BIKE FOR EUROPE - Because you can!

#BikeForEurope Project Overview

Bike for Europe is a cross-border cycling tour which aims to promote the bicycle as a sustainable and active means of transportation, physical activity in general as well as international co-operation between European countries with a special focus on the social inclusion through sport. Two teams of cyclists will cycle across Europe, starting on 1 September separately from two different countries, the Netherlands and Greece. The tour will finish on 22 September in Vienna, Austria, which is hosting the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and be part of the official opening of the European Week of Sport 2018.

The tour will be led by the two teams and joined by citizens from 11 different countries. Several side-events are being organised not only along the route but also in cities off the route. Examples of these activations can be Bike Yoga, cycling workshops for migrants or touristic sightseeing tours on the bicycle.

How will your city greet the Bike for Europe team? And how will your community know they can be a part of it? That’s where your organisation comes into play. Have a look at our Side Event Guide and contact us at info@isca-web.org for more information! #NowWeBike #BikeForEurope #BeActive #CyclingForAll

History of NowWeBike

In summer 2015, the first edition of the NowWeBike pan-European cycling tour took place. A team of three cyclists covered over 2700km and passed 14 countries on their way to Brussels. Their route led through Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The NowWeBike cycling tour was not just about cycling from one city to another. It was about interaction with local citizens aiming to inspire more people to choose cycling as an easy and sustainable way to stay active and healthy. The goal of the NowWeBike tour was to promote movement and tolerance across Europe and to raise awareness of the so-called Inactivity Time Bomb. The three cyclists were awarded special diplomas for being Ambassadors of Physical Activity and Tolerance.

The second edition of the NowWeBike tour in 2016 was called “The Journey of the Hope”. A team of 4 cyclists cycled 2300km and finished the tour in Vienna after 31 days on the saddle. The tour took on a new dimension when it was selected as an official European Week of Sport event that year. Around 50 followers left with the team from Copenhagen to Roskilde in Denmark, and ISCA President Mogens Kirkeby and Head of Projects Saska Benedicic Tomat joined them all the way to Aarhus.

In Berlin, biking team members visited #BIKEYGEES e.V. and helped to facilitate workshops teaching immigrant women how to ride a bicycle. It was a rare private moment on the tour where the team got behind the scenes of a grassroots volunteer initiative for hard-to-reach members of society. In Bratislava the team visited an event that celebrated both the European Week of Sport and the European Mobility Week. At this event, the team members were used as obstacles for some wild stuntmen and women on bicycles. The team, which had more than doubled in size when it arrived in Vienna on Saturday, 17 September, was honoured with a public reception to celebrate the end of the tour.