Who are we ?

The Cyclow-tech team, composed of Basile Fleury, Paul Lebreton and Melaine Piton, students in Environment and land planning, at Polytech Tours.

Paul Lebreton

Basile Fleury

Melaine Piton

How did you get the idea to travel around Europe by bike to discover low-tech ?

Melaine: It all started from a discussion in which we brought up the idea to get involved in other domains than studies, in order to take a step back from our course choice. We quickly established that we wanted to defend and support a cause close to our beliefs. Thus, promoting low-tech seemed obvious.

Basile: The idea of travelling around Europe came after that. We believed that there is a close link between promoting bicycles and fighting against pollution, and we wanted to encourage citizens to question their way of travel. Naturally adventurous, we obviously chose the bike as our method of transport, as it permits travelling while staying in contact with the people and the environments we will encounter.

Regarding your planning, how do you organize yourselves before the departure? When do you intend to leave ?

Paul: The first phase of this project is currently ongoing, during the period September 2022 – February 2023. The start of the Cyclow-tech journey is set on March set, after the next winter. This first period will be an opportunity to meet, to interview, to exchange, to share… with the different actors focused on low-tech (associations, companies, and private individuals). We will also continue to raise funds before our departure, and to prepare our journey, mostly on the physical level. The second phase of the project goes from mid-February to mid-August 2023. Our aim will be to explore Europe by bike to meet the new actors of this process, and to film, comment and draw the low-tech inventions they imagine. We plan to take our time and meet, in more than 13 different countries, the people who participate in the creation of more sustainable and desirable society at their level.

Have you already planed the route of your expedition? If so, where are you going ?

Basile: We already planned our itinerary, based on several factors:

• The companies, associations and independent actors that we want to meet.
• The terrain and the trails’ accessibility for cyclists
• The weather, especially the temperature. Our goal is to be in the South of Europe during the first months of the year, and in the North during the warmest months.

We will begin our first trip by Spain, especially Barcelona, where our first partners are waiting for us.

What is the goal of your journey? Do you believe your actions will have consequences on society and in particular on the students’ world ?

Melaine: The climate urgency is a global issue, so we think it’s necessary that our project reach as many people as it can: students, scholars, professionals, companies, associations and everyone who feel affected by the current ecology issues. We want to show that we, the students, have the desire (and the strength in our legs!) to bring about less destructive solutions, techniques and skills, to “build” a more pleasant to live in and more sustainable world, to show that a project of this type is possible, and to make people think (and dream). Our journey is also addressed to current and future urbanism planners who will see the possibilities, in France and abroad, to build and conceive differently to make our lands more resilient, less energy-consuming, and less resource-intensive. We genuinely aspire to contribute to the rise of low-tech approaches from previous and future generations… and we believe that the video format and the illustrated magazine are the best formats for this kind of process.

"Such is science, many plans, many attempts, many hammer and lime blows. All this, for what? To save maybe fifteen minutes for the trip between Paris and Le Havre. And what will the satisfied travelers do of these precious fifteen minutes? Many will spend this time on the platform, waiting for moment the train arrives; others will stay another fifteen minutes at the coffee shop, and read the newspaper until the train is announced. Where is the profit ? For whom ?

It’s weird: the traveler, who would get bored if the train was slower, will use fifteen minutes, before the departure or after the arrival, to explain that this train takes fifteen minutes more than the others trains. Every man loses at least fifteen minutes a day to hold such a tough stance, or to play cards, or to daydream. Why wouldn’t he also waste this time on the wagon ?"

On happiness, Alain