Tag Archives: EuroTour

EuroTour – Plan B, Plan C and 2014

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Euro Tour LogoAs hinted, when the cancellation was announced, other plans have arisen from the ashes.

A new European based volunteer, Evelien van Jeroen, has stepped forward to continue the plan for the original EuroTour, which has now been postponed to 2014, and lead the organising.  With the organisation now based in Europe there is good hope that many of the difficulties the previous organiser encountered will be easier to over come.  At present there are plans for the organisers to meet at SPEZI in April, meantime announcements will be made via the logical-vehicles forum.

Additionally, a group has been formed to continue with plans for a somewhat smaller tour, to take place this year.  Originally proposed by Carl Georg Rasmussen of Leitra and dubbed Plan B, more details, and the option to register, can be found at the original eurotour2013.com site.

EuroTour Plan B Draft Map

The tour is expected to take place over two weeks with two rest days and the intention is to start the tour in Leer, Germany, about a month after the HPV World Championships are held there.  The route will then take the velomobiles through a number of principal cities in the Netherlands followed by Belgium and a corner of France.  From there the proposed route will pass through Luxemborg and then follow the Mosel and Rhein rivers back to Leer.

A third plan has also been proposed, by organisers from Austria to incorporate a further small scale tour into their third summer velomobile gathering at Lake Constance (Bodensee).  Perhaps it might be appropriate to dub this additional alternative Plan C?

However these various plans develop, there looks to be plenty of positive velomobile promotional activity over the coming months.

EuroTour 2013 Cancelled – for now …

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8ada8b01a991faf3f98f4a7470382ef6_XLThe European sequel to ROAM, planned to take place this coming summer, has been cancelled.  Unlike the US event of 2011, which essentially involved one country and one language, the EuroTour planners have been faced with the challenge formed by: not only  a route crossing multiple countries, with diverse legal requirements; but also with language barriers, and a lack of on the ground volunteers to support the planning effort.  The sheer scale of the event, with the number of registered participants well over 100, has also added to the difficulties.

Sean Havins made the following announcement in the EuroTour forum:

It is the middle of January 2013 and we still do not have routes defined for Belgium, much of France or Switzerland. This makes it impossible to know many basic things that we must know to make the tour happen. It is too late.

Also, we must have help in France to register with the local districts if we are to ride together as a tour. Several ideas have been put forward to try and circumvent the French laws. I will not do this. Several ideas have been put forward to split the tour or skip France entirely. If this was the only major problem, I would consider one of these ideas and continue the tour.

To those of you who have invested your time in this tour; Thank you. I am sorry that your work will not be used for this year. I firmly believe that EuroTour WILL happen. When it does, your work will be of great value.

After volunteering to fill the  for the 2013 event Sean also announced that he would be stepping down from any organizing role for a possible 2014:

 When I first volunteered to lead the organization of the tour, I knew that I was not qualified. I assumed the role because at the time, I felt that someone had to. I hoped that someone more qualified would volunteer. Here is a link to my original post where I volunteered for this job.
http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showpost.php?p=849292&postcount=82

Since the tour is in Europe, it needs leadership who is familiar with the countries involved and can communicate well. I have never been to Europe and I only speak one language.

I am not a manager. I am a technician. The management skills that are needed for a project of this type do not come naturally to me. I had hoped I could learn by doing and become the manager this tour needed. I did not.

For these reasons, I must step down and hand control to someone more qualified. If no one volunteers to take the role of organizational leader, this tour will not happen.

It is my hope that someone will pick this up and make it happen in 2014. Much of the work has been done and much still needs doing. I believe this tour can happen and and that when it does, it will be wonderful.

I will continue to manage this forum as long as there is interest in the EuroTour or as long as the new organizers, whoever they are, want it to exist. If someone takes over the organizational role, and would like an internet presence and a place for files and calendars of the daily rides, I will happily help with that.

HPV_WMSo there is some prospect for a tour ride in 2014, if some capable organisers will step up to the plate.

But that is not all.  Based on comments in the forum, it also seems quite likely that a much reduced group may still attempt a 2013 tour on an ad-hoc basis.  The suggestion is to start immediately after the 2013 HPV World Championships which are to be held in Germany.  So … watch this space.