Saturday morning, time for the final push. It is only 25km into Bonn and the map shows a maze of cycle routes and they are well signed.
On the balcony of our attic apartment there is a view of the Eifel hills that we avoided in the far distance, but in the closer distance three Autobahns with cars speeding nose to tail.
We have been in touch with various other cycling groups and there is a mass ride today from Cologne to Bonn. The plan had been to go on the autobahn but this has been stopped and police are having to guard all the entrances. We aim to intercept the ride half way down and join them for the run in to Paris.
Setting off in the fresh but fine morning we stop for coffee after a mere 13km at Bornheim. We’ve been equipped with a cool app that shows the location of the other cyclists so we can come together. Reaching the main road we can see the main mass is just leaving Cologne and others converging from all directions. We decide to ride North to meet them. The road is strangely quiet.
Now let pictures tell the story…
Over 2200 cyclists of all ages, many wearing red to symbolise the red line of +1.5 degrees. The ride entered Bonn and merged with 25000 people marching – might sound small to some, but massive for a small city like Bonn.
Thus we arrived as part of a crowd of activists from all corners of the world joining with local people to make a statement – SYSTEM CHANGE, NOT CLIMATE CHANGE.
Another 40km to add to the total bringing the final tally to a gnat’s whisker over 600km in 6 days.