Couple ‘draw’ 7,237 kilometre bicycle in name of climate change
A couple has taken a stand against climate change that can be seen from the skies, having cycled more than 7,000 kilometres to create the image of a bike to encourage others to ditch their cars.
UK-based couple Arianna Casiraghi and Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope first took it upon themselves to “draw” a 956-kilometre-wide bicycle across Europe in 2019, telling the Guardian they did it to “draw attention to the scale of climate breakdown” and get others to think about choosing bikes over cars for shorter trips.
Though a pandemic, injuries, and poor weather made their short trip anything but, the Italian-British duo eventually finished the task.
After quitting their jobs in 2019 to start the ride, Casiraghi suffered a knee injury that put a hold on their journey until November, when the cold and rain made it so miserable they had to stop again.
Plans to restart the ride in March 2020 were derailed, but Casiraghi said finishing what they had started was both for a sense of accomplishment and so they didn’t let down the people who had been following their progress.
Their trip, which totalled 131 days of cycling, finally came to an end on August 15 and the couple took to Instagram to share the news.
“We have completed our gps-trace drawing! And what a drawing it is!” they wrote.
“We cycled 7237 km through 7 countries to draw our massive bicycle and hopefully encourage one or two people to use their bike instead of the car.”
The pair revealed they had also beaten several records, including the Guinness World Record for the largest GPS drawing, the unofficial record for the largest one completed by a bicycle, and “we have definitely drawn the biggest bicycle ever!”
As if their feat wasn’t impressive enough, the duo also took their Italian water dog, Zola, along for the ride, using custom-built bikes that had a compartment for the pooch to sit in whenever she wasn’t running alongside.
"We tried to go on small roads where possible, or off-road, so Zola could walk a bit," Rayneau-Kirkhope said.
The planning of their drawing was also a complex task, with their first draft route taking them directly through Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Reflecting on their trip, the couple said Casiraghi’s injury proved to be “really quite demoralising”.
"We had to stop travelling in order to rest and undertake dedicated
physiotherapy sessions, which unfortunately meant that our project got delayed," they said.
But, people’s reactions to their journey far outshone the harder moments.
"The highlight of the trip has been the incredible support that we have received from
people along the road," they said.
"Without them, cycling through the cold and rainy winter months would simply not have been possible with our tight budget.
"We still are amazed about how open-minded and selfless people can be."
As for what’s next, the pair said they would be heading home for a rest before hitting the pedals again - though their next trip won’t be so artistic.
"Now, we will go home and rest before going for another cycling trip," they said.
"No drawing, just pedalling in whichever direction we bloody well please!"
Image: @bicycleswilsavetheworld_ (Instagram)