Ecotopia BikeTour 2019 - Part 1

With the group (Glasgow to Stenraer)

Arrived on the morning of July 25th and after 3 hours I had just bought a big Raleigh Mountain Bike for 40 quids. However I soon realized I also needed to get P-clamps to fit my rack to it. Mattis joined me with his skateboard in the afternoon and guarded my stuff whilst I went to a Pakistani hardware shop to get some extra screws. We met the rest of the ecotopians in Galgael (which was to become our sanctuary) – a sort of social centre developed around wood working, mainly the collective construction of medieval boats. Most people from Ecotopia are late for the appointment with the locals (ah ah.. some things never change), so went for the first round of beers at the nearby pub with old friends Barry and Mattis (great to see them again!). Once back to Galgael we joined a quick tour of the place by the picturesque and very Scottish Mr Mac… but all had to be hurried because of the wave of Rangers supporters that would clog the streets very soon (the game at the very nearby stadium was ending). So we left in the direction of Pollok park right when the human river of football fans was spreading on the roads. At nightfall we found a good place to sleep at the bottom of the park. On July 26th we were hanging around in Galgael for most of the day, after having hidden most of our stuff in the bushes of the park with the plan of returning to the same place the following night. In the evening we joined the local cyclists in the monthly critical mass, where we constituted about half of the whole group. (Just an instance of the biketour’s boosting effect on local initiatives, I’d say). Saturday 27th was the day of a rowing outing on one of the boats built by the Galgael crew following an ancient design. The first of this kind to be built after 400 years. The rowing experience was fun but -I dare to say- exhausting..it takes probably more than a few minutes to fully master the technique. We then take cover from the rainy weather by having lunch in a Lebanese restaurant, then the bravest of us join the music festival in town, right on time for (indoor) Ceilidh dances! It was the highlight of the weekend: happily dancing half naked and barefooted among an elegant crowd.  Sunday was again quiet. After lunching at the Community Centre the Space, I returned to Galgael to join the ambitious endeavor of the cooking team: Master chef Sonam engaged in a 5 hours preparation of filled vegan pies (Haloo Baratha) and chiapatis…Dinner was pretty late, but (of course) a success. The night was then ended by a collective picture for Galgael and then a very cool kilt workshop from Mr Mac.  On Monday morning we moved to the Glasgow Autonomous Space (GAS) for a self-organized skill-sharing day. Due to our terrible organization, we failed to make a clear plan for it. People were hanging about without knowing what was happening. And what was supposed to happen was never on time. Why? I started to feel a bit oppressed by being aimlessly secluded in a dark place. Some workshops did fortunately happen: the lockpicking (from Bru) was very interesting, then I gave one on Extinction rebellion (which went ok-ish, I believe, although I ended up speaking more than I would have liked to), whereas the very important coordination workshop did not really happen. A few of us – without enough information- were struggling to plan the route and projects for the next days. At some point, I felt a strong desire to go out for a ride…which turned out to be a very successful dumpster diving mission. I found a barrel full of apples and bananas, which I secured to my bike with improvised means (I had no bag nor bungees with me). On my way back I met some ecotopians in town and could get some help in carrying the load, but ended up following them to an appalling fast food restaurant and observe them eating a disgusting deep-fried pizza. Yet another static day on Tuesday, only thing worth of mention is our visit to the local bike kitchen for some bike work. In the evening we had then a potluck dinner at GAS with the people from the place followed by a small party. Wednesday was finally the big day of departure! Only after a massive amount of cleaning, though… When I finally set off we quickly lost the “arrows” (typical biketour..) and ended up in a dead end bike path…where we had to lift bikes and trailers up some stairs. The road until Hamilton (where we stopped in a park for lunch) consisted of quite ugly suburban areas… After lunch we were finally out there, in the hilly countryside, and could afford some very nice stretches into parks and along a river. After the 45km ride to the Talamh housing cooperative project, it was time for cooking (finally) again at the open air. Enter: two rocket stoves…and an army of fire makers to get them going on wet wood….

