Meet the retired paramedic hoping to ramp up a cycling revolution in one Northern Ireland town

Jon Lack has enjoyed a lifelong love of cycling, spends his time fixing up bikes for kids, teaching them to cycle in schools and helping people with disabilities learn to ride in Bangor.

But the retired paramedic has bigger dreams for the town he now calls home in the form of a first of its kind cycling hub where people from across NI could come to learn how to cycle safely, try their hand at BMX and even get their kids started on two small pump tracks.

We met Jon for a chat about his hopes to secure a PEACEPLUS grant to transform Bangor Sportsplex into a space he believes could transform the lives of many more in his community.

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Jon the Pedaler, as he's known, first started down this track when he offered to fix bikes for free from a mobile fixing cart he pedalled through the town. But following a transformative chat with local police, he found himself with a grant to fix up bikes which eventually led to him teaching in local schools and helping people with disabilities helping find joy in cycling.

He told us: "All my life, I have been quite passionate about the humble bicycle. In my younger, fitter, healthier life I would have been into the racing scene, going abroad, training in the mountains of Majorca.

"Then as I got slightly older I got more into the advocacy side - recognising the bicycle for what it can do in terms of change. That's environmental, all those obvious clichés - how it can improve a town centre, reduce congestion - but also the individual benefits... Mental health, cardio, the health benefits and also just the fun. The families, the parents can connect with their children some sunny Sunday.

"So I set about identifying in Bangor what the barriers were preventing more people riding a bicycle. Unfortunately in developed countries car is still king - we are still very attached to our cars - however the bicycle can play a part."

After speaking to people about why they didn't cycle, he found the reasons were very similar. People were "either terrified of the traffic or didn't know how to ride a bike and hadn't been on one since they were a kid - the lack of confidence really... but also costs".

Jon added: "All I did was put a plan on the back of a napkin... of some sort of social enterprise project... basically breaking down those barriers for people. So I set about providing a workshop facility, servicing and repairs but as cheap as it could possibly be done - very often free - and also teaching maintenance classes and riding."

After taking a few courses and getting his Access NI in place, Jon said "it began with a workstation trailer that I'd built, professionally tooled [with] spare parts and I towed it on a yellow bicycle around here".

"I would just come down on my days off and set up and people would say 'I've got a puncture mate, can you help me?' or 'my chain's broken'. It went from there.

"Off the back of that, so many people wanted more than I could provide them there and then so I built a workshop at the back of my home. Then the police approached me... and they ended up giving me a grant for a load of kids bikes and helmets, that I still use now for coaching on.

"I started doing a lot of primary school coaching and the target audience for that was just the general public... it just naturally evolved that it was Kilcooley Primary School up on the estate. There is quite a lot of deprivation there... a lot of these kids don't have membership to the football clubs or Aurora swimming lessons."

After joining forces with the school's P7 teacher Jonny Hall, who Jon says "changes lives"... they introduced regular cycling at the school and would take kids on organised bike rides along the coast, where they would also "do litter picks on the beach".

"It was absolutely transformative," he said.

As well as teaching school kids how to cycle safely, Jon also works with Clifton School; Croft Community Centre for adults with learning disabilities and partially sighted people and says the skills they learned transformed their lives as well.

After getting his hands on some disability friendly bikes from the council, Jon says he then "put in place a disability cycling programme" at Bangor Sportsplex track.

He added: "It was an amazing success... again transformative because these adults with learning disabilities rely on carers for pretty much everything day to day then suddenly they are going round this track... it's independence."

Then Croft School got on board with help from Sarah Miller, who Jon describes as the "female version of Jonny Hall - she's just amazing".

Sarah told us: "Our Year 15 students thoroughly enjoyed their cycling sessions down at Bangor Sportsplex with Jonathan. The bikes are adapted to meet the diverse needs of our young people. Jonathan was on hand to support the students each week and it was clear their confidence using the bikes had grown.

"The pupils would often ask 'when can we go back'. It has been a great inclusive sport to boost our pupil's mental health and well-being alongside learning valuable skills in our travel training programme."

Following these huge successes in Bangor's community, Jon hopes to widen the net of potential cyclists with the proposals for Bangor Cycle Park at the Sportsplex site.

He believes the planned inclusive cycling area, a learn to ride area, BMX and pump track could transform the facility into a first of its kind hub for all things cycling - they just need PEACEPLUS to help make it happen.

He added: "Active travel is working it's way up the agenda in the western world and those local authorities that embrace it and put a bit of money into... it benefits the town... shop keepers and residents."

A spokesperson for the council said: "Ards and North Down Borough Council has applied for funding through the PEACEPLUS action plan for five significant capital projects. The project details have been submitted to the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), which will review and consider their preferred projects in January 2025. Following SEUPB’s decision, the Council will determine the next steps to move forward with these initiatives.

"This funding represents a crucial opportunity to enhance our community, and we look forward to the potential positive impact these projects will bring to Ards and North Down. Further updates will be provided as the process progresses."

An SEUPB spokesperson said they are still assessing PEACEPLUS applications from the Ards and North Down area, adding: "Further details regarding outcome announcements will be released in due course."

You can find out more about the Bangor Cycle Track plans here.

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