As the start of the school year is fast approaching, today we are taking the wheel of Théobald “Théo” and Antoine “Tonio”. Two students from Mines who traveled by bike across Europe for 5 months to meet inspiring actors and projects related to the environmental transition. They created the association "We Slow Tech" and specialized in the study of low-tech. But, what is low-tech?
Low-tech are objects, systems, techniques, services, know-how, practices, lifestyles, and even schools of thought that integrate technology according to three main principles: low-tech must be useful, accessible, and sustainable. For this duo, everything starts with an awareness: the environmental transition needs new collective imaginations, desirable imaginations! Through this journey, we had the chance to accompany them daily thanks to our gravel equipment, with the desire to highlight this project and this approach.
From Marseille to Rennes via a dozen European countries (Italy - Slovenia - Croatia - Bosnia-Herzegovina - Montenegro - Serbia - Hungary - Slovakia - Austria - Germany - Netherlands - Belgium), Théo and Tonio embark on a real cycling adventure. The opportunity to return through their words to the end of their adventures: "It's hard because it's the end of the trip, and at the same time it's the beginning of our reflection on how we are going to tell our story with the writing of the documentary in particular. It's a new phase of the adventure that is beginning! It's our first cycling trip. We had set off a bit with a flower in our rifle without really knowing our needs. In the end we managed rather well, without too many worries. We were able to meet the people we wanted to meet and the guiding principle of the project was maintained throughout and we were above all happy with what we achieved."
With stages of 60 to 120 kilometers, two types of encounters were offered to them throughout the adventure: those linked to the low-tech project and those of everyday life, especially when they slept at local people's houses. The meetings linked to the research project were mainly organized in advance thanks to social networks, but not only! Word of mouth among locals also contributed greatly to making discoveries and provoking great encounters on the theme of low-tech. As for the itinerary, it was done according to desires: "We rode a lot by feeling. Sometimes we would say to each other when we were tired of pedaling "I'll stop at the first house", we just pedaled and moved forward at our own pace and according to our desires. It was a great way to travel, without pressure, but above all to meet authentic people."
The goal is now to make a documentary retracing their journey and the various low-tech projects encountered along the way. For Théobald, a project near Rouen particularly struck him: "We met a guy who is a solar baker. He makes his bread using a solar oven. Except that in Normandy the weather is not always nice, he sometimes makes bread once a week. Since it is sourdough bread, it keeps quite well. He manages to make a living from his activity and it goes very well. Through his words and his story we were also able to relive the evolution of baking in France. It was very interesting and it gave us some ideas for the future!"
One country particularly left its mark on them, both for its landscapes and the stories of its inhabitants: Bosnia-Herzegovina and its capital Sarajevo. “ Bosnia by bike is super cool, maybe more on a gravel bike than on a road bike, but we totally recommend it! ” Like many cycling adventurers, they made the same observation: traveling by bike is a totally different experience from others. It allows you to travel in a more human way, slower, and off the beaten track. Maybe even too far off the beaten track, sometimes:
"When we arrived in Slovenia, we had a pass to climb. As we continued on, we came across snow, then the road became a snowy forest path... When we reached the summit, we realized that the switch had not taken place and that we had arrived on a large plateau. As night began to fall, we decided to sleep under shelter, in our tent. The next day, when we woke up, a few meters from our makeshift bunk, we noticed animal footprints... bear footprints! We slept in the center of the country's bear density without knowing it..."
To learn more about the We Slow Tech adventure while waiting for their documentary, you can follow them by clicking right here .
Thanks to Théobald and Antoine for the beautiful postcards throughout their trip. Our partners have talent and they deserve to be highlighted!
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