2017 – Page 4 – Ecotopia Biketour

Nancy – la Velorution

2017 July 18, 2017 July 16, 2017

Conrad Thursday the 4th we arrived at Nancy after a ride under a deep blue sky and a nearly mediteranean sun that made us sweat. We took many rests and enjoyed the good weather nevertheless. The last kilometers we went on the cycling path along a channel in the shade of trees and the first people that were not telling us bonjour announced the transition from country to city. We were then greeted by some other cyclists that had also arrived for Velorution – the annual France wide meeting of critical masses of all cities. Spontaneously we formed a…

First cycling days from Strasbourg to Nancy

Candid July 16, 2017 July 14, 2017

On Monday we started cycling from Breuschwickersheim. We had 4 days scheduled to do 155 km, a lot of time to develop a daily routine and to have a buffer in case something goes wrong with the bikes or trailers. We even managed to all leave around 1 pm on the first day, which is a record by far among the last years. Cycling was quite hard despite only doing between 30 and 40 km per day. The summer came back with some really hot sun, and the road went up and down a lot through the Vosges mountain range.…

STRASBOURG “Le paradiet”

2017 July 14, 2017 July 14, 2017

One more summer the Ecotopia Biketour is again on route. On the 28th of June the five of us met in a field at the end of a muddy road, to me it felt like a night like any other one,we were just some travellers gathering around the food and sharing stories. The next morning we moved to a little and cozy terrain called ‘Le parediet’, which was the official meeting point. Once there, people slowly started to arrive and things somehow started to get done: thanks to the materials and tools from our host and the people in Maison…

Picking a circuit for the dynamo-powered USB port, part 2

Candid July 9, 2017 August 14, 2017

Ecotopia Biketour 2017 is already under way and updates about how our first days of cycling went will follow soon. One thing that we want to achieve this year is not rely on the electrical sockets of our hosts anymore when it comes to charging the numerous electronic devices that people are bringing on the tour these days. One way to do that is to build a circuit that converts the power coming out of the dynamo of a bike to power that is needed to run a USB port. We have tried to find the best way to build…

Collaborative map tool FacilMap & How we chose the region

luhukasu June 15, 2017 June 20, 2017

Collaborative opensource map tool For the planning of the Biketour, we have an online tool, an interactive, editable map where we can all work together. Anybody who’s been organising this tour can add projects, nice places, interesting events and other relevant things. You can switch on and off marker types and routes you want to look at on the right side of the map. If you click on a marker or a line, it shows you more information like descriptions, contact-details and for routes the elevation profile. Because it’s openly published, this map is a non-editable version of the map. For the…

Spring meeting 2017

Candid May 10, 2017 June 12, 2017

Eleven of us (plus two dogs) met on the week-end from the 14th to the 16th of April in Freiburg, Germany, to work on the preparation of the upcoming Biketour. The venue was the public café of the housing cooperative SUSI. SUSI is several former military barracks that were bought by a collective using the Mietshäusersyndikat, and association that makes it easier to get a loan for buying houses collectively, while at the same time making sure that these houses can never enter the capitalist real estate market again. The complex is huge, with space for 285 people to live and…

winter meeting 2017

CharlieCharlie December 27, 2016 April 28, 2017

Preparations for the Ecotopia Biketour 2017 have most definitely begun! The biketour had an open meeting in Berlin last weekend where we reflected on last years tour, reviewed our online organisation structures, shared ideas for the biketour 2017, planned a timeline of what we want to do, and, actually made some decisions!! The most important one being the region of where the biketour will cycle in 2017. After careful consideration of the biketours values and priorities, we are pleased to announce that the region for the next biketour will be Germany, France, east Spain and possibly Switzerland. Over the course…