What is the Ecotopia Biketour?

First of all: "more than a cycling holiday!!"

The Biketour is an eco-mobile community connecting different environmental active people and groups on their way to Ecotopia. 2005 we cycled about 2000 km, starting end of june in Bosnia, through Serbia and Rumania to reached Moldova, where  Ecotopia 2005 took place end of august. We did about 50 km per day with a restday every 4 or 5 days, riding along in small groups on a  route suggested and tested by the organisational team. Additional to the cycling there were various actions on the way, we met people from the local partner organisations and were busy organising ourselves in a nonhierarchical way.

The biketour is based on the contributions of every participant. All tasks will be done by volunteers - in other words, you should volunteer for all tasks. Speak up in the daily meetings, which will not only be used to present the suggested route and daily schedule, divide tasks and announce news, but will also be the place to discuss problems, criticisms and improvements. The interesting and inspiring mix of all different people with different backgrounds and different languages on the tour also requires a lot of patience and tolerance.

Although this tour is an action tour, it will not look like a demonstration the whole time. We will not ride in one big group but rather in small groups depending on speed and interests. You will be provided with at least one suggestion for a route per day, sometimes there are several alternatives, and we'll also point out the interesting spots of the day. The whole group will gather for actions, in the evening for dinner or for workshops and guided tours on the restdays. An average day starts with the wake-up call, breakfast and preparing your lunch package. After the morning circle and cleaning the campsite it is time to go on the road again, and you decide whether to have a break and a swim, take a rest at the next bar or to continue to the next village to do some sightseeing. In the afternoon might be an appointment for an action, to which you should come on time, and after that some volunteers will prepare dinner while you either help them or amuse yourself on the camp site. It might be your turn to do the dishes this evening before you can fall into your sleeping bag, and go to sleep with the sound of songs sung around the campfire ... But note - NO WARRANTY - there might not be a single day on the Ecotopia Biketour following exactly this plan.

Biketour aims to be a sustainable community. Think about the environmental impact of your daily choices - specially when you arrange something for the tour. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! If you get something new, buy locally biologically sound produced stuff. Be aware what you're buying, where you're buying and how is it packaged. Try to limit the amount of waste you produce, and dispose it in a decent way.

Please bear in mind, that there will always be people around you with different backgrounds, habits and levels of awareness. Different people will consider different issues important, so don't be too fascist about the issue you happen to be specialised in. Instead, please bring information about it give a workshop or run a discussion group about your favourite issue. Biketour is about exchange and learning, so please prepare some materials about your favoured topic/skill and share it with the group.