We try to make the tour as inclusive as possible for any level of fitness or experience with bike touring. We cycle a maximum of 30–70 km per day (depending on the hills), and on average half of the days we stay in a place without cycling. Our experience is that almost everyone can manage this, but there is the possibility to shorten the distances if we discover that it is too much. People cycle in small groups or alone, at whatever speed suits them, and many people like to take it slow and take lots of breaks. A detailed route plan for the day is shared in the morning, arrows are drawn with chalk on the road at every turn, and if you get lost you can always call the Biketour phone. If you have a shitty bike, you will not be the only one, and we enjoy supporting each other if something breaks. We make sure that the last people to leave carry a toolbox, a phone and a first-aid kit in order to assist if anything goes wrong on the road.
Read more about what the Ecotopia Biketour is. If you would like to get an insight into the organisation or just ask a question, contact us.
Biketour concepts
Participation Guidelines
> participation guidelines
> awareness
Self-Organisation
> how it’s prepared
> consensus
> circles
Online Tools
> online-tools
> photo-sharing
On the road
> on the road
> tasks & rota
> trailers
> wildcamping
Food
Whenever it’s possible we go dumpster-diving and buy food from local farmers and small shops.
> veganism
> rocket stove
> dumpster-diving
Activities
> skill-sharing
Latest blog posts
From La Voulte to the Mediterranean Sea
From La Voulte we cycled south along the Rhône. There was a bike path (the Via Rhôna) all the way, which was quite good, but with some unpleasant surprises such as sudden steep hills, unpaved bits, impassable barriers or unnecessary detours as usual. Along the way there was a huge nuclear power station with a painting of a playing child on it and a wind turbine next to it for additional greenwashing. After one day we turned west into the mountains in order to reach the next planned project La Vieille Valette. The group split up in two for the…
Recyclerie La Voulte
From Saillans it was not far to La-Voulte-Sur-Rhône, where we went to visit the next project, actually kind of two projects. One was a farm collective where people grow vegetables and sell them to fund themselves and a place next to the river where people can live in vans and tents, and they invited us to stay there for some nights. The other one, run by the same people, is the Recyclerie, a huge warehouse in an industrial area of the city where the people are collecting all kinds of material, sort it, and try to redistribute it. They have…
Links #9: Space for Cars, Tall Bikes, Guerrilla Bike Lanes, Bike Thief Test, You’re in the Bike Lane
This ingenious illustration reveals how much space we give to cars Tall bikes will save the world Latvian bike activist create guerrilla bike lanes The Bike thief test in Brussels “You’re in the bike lane”
Joining the AlterTour from Eurre to Saillans
After Valence we had a short cycle to Eurre, where one of the most exciting part of the tour was awaiting us: We were planning to join AlterTour for three days, a Biketour similar to ours that happens every year since 2008 in France. It is the first time (at least in the last couple of years) that we meet another organised Biketour on the way, and we were very excited to find out what they are doing and how they are different from us. The first night we spent with them in l’Oasis de Serendip in Eurre, a collective…