This week My Daytalks to Barry Rowan, ecocabs cyclist
I STARTED ON April 1st and have been cycling people around Dublin full time since then, five days a week, eight hours a day. I graduated in hospitality management from DIT Cathal Brugha Street and worked briefly as a restaurant manager in a hotel, but I quickly learned that the hospitality sector means long hours eating up your social time. It wasn't for me. I took time out to go travelling, and now this job suits me well. The hours are better and it keeps you fit.
Most days I head up to the lock near Capel Street to pick up the bike at 11am. We have a number of pick-up points around the city - mainly the top and bottom of Grafton Street and the Spire, as well as a couple of places in Temple Bar.
The lifts we offer people are free - or, rather, are paid for by the sponsor of the cab. Most days you don't have to wait too long. On a Saturday you'd be rocking from point to point non-stop.
Recently I had the worst day since I started. It was wet and windy and there was no one around. After about 20 minutes' waiting we have to move on to another point, to keep warm as much as anything else.
People are intrigued by it and want to know what the catch is. About 60 per cent of my passengers are Irish, the rest a mix of all nationalities. The English are great, full of chat.
I like to talk to passengers. I'm like one of those annoying taxi-drivers. But you meet some really interesting people, and everyone has a story to tell. The first thing people say is: "Your legs must be wrecked doing that." Actually, they're not. It takes a lot less out of you than you might think. I still play football or rugby in the evenings. It only takes a week for your legs to get used to it. Dublin's not that hilly, thankfully.
Some of the guys are really into cycling. A couple of them were bike couriers before, and one of them is doing the Wicklow 200km race.
Most drops are within a two-kilometre radius of the city centre, up to the National Concert Hall or over to the northside. If the cyclist is up for it they'll take you down as far as Heuston Station, but that really is a long trek.
Even though it's free, people normally give you something, usually €1. By the end of the day I'd normally have about €30 in tips.
The cabs fit two people, and you have to be over 16 to get a lift. If there is any downside to the job it would be the city kids that pester you, asking for lifts, jumping in the cab and just messing about.
The worst part is when people ask you where they can get a drug fix. It doesn't happen much, and I guess it's just the dirty side of Dublin, but I don't like it.
Other than that it's a brilliant job. All the drivers are sound, it's great craic and I get to meet lots of people I know around the city and have a chat.
It certainly beats working in an office. If only it had career prospects it'd be the best job in the world.