Journalist, Perovanovich makes history cycles 110 days to attend COP29 in Baku

The bicycle has the potential to solve almost every ecological problem we have in cities. What technology can claim that? So far, it has often been ignored because lifestyle habits would have to change if streets were redesigned in favor of bicycles. “But the bicycle is an underestimated climate factor -Perovanovich

 

 

Admin I Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024

 

BAKU,. Azerbaijan – While most delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan flew to Baku earlier this week, Ingvar Perovanovich set off in late July from the south-western German city of Freiburg.

The 30-year-old spent 110 days on the road pedalling from Freiburg to Baku. “I didn’t have a single flat tire in over 5,000 kilometres,” Perovanovich told dpa.

As a freelance journalist, the cycling enthusiast accompanied his journey with a newspaper column, social media posts and a film.

His journey even caught the attention of Azerbaijani politicians, who granted him a special permit to enter the country via WhatsApp contact. Azerbaijan’s land borders are usually closed.

“I was in Georgia – and then flying the last 500 kilometres to Baku would have felt wrong somehow. So that was the day of the decision,” he said.

With his trip, he wants to inspire people to cycle and draw attention to positive examples of the transport revolution.

“The bicycle has the potential to solve almost every ecological problem we have in cities. What technology can claim that?” said Perovanovich.

So far, it has often been ignored because lifestyle habits would have to change if streets were redesigned in favor of bicycles. “But the bicycle is an underestimated climate factor,” he added.

From Germany, the 30-year-old cycled Italy, where he made good progress on established long-distance cycle paths. After that, his journey through Slovenia, the Balkans and finally Turkey and Georgia required more detailed route planning, he said.

But Perovanovich encountered a lot of hospitality: invitations for tea or even overnight stays kept coming.

“There’s a lot of doomsday talk in Germany at the moment,” he said, but despite all the crises, he found that “that if you leave out all the politics, people are actually warm-hearted – even to strangers.”

Perovanovich, however, said he hopes to travel home by train or bus, assuming he can find a way to ship his bamboo-frame bicycle back home as well.