Biketour experiences – Page 5

The Żubr

Candid July 8, 2016 April 28, 2017

The Żubr (bison) is the biggest land mammal in Europe. Żubrs have been extinct in many parts of Europe for centuries, the last ones living in the wild were killed in the 1920s. After the second world war, some Żubrs living in zoos were released into the wild to create a new population. All Żubrs that live in the wild today are the descendants of only 12 individuals that were released from zoos, which is quite threatening to their genetic health. The biggest population of about 800 individuals lives in Białowieża Forest, where we stayed for several days. Male Żubrs…

Białowieża Forest

Candid July 6, 2016 April 28, 2017

Białowieża Forest is a big forest that spans across the border between Poland and Belarus. It is known to be the only leftover primeval forest in Europe and home of its biggest bison population. We stayed on the Polish side of the forest for 5 days. We were also planning to cross over to the Belarusian side through the newly-opened bike-only border crossing, but unfortunately the Belarusian border guards didn’t want to let us pass with a dog. The forest was impressive, but at the same time a bit disappointing. It was amazing to cycle through it. It is so…

Pierwsze koty za płoty

ola July 4, 2016 April 28, 2017

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polish. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. Ecotopia zaczęła się w tym roku w Warszawie 14-go czerwca. Gościna Radykalnych Ogródków Działkowych, feministyczny Marsz Godności, spotkanie na Syrenie, budowanie nowej przyczepki rowerowej i ciągnąca się lista spraw do ogarnięcia sprawiła, że zostałyśmy niemal dwa dni dłużej niż planowałyśmy, wyjeżdzając 19-go czerwca. W Warszawie byłyśmy pod wrażeniem osiągnięć ROD. W ciągu zaledwie półtora roku udało im się przekształcić opuszczone ogródki działkowe w miejsce gościnne i mające…

campfires, sandpits, cow pastures and swamps

Ecotopia Biketour 2016 July 3, 2016 July 3, 2016

Finally the group somehow has improved its routine. Cycling, cooking and camping is working. We where so occupied with the visa for belarus that we hardly could organize our daily tasks… But we found nice sleeping places every night and we cycled through very beautiful landscapes. Especially the area around the Bug was nice. In the tiny villages, every house has a bench in front, where the people hang out and meet each other. We are always a big attraction cycling through. The dogs running after us, barking, and then suddendly jumping back when Knoedel, the biketour-dog barks back.

This year’s theme

ola July 2, 2016 April 28, 2017

It seems like trying to live in a sustainable way in a mobile community we constantly find ourselves reusing other people’s trash. We can’t grow our own but we try to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible, finding alternatives to buying new. Obviously, Western European trash is very different from the trash we see in the east of the continent. Last year in Scandinavia we were able to source nearly all of our food (and even clothes and shoes!) from supermarket food skips without much effort. We had a dumpster diving team on the rota every day and…

A thank you note

Ecotopia Biketour 2015 October 19, 2015 October 19, 2015

This is a lengthy goodbye letter that I hadn’t had time to write before I left the tour and a thank you note that has been brewing in my head for the last two months and now it has turned into an account of how I felt during and after the bike tour. I didn’t get enough of Ecotopia goodness and the regret over the fact that I could have stayed longer and didn’t, still haunts me. I have no photos to accompany the text but following Charlie’s blog post I’ll attach a song too – one that’s way more…

Photogallery – Oslo to Stockholm /edition 1/

Ecotopia Biketour 2015 September 2, 2015 September 2, 2015

made by Nina Mik

The Bike Tour in Copenhagen

Candid July 25, 2015 February 22, 2016

Copenhagen Here was the first city-stop of the bike tour, and a place where quite a lot of people arrived. The newcomers arrived after a long journey to a slightly confusing sight – a half demolished warehouse, with one wall and half a roof missing, and many bricks in little mounds dotted around, with tents in between. Welcome to Flyende By! (http://flydendeby.org/) Translated as the floating city, the the building is a workspace for building various boat projects. The place where we were staying is their warehouse, but they were in the process of moving –literally everything, which explained the…