About

Ecotopia Biketour is a self-organized, international community that has been organizing a yearly bicycle tour in different regions of Europe since 1990. During the tour we visit environmental and social projects and practice forms of activism and sustainable living. We cook communal vegan food, practice consensus decision making, and share skills by doing workshops. One of our core values is to create a non-discriminatory environment. Participants are asked to give a voluntary contribution of 3–5 € per day to cover food costs, but if you cannot afford this you are welcome to join for free! Ecotopia Biketour is for anyone interested in travelling by bike, community life, DIY, an ecological lifestyle, and/or learning by experience. If this sounds good to you, feel welcome to join us!

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

Because we all have different visions of life and diverse personalities, Ecotopia Biketour has developed a set of basic values which helps all of us to create similar expectations from this project.
> participation guidelines
> awareness

Self-Organisation

As we oppose any leadership or hierachical structures, the Biketour is organised in an open way where everyone can be a part of.
> how it’s prepared
> consensus
> circles

Online Tools

We try to use free and open-source software as much as possible in the preparation process. The same goes for sharing photos and videos in the group.
> online-tools
> photo-sharing

On the road

Everyone should be able to cycle with the Biketour. Therefore we keep distances low and have scouts going ahead who mark the route. Everyone can follow the signs on their own level of speed. Any tasks like scouting, cooking or pulling a trailer are shared.
> on the road
> tasks & rota
> trailers
> wildcamping

Food

All communal food on Biketour is vegan and cooked with wood on our mobile rocket stove.
Whenever it’s possible we go dumpster-diving and buy food from local farmers and small shops.
> veganism
> rocket stove
> dumpster-diving

Activities

We plan and make many activities on the tour: skill-sharing, helping at projects, joining actions and protests, bike-fixing and other events.
> skill-sharing

Latest blog posts

last days in france

taborda August 27, 2012 September 19, 2012

Riding through the Alps we have seen some beautiful (and steep!) mountains and visited some inspiring projects. Shooting stars have been more common than internet along the way, so here is a quick update of what we have been doing: tuesday 14 august, the action working group had a meeting and contacted local activists against nuclear energy along our route. At lunch time, Caroline, the mayor of Éourres village, joined us to eat and talk together about community living and how this alternative village was formed. In the afternoon some people joined in with the willow basket weaving and wool…

Ecotopia Biketour supports NO TAV struggle

taborda August 27, 2012 September 19, 2012

We made some stickers to show our support for the NO TAV struggle and spread them around on the NO TAV camp in Chiomonte. Download them here.

five weeks on the road!

taborda August 14, 2012 September 19, 2012

sunday 5 august, we held an anti-fracking workshop in Avignon square. While preparing dinner, T. held a Rhythms of Resistance workshop with recycled materials, pots and pans. We then joined up with the Serious Beans Project (a band who will join the tour so long as they can carry their violin, trumpet and doube bass amoungst other instruments on their bikes). They later gave us and the locals a free gig at the nearby campsite. monday 6 august, we cycled south for few hours under light rain, then debated Degrowth and Food over lunch before asking local land owners for…

Degrowth makes you grow

@kino August 13, 2012 September 19, 2012

Last Thursday, after five weeks of cycling, I left the biketour on a high, knowing already that I’d be back. I left partly because I was a bit tired. Selforganization is very empowering but takes a lot of energy and effort, especially when you are on the road with 25 to 30 people on average. I felt I couldn’t fully participate anymore unless I had a substantial break. Another reason to leave was that the distance would allow me to reflect on the things I just learnt and experienced. Waiting for my train in Montpellier I wrote down these quick…