Couple ‘draw’ 7,237 kilometre bicycle in name of climate change
<p dir="ltr">A couple has taken a stand against climate change that can be seen from the skies, having cycled more than 7,000 kilometres to create the image of a bike to encourage others to ditch their cars.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2924358c-7fff-a56b-b348-0a24954f55ca">UK-based couple Arianna Casiraghi and Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope first took it upon themselves to “draw” a 956-kilometre-wide bicycle across Europe in 2019, telling the <em>Guardian </em>they did it to “draw attention to the scale of climate breakdown” and get others to think about choosing bikes over cars for shorter trips.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr">Though a pandemic, injuries, and poor weather made their short trip anything but, the Italian-British duo eventually finished the task.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After quitting their jobs in 2019 to start the ride, Casiraghi suffered a knee injury that put a hold on their journey until November, when the cold and rain made it so miserable they had to stop again.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Plans to restart the ride in March 2020 were derailed, but Casiraghi said finishing what they had started was both for a sense of accomplishment and so they didn’t let down the people who had been following their progress.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Their trip, which totalled 131 days of cycling, finally came to an end on August 15 and the couple took to Instagram to share the news.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We have completed our gps-trace drawing! And what a drawing it is!” they wrote.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We cycled 7237 km through 7 countries to draw our massive bicycle and hopefully encourage one or two people to use their bike instead of the car.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The pair revealed they had also beaten several records, including the Guinness World Record for the largest GPS drawing, the unofficial record for the largest one completed by a bicycle, and “we have definitely drawn the biggest bicycle ever!”</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-59646a05-7fff-caea-4913-328d6ab06308"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">As if their feat wasn’t impressive enough, the duo also took their Italian water dog, Zola, along for the ride, using custom-built bikes that had a compartment for the pooch to sit in whenever she wasn’t running alongside.</p>
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<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CeWkHS1s06U/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Arianna🇮🇹 - Daniel🇬🇧 - Zola🐶🇫🇮 (@bicycleswillsavetheworld_)</a></p>
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<p dir="ltr">"We tried to go on small roads where possible, or off-road, so Zola could walk a bit," Rayneau-Kirkhope said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The planning of their drawing was also a complex task, with their first draft route taking them directly through Charles de Gaulle Airport.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Reflecting on their trip, the couple said Casiraghi’s injury proved to be “really quite demoralising”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"We had to stop travelling in order to rest and undertake dedicated</p>
<p dir="ltr">physiotherapy sessions, which unfortunately meant that our project got delayed," they said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But, people’s reactions to their journey far outshone the harder moments.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"The highlight of the trip has been the incredible support that we have received from</p>
<p dir="ltr">people along the road," they said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"Without them, cycling through the cold and rainy winter months would simply not have been possible with our tight budget.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"We still are amazed about how open-minded and selfless people can be."</p>
<p dir="ltr">As for what’s next, the pair said they would be heading home for a rest before hitting the pedals again - though their next trip won’t be so artistic.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"Now, we will go home and rest before going for another cycling trip," they said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"No drawing, just pedalling in whichever direction we bloody well please!"</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-81fc3562-7fff-e4d9-0b25-1e07cd6bb981"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @bicycleswilsavetheworld_ (Instagram)</em></p>
