Monday 6 May 2013

Planet bicycle and the Grand Tours Project

For those of you arriving here from the Grand Tours Project (more on this in a moment) welcome to No Impact land. Please, make yourselves at home. For No Impact Girl followers, meet the Grand Tours Project - which is not the name of a steampunk band but the brainchild of Keith Tuffley, an Australian now living in Switzerland and embracing the European obsession with all things two-wheeled. 

A couple of years ago, Keith rode in the Tour de France - not as a competitor, just for fun. Apparently keen cyclists can ride the Tour de France course, doing each "stage" the very same day as the professionals, on one condition: you have to start and finish before they come through. Last year, he did the same with the second biggest European road race, the Giro d'Italia

Gratuitous bike shot:
mountain biking (not road racing)
 in Tasmania (not Europe) 
Doing just one race a year is a big deal. Each one is a three-week, 3000-odd kilometre odyssey across Europe - up and down mountains, past excited spectators, through pretty villages. 

This year, Keith plans to ride in both of these plus the third "grand tour": the Vuelta a Espana (in Spain). Hence the "Grand Tours Project". You can read more about why he's doing it on his website, but one important reason is to raise awareness of sustainability and environmental issues.

That's where I come in. 

Every day of this first race, the Giro d'Italia, which started on Saturday (4 May) and ends on 26 May, there'll be a fresh new Eco Story - written by me - on the Grand Tours website, covering everything from the best eco-movies and most beautiful eco-lodges, to the latest electric cars and sustainable living ideas. 

Here are the links to my first two Eco Stories, which are now live:

It is about the bike
Why the planet needs more cyclists + 10 more reasons to ride

Welcome to the Grand Tours Project’s daily eco-blog. While Keith has his pedals to the, er, asphalt of Europe’s roads, you can swing by here to read up on environmental issues. Every morning there’ll be a fresh new post here full of inspiration, innovation, information, eco-travel ideas, sustainable living tips – all with the intention of motivating us all to do our bit towards a cleaner, healthier planet. Read the full post here


We're all going on an eco-holiday
10 back-to-nature European vacations

Sure, you could ride a bike 3,524 kilometres around Italy. But (sorry, Keith) there are plenty of other ways to have an environmentally conscious holiday. Here are 10 eco-holiday ideas in and around continental Europe. Walk, paddle or climb this way… Read the full post here

Come along for the ride? You can sign up for email updates at Grand Tours Project

4 comments:

  1. As much as I love cycling, not sure I'd be able to take on the Tour de France just for fun... that's still hardcore, if you ask me!
    Must check out the Grand Tours Project, too.

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  2. I know 3000-odd kilometres, impressive! Keith's almost done the first grand tour now - only three more days to go. A great achievement for sustainability!

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  3. Thanks for following! And yes, you sure can sign up. Go to the box at top left where it says "follow by email" - just follow the prompts. Welcome!

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  4. Just saying thanks wouldn’t just be enough, for the fantastic fluency in your writing.Schoemanskloof

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