Finding Solace in Solis – Helsinki 25.06.-01.07.2024

i feel as though my brain cells are rotting and expanding at the same time. the crew we have and the company we keep know how to get things done, are nerds in various topics, and together our skills are (almost) endless. but we do not forget to also have fun and laugh and to communicate across culture and language our weird senses of humour. in the north of helsinki we were greeted so warmly and with such hospitality by some of the people from solis who generously hosted us in their garden for a week. we were fed fresh…

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Ecotopia 2021 – Beginning in Praha

Hello Ecotopians! After a year of break, the tour is back on the go again! We began a few days ago in Praha, dwelling at K11 guesthouse which is a social center that hosts alternative bands and communities along the year. The first day we visited „Bike Kitchen Praha” where we fixed and prepared our bikes for the tour, met the organizers who explained about the project and had some delicious local lemonade. On our way back we dumpster dived in the local market getting food for dinner. Today we had our first circle and meeting of the group, to…

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Quest For Rocket Stoves

With the skies above our camping place threatening rain and thunder and with two days left before we were to leave Edinburgh, the heart of the bike tour was missing. The heart of the bike tour is an ugly-mangled thing. We crouch beside it at night, offering up endless twigs and sticks, blowing on it our hopes for hot food. The heart of the bike tour is a rocket stove. It is made from a large oil drum, piping and insulation. We had two vegetable oil drums, found at the back of a restraunt. We still needed to find some…

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Quand la route devient chez toi

vélo couchée avec remorque Le temps que je passe en Ecotopia Biketour restent comme un tat des aventures tres denses dans ma tete. J’ai du mal a en sortir des expierences specifiques, quest qui vaut la peine de raconter et quoi non? quelle des milles histroires choisir? soir de deluge ptet celle-ci: on arrive apres une journee de decentes et montees le long des falaises asturiennes sur une pre pas loin de la mer. Une reunion est prevue, finallement, quand les gens se sont rassemblees, on fait un tour de paroles, quelqu’un dit: „je vois pas comment on va faire…

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Urniza

Dear reader, An elated time has passed since we left Urniza, and we’ve grown so beautiful that I can barely recall what it was like. It went somewhat like this: Tarara stepped on top of the dog’s shelter and onto the donkeys back, reaching and nibbling at the tree’s leaves. We knew she was a good climber, still we were amazed. Making an effort to remember Urniza my mind slipped a bit and reminisced Martorell instead, my first day in Ecotopia. We were crossing the city when I felt like an organelle in a cell. For a moment I had…

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the first 2 weeks of a social expieriment

throw a bunch of very different people together in a group, they are all supposed to be free and equal, add some spicing(=cycling, wildcamping,…) and see what they will make out of it… This is the 3rd time I join ecotopia biketour. During the winter, the organizing team had not only worked on planning the practical aspects of this years tour but also a lot on the theoretical bases. We created a detailed procedure how we would deal with conflicts in future. We wanted to be better prepared than last year, where it took us months to act in a…

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The Bure Forest – heart of the Ressistance to Nuclear Power in France

The small village Bure in eastern France in the past years has become the epicentre of the environmental movement against nuclear power. Some Environmentalists from France and Germany settled down here permanently and part time to join forces for the struggle. They bought some land and an old farming house in the village, the “maison de resistance”. Our friends received us with warm hospitality in the lively kitchen, the bawn and the garden where we slept and spend our days during four wonderfully inspiring days. The “maison de resistance” is the permanent base for new and veteran activists that recently…

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ACROBATICS

In this video the participants try the freakbikes of Radi Vidi Pats in Latvia. Different varieties of tallbikes or a tandem where you cycle face to face are pretty strange cycling-expieriences. Or other balance and body control challenges such as pushing another cyclist with the fully loaded trailer up a super steep hill. Or just turnig in circles.

Music by: AWOTT(the beaty one, awott.com/ ) and Trio EMM (the traditional one, facebook.com/TrioEmm/ )