had booked bikes, and they needed a child seat attached as well, but when they got over here they decided it was too dangerous. We do the tours from about 6.30pm, to let the traffic die down."
Treacy recently shipped tricycles over from China to set up Icicles, a fleet of mobile ice-cream stalls to send to festivals, and he hopes to expand his rental business to Co Wicklow. Treacy has also written to Mary Harney, suggesting that the Department of Health and Children lead by example and provide free bicycles for its employees.
And if all else fails he's still happiest cycling - and there's always a courier gig. "It doesn't pay well, but it's the freedom of it that I enjoy. Last summer I didn't work at all - I just rented the bikes - but this summer was so bad, with the rain, that I had to do couriering as well."
Call 085-1530648 or see www.rentabikedublin.com