Despite the big list of jobs that they proposed us (but not very strongly) to do, we took it easy on Thursday. In the afternoon I went for a ride and beer with Joao in Colburn, the nearest village, where we were surprisingly successful in asking for unsold food. (this is were I developed my speech about an international group of cyclists trying to make it affordable for everyone to travel…). We even got some horrible meat, which was promptly cooked by young captain Mattis in the pirate’s ship kitchen (the new non-vegan corner of the place).  And in the eve: party!.... with a bicycle powered sound system and a real sauna!  The following day we got round doing some work. First I was picking meadowsweet and nettles for potion making, then I joined Fede for some harder activity: chopping off tall purple invasive flowers using a scythe.  The evening was the overlap of Guillem’s and my birthdays (2 and 3 aug respectively), so double partying around the bonfire was necessary, as well as the 2 cakes that were made by the group. On August 3rd, it was my turn to surprise all with a vegan delicacy: ginger biscuits and home-made chocolate cream! It was a messy success... everyone was dipping from the same bowl and the chocolate was somehow too liquid, despite the helping hand of professional cook Barry, who tried to intervene in directing me in the last stages of the preparation. Having survived my birthday, I was facilitating with Michal a long and important circle on August 4th, where many points were discussed and settled…except one: when do we leave the place? Despite a majority eager to get going, there was no consensus, so the decision was -alas- postponed to the evening. What happened afterwards was annoying: the group disintegrated, with 7 adventurers leaving in small groups to join a Festival in Edinbourgh for a few days. Fortunately, in the evening, some pressure was put on the group (by some who were resolved to leave the next day) so that the decision was finally taken:  having lost a third of the biketourers we were finally leaving on August 5. Having accepted a last minute offer to be the “tail”, I hang around till 13.30 with Bru- who is unfortunately staying behind due to a knee injury. Leaving him is such a big loss for the group and for our organizational capacity.. The way is very beautiful… tiny roads with open views, until our first stop: the detention centre for migrants in Dungavel. We stage a small demo, circling around it, screaming, banging at the gates and showing messages. Then it’s time to set off to our camping location, just a few miles from the village of Mouchline (where we got lots of crappy food offered by local shop owners).

The following day I am scouting with Angela, Clelia and Julia. We decide to cut through a national park and camp near a promising lake. We choose small routes that turn out to be very scenic. At the end, however, entering the national park, rain starts falling very heavily and we realize that there is no phone signal. Completely drenched, we decide to stop in a camping spot, a few km before the intended destination. The place is nice but infested by midges. We drink and cook with water got from a nearby house. The water tastes good but it’s the color of pee. The day after is meant to be a rest day, but it’s a bit of a organizational disaster…as we decide to move to the lake to spend some leisure time and have a circle, but due to inconvenient weather and the fact that Michal and Joao were “desaparecidos”, we then move on to the next camping spot and set up camp. The circle will finally happen at 5pm and end up at 7 (due to the long discussion to finalize the booking of the ferry for Ireland), then I’m in the cooking team, so the rest day is essentially gone. At least the curry we cook is first class biketour food (approved by Barry). The other good news is that in the meanwhile most of the Edinburgh fugitives have managed to join us again!  On the morning I leave early with the scouts thru the park. Open views over fantastic forested (or sometimes bare) hills... and -equally importantly- mostly downhill. We then stop for some hours in a visitors centre, desperate to charge our phones. Time for coffee and scones followed by lunch on an outside bench with a big chunk of the group. Finally, we are rewarded with some sun… and I have the great idea to cross a small river, slip, fall into the water, get soaked and bruised. I leave the place with Barry, thru a small by-road, sun-kissed till lake Ronald, where the scouts are still trying to finalize the camping site. Time for a naked bath (of course) which will then leave me in a freezing state for a few hours. We then move to a nearby field, which we squat. The police (which had been alerted by someone due to our lake nakedness) passes by to check on us, but ends up leaving with a simple warning “big storm is coming.” Katia is giving a very late consent workshop in the evening, but I fade out of it due to the freezing cold. Torrential rains and winds are sweeping our tents the whole night. In the morning I wouldn’t have though we would ever have left that field for the next 48 hours. Luckily the sky suddenly opens at 10am, so that we can quickly pack and have a furtive breakfast. The plan is to cycle to Stenraer (the first big town) and meet at the pub for our farewell to the group. Michal, Katia, Angela and I will not be boarding the ferry…but will cycle east to the Earth First Summer gathering near Durham (and then unfortunately straight back to Belgium for me…). We discover that Jorge has left during the night (desperation for the bad weather?) so until the last second I am seriously tempted to keep going on the boat…it’s so difficult to say goodbye…decisions, decisions!... but I end up sticking to my guns. The alternative biketour starts...