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A continental cycle to save soil
“A lot of things went wrong – and I mean alot! My bike did a somersault, my derailleur snapped off, three of my spokes broke…
“But we never really panicked. You just have to keep on going. if something goes wrong, something will probably also go right in your favour.”
Connor Ibbotson is reflecting on a 1000km cycle he undertook with school friends Kashyap and Kaustubh Karthik.
is needed now More than ever
The three 18-year-olds, all from Henleaze and Redland, are clearly buzzing from the trip which saw them cycling up to 150km – nearly 100 miles – a day across four countries, wild camping everywhere from the banks of the Rhine to allotments and city centre parks and – on one memorable day – surviving on salty rice and hummus.
Perhaps surprisingly, they did it all in the name of soil.
The trio in front of the carbon atom sculpture in Belgium – the Atomium was originally constructed as the centrepiece of the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair
Kashyap explains: “We’ve all been enthusiastic cyclists for years, and we wanted to do something ambitious with our time this summer. It was the perfect opportunity to raise awareness for a charity we work with in Bristol, Save Soil.
“We set our destination as Munich, with two weeks to get there and back in time for our A Level results.
“We didn’t really plan the route, an element of spontaneity made it more fun. We set off, not knowing what to expect at all. We all shaved our heads for the trip.”
Cue a long chat from the boys about the benefits of a buzz cut in hot weather – “For everything apart from looks, it’s so much better than regular hair…”
But, back on topic, what was it about soil that caught their attention?
“What really caught my eye was the fact that a fruit 100 years back would have eight times more nutritional value than one now. Eight oranges today have the same nutritional value as one back then. That’s just crazy to me,” says Kaustubh.
Kaustubh says he is “baffled” by the difference in nutritional value of fruit and veg today, compared to 100 years ago when the soil was so much healthier
“Soil has an impact everywhere,” says Kashyap. “Take the food crisis – in 20 years, 40 per cent less food is expected to be produced, for a population of over nine billion – that will lead to wars and famines.”
Climate change is another related issue, he continues: “There’s three times more carbon stored in soil than in living plants and animals. There’s just so much life in every bit of soil.
“We care about climate change a lot because our generation is going to have to deal with it. Also, we’re from India, we’ve seen farmers struggling. It’s their whole life, their family, everything depends on it. So it means a lot to us.”
Connor agrees: “In geography all we learnt about was desertification. The awareness around soil is just not there,” he says.
“My family watches the news a lot, and we hear about wildfires, climate change and carbon. But soil degradation is just not covered, even though it has such a key role in fighting climate change and feeding people. It’s massively important.”
The trio met up with Belgian Save Soil campaigners when they reached Brussels. The charity is the umbrella for a global movement of people that want to see policies to protect soil health
They made some special memories on the trip, to take with them into their next year when Connor heads off to university and Kashyap and Kaustubh continue working for Save Soil.
After arriving in France and pitching up in a wet, wintery Calais, they spent their first day cycling 120km to Bruges, followed by a 150km trek to Brussels the following day.
“We were a bit overambitious at the start, definitely. That was quite a tricky day. Our bums were hurting,” says Kashyap.
There they stayed overnight with Belgian campaigners for Save Soil, the global movement working to progress soil health policies.
The following day they crossed over to Germany, hitting Aachen and then Stuttgart, passing through a corner of the Netherlands on the way.
They discovered the joys of wild camping, pitching up wherever they felt at the end of each day.
The best memories were made after pitching up, eating and relaxing round the fire together at the end of each long day’s cycle
“At the start, we were making sure to find places where no one could see us, we were super covert. But by the end, any patch of grass in the middle of a city, or just any flat ground we could sleep was amazing,” laughs Connor.
“Our first night wild camping, having food and just watching the river, the boats – that was nice. That’s my chillest memory,” says Kaustubh.
Kashyap agrees: “Every time we finished cycling and pitched up and were sitting around eating and chatting – that was when life just peaked, because we’d really earned that dinner.
“We were in a random place in Europe – good friends, warm by the fire, and we didn’t have to worry about anything apart from where we were going the next day. It was perfect.”
As well as successfully raising awareness of the soils crisis, the trip was one to remember for the three school friends
The trio hope to continue to tackle the soils crisis.
“I just want people to be more aware, because being aware of a problem can help to solve it, right?” says Connor.
“I want people to understand how important soil is for us. It’s really good to know that what we’ve done has helped introduce people to the soil crisis.
“Once people are educated about it, they can start supporting Save Soil’s work and maybe even campaigning for politicians to include soil policies in their manifesto.”
All photos: Kashyap Karthik
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