Another week full of warm hospitality while cycling in italy…

monday 3 september, we planned to leave early and got up on time, but the rain (that had been falling already for 3 days) was strong. We decided to delay our departure and got invited to join the lunch with the Valli Unite family :D. After lunch, with a grey, but dry, sky, everyone on the farm warmly waved us goodbye and we had a fresh afternoon cycling to Castel San Giovanni where we camped on a field with a small shed that ended up being our kitchen and dinner room when the rain started again. tuesday 4 september, after…

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Ecotopia Biketour saved the bycicles

Mass grave found in Barcelona with 234.576 corpses “Ecotopia biketour saved the bycicles” Venezia 17 Septembre 2012 Remains were found in the Collserola mountains surrounding Barcelona but do not belong to victims of the Spanish Civil War. Radiocarbon dating by Palaeontologists at the Sorbonne led to the surprising conclusion they are much older. In fact, they hark back 250.000 years B. P., a time conventionally accepted as marking Homo Sapiens’ appearance on earth. Even more surprising is the fact these remains are not human but, wait for it… bicycles. Between the Pliocene and Pleistocene there was a populous civilisation of…

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Looking Back: From Catalunya to France

I had an amazing time on the bike tour, cycling and living with so many lovely people in this community on wheels was a great experience, and the projects I saw have inspired me. Visiting permaculture projects in Catalunya and France, our hosts gave us tours and talks about their farming techniques, as well as getting a chance to try the organic produce. These imags show the beautiful organic vineyard at Can Torres, the impressive permaculture project in Sigean, where food is grown for local families, and the Cravirola Le Maquis in Minerve, where they make delicious bread in their…

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Cycling on…

After 3 weeks of pedalling we left Ecotopia Biketour in Torino. We’re not quite sure why – the tour goes on for a few more weeks so we must have got our dates wrong! We arrived back to Manchester very cold and confused, but we were picked up straight away by the strength of our cycling community here. The Critical Mass the day after we got back was a good cure for any withdrawal symptoms from group cycling, with over 100 people on the road despite the rain (plus two soundsystems – one on a home made trailer and one…

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Asti To Bologna

From Asti we had an easy but dull ride on the flat. The roads were poorly maintained and full of long crack, sometimes wider than my tires. In the distance we could see the mountain and that were we were heading. Inevitably our final destination required us to scale a massive hill. For ages we climbed and climbed, it seemed to never end. I stopped to eat figs off a tree overhanging the road, and stopped again to admire the view. Eventually we were there, the Valli Unite organic argicultural co-operative. We stayed for the entire weekend as volunters for…

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What have I learnt from the tour?

As my month of sunkissed, intense Ecotopia draws to a close, I’ve found myself wondering: have I changed as a person? For better, for worse? The more I wonder, the clearer the answer: yes, Sam, of course you’ve changed for the better, Now you have a deep, hot, glowing tan. A tan over the forearms, and even on the underside of the forearms. A tan on the back, and the deepest bronze cresting your shoulders. A sunkissed head, neck, ears, nose, forehead, chin and cheeks. Even my enormous heart now appears more golden. And also my entire legs, because I…

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The biketour in food form

‘It fills my heart when people can just eat what they want to and there is still food left at the end’ – João Taborda 2012 Cycling up a hill towards Valli Unite this evening, just after my first ripe fig which I have been waiting for for months, I realised that it’s been a while since I wrote something and I thought that I would spend a little time collecting my biketour memories so far, using our encounters with a vast variety of foods of all shapes and sizes to help me. Apples – We woke up one morning…

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