Biking Beyond Borders - BBB (new)

"Biking beyond Borders goes east" was a European Youth Exchange put on by Falkor organization from Holland, and bringing together people from 6 different countries: Estonia, Holland, Hungary, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia.

The purpose of this youth exchange was to get together people from different backgrounds, and have us work on issues and educate ourselves in the area of cycling, and to also try to promote and popularize cycling in Georgia as well, a place not generally known for its great cycling culture.

As people came from different backgrounds, it meant that there was a great variety in what the participants themselves have for a relationship with the bicycle. Some have been active in biking organizations or cycle on a daily basis while others might have last sat on a bicycle when they were children.

Thus we gave workshops: I presented my first trip, Sofia-Istanbul, and the Hungarian group talked about Critical Mass and showed movies from Budapest Critical Mass. We also had a street action both in Batumi and Tbilisi. In Batumi we rode around the town center (near the sea), wore T-shirts with messages on them (in Georgian), handed out flyers and hobnobbed with the locals. Tbilisi was presented with its first ever Critical Mass, as we joined with another organization and cycled down the main avenue, which had been closed off for the occasion.