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On the local trade fair "Radreisen - grenzenlos" (means cycling without orders) of the German Cyclist Federation (ADFC) in Bremen(Germany), we have met Andreas Thinius, 33 years old, from Hamburg (Germany), 100km north east of Bremen, where the ECF (European Cyclists Federation) office is located by now.
Andreas, an engineer in telecommunications, has successfully realised his vision of cycling within the last 3 years: "To discover the development of the new Europe by bicycle mile by mile". On the November 14th 2002 he started his cycling expedition "Europe – unplugged" to see what’s up in the area between the Atlantic and the Ural Mountains, between Greenland and Cyprus. "I have calculated all routes on my very own, every track has been proofed by climate diagrams and online routing tools – I certainly have ravelled all capitals, mountains and cultural sites of Europe. This great adventure has been a wonderful challenge for me, I have never felt stressed". During 620 days of cycling, Andreas crossed all 60 European countries. He also visited Albania, Moldova and the Kosovo, too. "I have never felt angry at all; people in these unknown countries are very kind, warm and open to visitors from other nations." Thinius has mounted his bicycle on his own; he preferred solid medium price functional pieces on his bike.
That’s necessary because everything must be fixable. He has always slept in the cheapest places, mostly camping, sometimes in hostels, and sometimes on private grounds, too." All I need is a bed and a shower." he says.
During this expedition, Andreas has worked out that Europe is not defined by the EU; it’s defined by the people of Europe. "The adventure on the road is the power of Europe – everything is different everywhere you go – but nothing is foreign or strange". Thinius` average travel speed has been 10km/hwhich means about 17km/h cycling, deducting time for talking to people, enjoying local café bars and taking photographs.
Andreas has always been highly motivated as a surprise to himself:
"What’s comes around the next corner?". On his website (German language) you will find all his routes, photos and more information.
In winter 2004/2005 Thinius founded his company "cycolution" to promote cycle tourism in Europe. "In March 2005 we won an international tourist movie contest. That’s fantastic and a goal for every cyclist. People begin to understand how pacifying cycling can be." Now Thinius has produced a movie about his expedition "Europe – unplugged".
"We like to show how simple and safe cycling in Europe is. It’s merely a promotion of a great continent." You can order the movie "Expedition Europe – unplugged" (DVD, 60 minutes, German language) on http://www.cycleguide.info/index.php?id=ecf
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