On pedals from South America: Happy Family BioCycling back to Italy

On pedals from South America: Happy Family BioCycling back to Italy

A journey on the pedals of almost 5 years, with the aim to live together an outdoor adventure, discover sustainable South American realities and, at the same time, educate their daughters through the experiential teaching of “worldschooling”. So Alberta and Sebastien’s family has happily covered 25,000 km on the pedals and now dreams of returning to Italy in the same style: from Rome to the Dolomites.

For almost 6 months they have been refugees at the Los Pinos Cooperative, the fair trade coffee producers in El Salvador, since the Covid-19 has also spread along the paths of Central America, interrupting their long journey to California. After so many kilometers in the legs, eyes full of immense views and a wealth of emotions and knowledge that will always carry in the memory, the Happy Family of cyclists has not yet run out of energy, and given the unstable international situation plans a return to Italy, always on the pedals, and with the same style with which he has lived in recent years, Covid permitting.

“On the afternoon of August 29th we will land in Rome. We would like to slowly climb up the center of Italy by bike until we reach our home in Revine Lago, a small village at the foot of the Dolomites in the province of Treviso, to have a gentler landing after so many years away from our country. We hope to maintain also during this last stretch, the style with which we have managed these 4 years and 8 months in Latin America: we will climb slowly, getting to know realities related to sustainability, responsible tourism and adventure, highlighting the beauty of our country. We will share the energy of the journey with those we meet on the way, make these aspects known through the social pages of Happy Family BIOcycling and collect the latest testimonies for the final documentary,” says dad Sebastien Bellet Grava.

This adventure began in January 2016, after a year of preparations. The initial idea was to limit the experience to 20 months to reach the Caribbean coast of Colombia from Ushuaia, the southernmost tip of Patagonia. Since then, however, they have never stopped, and Angela and Anna have now become girls, cycling with their parents and getting to know new people, lifestyles and enjoying the beauty of multiculturalism. They found themselves living unforgettable experiences, like crossing the world’s largest salt desert in Bolivia, harvesting cocoa in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, and living with the indigenous Aymara communities of the floating islands of Lake Titicaca.

Accompanying this trip were Panorama Diffusion and VAUDE, with equipment that literally protected outdoor nights and days of long rides. “What we particularly like about VAUDE, and what makes us proud of the collaboration, is the compromise it shows in seeking increasingly sustainable and innovative ways of production, while also taking care of the protection of workers. Values that go completely with our BIOcycling America project,” explained Alberta.