Bike caravane from Berlin to St. Petersburg
Current information
A tour-diary with pictures and current information can be found here: caravan2006.outra.net. Have a look and watch the caravan riding on to St. Petersburg...
Call-out in different languages
Karawana rowerowa od Berlina do St. Petersburga - Polskie informacie: karawana_polski
Riteņbraucēju karavāna no Berlīnes uz St. Pēterburgu - Latvian: pretspars.hardcore.lt
Rattakaravan g8 vastu - Estonian: punamust.org
The idea
From July 15th to 17th, the G8-summit 2006 will be held in St.Petersburg, Russia. To get there we are traveling by bike-caravan from berlin to petersburg via poland, lithuania, lativa and estonia. It is an opportunity to actively protest against the summit while showing alternatives to the system behind it on the stations we pass. Alternatives mean for example: We use our own human power to travel and find a non-hierarchical and ecological way of living and working together during the tour.
Besides joy of living and knowing that "un otro mundo es possible" (another world is possible), it is a political action and much more than tourism. This means we want to get in touch with many local people. It can contain information meetings, discussions, actions with local activists, a mobile exposition about g8 and resistance, a possibility to show films at the tour and much more...
The tour is self-organized. So don't expect a "logistic staff" organizing food, bike maintenance, transport... everyone participating should organize this together (contacts below).
Caravan Plans
The caravan will start on 2nd of June in Berlin, at 4 pm at Brandenburger Tor.
The route will lead through Poland, the Baltic States towards St. Petersburg. The most probable route is: Frankfurt/Slubice, Poznan, Torun, Olsztyn, Suwalki, Vilnius, Panevezys, Riga, Valmiera, Tartu, Narva... (See Details on Timeplan). At the moment, most of th participants are from Western Europe.
On April 22 2006 there were 55 people who were subscribed on the mailing list. We don't know how many of them will really join in the caravan. Have a look (and sign in!) at the Caravan_People List to see who will take part on the caravan (and is ready to show this in public).
It is important to plan the tour as well as possible - and therefore your help important. But - like it or not - part of the tour will stay "spontaneous".
Wanted: Co-organizers, bike experts, local people
We are looking for people who can:
- coordinate a part of the tour especially in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. That means: check possible routes, thinking about campgrounds and so on.
- host the caravan in your town/village. This could be an opportunity for public info-action about G8 in your neighbourhood.
- collect/prepare/translate infomaterial about G8 in polish/lithuanian/latvian/estonian/russian language which could be used during the tour.
- participate. Travel by bike, enjoy the nature, discussions, actions..
Contact
To get in contact:
- There is a mailinglist for those who are interested: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/g8caravan
- mail to support-g8caravan( at)riseup( dot)net (english, deutsch, polski, russian)
- look who will take part on the bikeride on Caravan_People
Spread the word
- Now there are two posters for the tour - download and copy them on your own: first one and second one. You can also get printed ones at Offene Uni Berlins next to Berlin-Friedrichstr.
- a short text for mailinglists about the critical mass on june 2nd in berlin and general about the caravan (deutsch and english): caravan_propaganda
Preparation meetings
theres a lot to do...
- Next "big" preparation meeting: friday, may 26th, 10 am at Buko congress at TU Berlin
- During the Buko congress: preparation of the exposition
- week from may 29th to june 2nd at Kesselberg : bike checking and repairings, preparation of logistics, caravan_gear, info material... getting to know each other, planning of actions...
Results of the preparation meetings until now: caravan_meetings_results
So..
Join in for the planning for the cycle caravane from Berlin to St. Petersburg!
You can help completing the Timeplan for this ride.
Is anyone planning to ride to Berlin to join the caravane? Perhaps we could have a list here of potential "feeder rides".
Material for the bike ride
What material do i bring for myself? What material will i bring for the group? Add your ideas on the caravan_gear page.
Please check your bike before the tour! If you need support: bike_checking
Background: The Caravan to the G8 Summit in Scotland 2005
The 2005 G8 Bike Ride was a great success and some of the 70 or so riders who took part were inspired to ride to Russia in 2006.
In November 2005 at a meeting in Nottingham, a group of 15 G8 riders formed a collective called Bicycology to plan future events but decided to focus on a UK bicycle roadshow for 2006.