This article was written by Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Master’s students Clemens Friese and Leonard Brütting.
A Bike Adventure from Berlin to Oslo
How it all began
On 19 August, we, a group of students from ESCP Berlin campus’ Specialised Master's programme in Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Innovation, will embark on a 1,200 km bike tour from Berlin to Oslo. As part of our Master's programme, we will be going on a study trip to Oslo in the first week of September. There we will spend a week learning about the Nordic way of life and how society can reconnect with nature.
But why only start during the seminar? Why not use the trip there as an opportunity to reflect and live life more in harmony with nature?
That is why we came up with the idea of not travelling the route by plane, but by bike under our own steam, equipped with tents and everything you need for camping. This ambitious idea quickly turned into concrete planning.
Why take a bike?
One of the advantages of travelling by bike is that you travel slowly, allowing you to take in your surroundings. You also have the opportunity to stop off at places you like. In our case, this could be the Swedish city of Gothenburg or the wild beaches in Sweden. Sounds great, doesn't it? Furthermore, with bikepacking it's also easier to connect with locals when you're off the beaten track.
Cycling is also very healthy and offers a good balance to working on a laptop, which we as students do not often have. It has been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and obesity. And unlike travelling by plane or bus, cycling produces no emissions! Bikepacking is therefore sustainable both for us and for nature and offers us a great opportunity to socialise more closely with other students and experience adventures together.
Our 1196km adventure
Starting in Berlin we will head straight up north through the beautiful Mecklenburg Lake Plateau. A quick dip to cool off on the hot summer days will never be far. In Rostock we will take a short ferry ride to Gedser, Denmark, leaving Germany behind. Here we will mainly follow the coastline until we reach Copenhagen. At around 500km into the tour, this will be our first rest day to shake out our legs and enjoy the city. Heading further north we will take a tiny ferry to enter our 3rd country: Sweden. Again following the coastline we are hoping for some great views but also prepare for some strong headwinds. Most of the time, we will follow the EuroVelo bike paths, a network of European-wide bike paths that is constantly expanding.
Gothenburg will mark the 850km mark and our second rest and tourist day. For the last stage we will zig-zag the fragmented coastline until, at kilometer 1130, we cross our third and final border into Oslo. After 12 days of riding, 1196km, 5000m in elevation, and 2 rest days we expect to reach Oslo. We are going to average around 100km a day. Both in Sweden and Norway, wild camping is legal and Denmark has many free shelters along the way. The northern states of Germany also allow for single night camping when travelling non-motorised (no e-bike cheating). We will also bring cooking equipment, turning us into a rolling hotel.
On the way back, we will take the bus and train to avoid flying and minimise the hastle of transporting ourbikes in order to be back in Berlin for the start of classes on 10 September.
Who exactly is going?
We are a group of 6 people: Leiming Tu, Emma Warter, Clemens Friese and Leonard Brütting from the Master in Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Innovation, as well as Tim Krist from the Master in Sustainability Management and a friend of ours who wanted to tag along for the experience.
When discussing the study trip we jokingly suggested going by bike which quickly turned into reality. We never expected so many people to be interested in this trip.
We went on a few multi-day bike trips before, but this will be the longest so far and we are stoked about it!
A big thanks to ESCP Berlin Campus for supporting our idea and helping us to inspire others to travel sustainably and enhance their health and well-being! To stay updated and follow our adventure to Oslo, be sure to follow the ESCP Berlin Instagram accounts.
About the author
Clemens Friese
Leonard Brütting
Leiming Tu, Emma Warter, Clemens Friese, and Leonard Brütting are in the Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Innovation Master's programme at ESCP’s Berlin Campus. Clemens has an International Business degree from University Maastricht, and Leonard has a Business Administration degree from University Münster.
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