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About

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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

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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

Call-out for local co-ordinators

anna June 15, 2011 July 10, 2011

We are looking for volunteers to be Local Co-ordinators of the Ecotopia Biketour 2011 in Italy! See Italian version here The Local coordinator[s] will be responsible for the route in one region or at least a part of it. Preparation of the biketour is under way now. This year the tour will go trough Italy. You can see the planned route here Although organising such a project is fun, it is a serious commitment, as all the participants [estimating 20-40 at any one time] will rely upon on the decisions and estimations made during the preparation.

Ecotopia Biketour 2011

anna June 3, 2011 June 6, 2011

Sustainable Agriculture And Food Sovereignty, Italy, 26th July- 31th of August 2011 We are pleased to inform you that Ecotopia Biketour 2011 will be in Italy from the 26th of July until the 31th of August. The main theme of the tour is sustainable agriculture. Throughout our wonderful route we shall visit ecofarms and natural reservations, communes with ecofriendly communities and active cyclist groups, and be nourished by a healthy vegetarian/vegan menu made from tasty Mediterranean fare. At the end of the Ecotopia Bike tour we will have been able, through our experiences and involvement, to compose an informed picture…

A mental journey, not just 2000km by bike

Laura December 9, 2010 December 17, 2010

The Ecotopia Biketour 2010 travelled ecologically for 10 weeks through England, Wales, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. People came from all corners of Europe to form this mobile ecological activist community, to create one hell of a jam-packed summer project. After 6 months of organising the route, I was glad when it finally started and I was doing things with people face to face. There was a million things left to organise, but they would have to be done on the way. I said it was so good to be on my bike, with a map and a good…

The World of Bicycle Gangs: more than just a sustainable version of the Hells Angels

Laura November 9, 2010 November 9, 2010

Bicycle Gangs can take the form of a community of convinced environmental activists travelling across Europe for a few months, others call themselves a „worldwide drinking club with a bicycle problem” (Chopadeiros). One thing the Ecotopia biketour , which is conquering Europe regularly since 1989, and not only the Chopadeiros but also their Russian associates RASTA Bike (Russian Association of Self-made Transport Appliances) have in common is the extremely sustainable way they cruise around. Another thing is fun, naturally. Yet, the Ecotopia biketour is a “eco-mobile do-it-yourself activist community”, whose way of living together comes closest to a commune. RASTA…