A few months ago, Belfast hadn’t even heard of the Ciclovía — that Colombian-created ‘bike way’ which gives back the roads of cities to the citizens.

But today, Béal Feirste became the first city in these islands to host its own Ciclovía — and what a celebration it was.

Hundreds of cyclists — of all shapes, sizes and abilities — turned out to pedal at their leisure the closed roads from Botanic Gardens to City Hall. The pols were there, newly-appointed South Belfast MLA Emma Pengelly alongside fellow DUP representative (and bike fan) Sammy Douglas as well as Tim Attwood of the SDLP and Chris Lyttle and Emmet McDonough Brown of the Alliance Party.

What was it Van Morrison said about days like this?

I spotted a few mums running with their prams as well as scooters, skateboards, penny farthing bicycles and at least one tandem — with blind cyclist Jim pedaling for Ireland. Over four hours, cyclists, some en famille, journeyed back and forth to the sun-drenched Botanic Gardens, stopping along the way for refreshments at the many cafés along the route.

Fortunately, we just caught the last sunny day of this fab Indian summer and that meant a full family turnout for our activity hubs at Botanic and City Hall grounds — with a big shoutout for our Special Olympian All-Stars who were put through their paces by their coaches.

Sadly, former Minister Danny Kennedy who was a big fan of Ciclovía when we brought the idea to him back in January — and adopted the day as part of his cycling revolution — couldn’t be with us. But the fulsome support of the DRD, PSNI, Volunteer Now (50 Volunteers gave up their Sundays to make the event a success) and Belfast City Council created a Ciclovía Belfast which put a smile on the face of the city.

I’m all for having a Ciclovía in a different part of the city every Sunday — but to do so we really need to ensure we have the backing of that other group up and about on the Sabbath morn: the churchgoers. In that respect, the Salvation Army on the Dublin Road and the Rev Glen Jordan of Kinghan Church for the deaf on Botanic were magnificent. The Sally Ann brought out their brass band to entertain the cyclists while Rev Jordan set up a pitstop with juice and biscuits for the weary Ciclovíasts!

But more than anyone else, Johnny Davis of The Pioneer Group who co-ordinated the entire event with great passion and supreme confidence deserves the thanks of Belfast.

Ciclovía Belfast required no business strategies, no consultancy documents and no workshops. It simply required a dream and a team.

And that’s the road along which we should all travel – preferably by bike.

P.S. What a great way to start the week of the Belfast Homecoming. We are rolling out the red carpet for all our delegates. See you on this side soon.