Blog – Page 20 – Ecotopia Biketour

Biketour in Stockholm

Candid April 25, 2016 April 25, 2016

On the 21st of August 2015, the Biketour arrived in Stockholm. Our sleeping place was meant to be Kulturhuset Cyklopen, a cultural centre in the south of Stockholm. Arriving there, it turned out that there was not really a lot of space to sleep, so we decided to only spend one night there and have a look for new sleeping opportunities for the other 4 nights the next day. The next day, the Anarchist Bookfare happened, which was one major event on our tour that made us change the whole schedule. We spent the whole day in a nice and…

Links #4: Blocking a Pedestrian Crossing, Consensus, Białowieża Forest Logging, Unusual Bikes

Candid March 27, 2016 March 27, 2016

Random guy shows car driver how a pedestrian crossing really works! Beyond ‘Consensus’ decision making (written by a former Biketour participant) Poland approves large-scale logging in Białowieża forest, one of the only original forests left in Europe. The Biketour will cross it on the way from Warsaw to Minsk. Cycling scarecrow Artist rides dinosaur bike across Norwegian Bible Belt

Biketour in Uppsala

Candid January 9, 2016 January 10, 2016

The discussion about how many days and when exactly to go to Uppsala almost lasted longer than our actual stay there, but in the end we decided to stay for two nights, but spend the second night a bit further in the direction of Stockholm so that we wouldn’t have problems making it to the Anarchist Bookfare two days later. We had gotten a request by an organic farmer in the area who had heard that we are some travelling “volunteers” and needed some help with the harvest. We decided that we are not free workers but sometimes help out…

Learning about the roots of the Biketour at Färnebo folkhögskola

Candid January 5, 2016 December 22, 2015

On August 17, the Biketour visited Färnebo folkhögskola, a folk high school in Österfärnebo, about 150 km north of Stockholm. Folk high schools are a Scandinavian concept of people’s education, where people have the opportunity (usually between finishing school and starting university) to do a one-year course about a subject of their choice (read more here). Färnebo folkshögskola is, by what people have told us, the most radical folk high school in Sweden. The students live in a house next to the school, where they learn to live communally by making consensus decisions and sharing daily tasks like cooking and…

Biketour visiting Permakultur Stjärnsund

Candid January 1, 2016 December 22, 2015

Stjärnsund (pronounce: Shairnsoond) is a small village of about 430 inhabitants somewhere half-way between Oslo and Stockholm. The Biketour stayed there for two nights in the middle of August. Originally an industrial village that started to slowly be abandoned because of people moving to the cities, a lot of Hippies moved there during the 70s and started to live in communes. As part of their spiritual connection with the earth, they started growing vegetables, and over time, people also joined their communities who were not interested in their spirituality but only in the gardening. Today, many of the old Hippies and…

Wild-camping in Norway: Woken up by the Vikings

Candid December 28, 2015 December 22, 2015

The first night after Oslo, we wild-camped somewhere far off the road in the middle of the forest on a lake. In the morning, the Vikings came and had a fight in between our tents.

Links #3: Painted ponies, tree house elevator, smog in China, AlterTour, Bike Travelling Festival

Candid December 24, 2015 December 22, 2015

Bad Drivers Are Forcing an English Town to Paint Its Ponies Bicycle Powered Tree House Elevator Company Selling ‘Bottled Air’ Sells Out in 4 Days as China’s Smog Crisis Deepens AlterTour, a bicycle tour similar to Ecotopia, have announced their route for 2016: They will cycle from 10 July to 21 August in the north-west of France, starting at la ZAD and visiting many interesting projects on the way. On the weekend of the 16 and 17 January, there will be the International Festival of Travelling by Bike in Paris, France. The event seems to take place in French. While mostly…

Biketour in Oslo

Candid December 20, 2015 December 20, 2015

In the beginning of August, the Biketour stayed in Oslo for 4 full days. It was half-time for the tour, and more than half of the group left, but the same amount of people joined. We stayed at Blitzhuset, a famous anti-fascist squat and social centre. Blitzhuset is open as a volunteer-run vegan café almost every day, and the money earned is donated to political groups in different parts of the world. There is also a big hall with a stage where concerts happen almost every week (outside of the summer holidays). The upper floors are used for different projects such as…