The more kilometers you pedal, the more trees you contribute to planting. This is the basic idea behind the original initiative Green Fondo Cicloappennina promoted by Misura, Legambiente, and Viviappennino.
The Green Fondo Cicloappennina will take place on June 18th on the Ciclovia dell’Appennino, the cycle path that Clorofilla helped equip with 44 Clorofilla Power charging stations along the Apennine ridge from Liguria to Sicily, one for each town crossed.
The chosen location for the start and finish is L’Aquila, a city that has managed to rebuild its beauty after the 2009 earthquake under the sign of sustainability.
The cycling event is organized by RCS Sport and Events and passes through some of the most beautiful locations in the Abruzzo Apennines: San Demetrio ne’ Vestini, Caporciano, Bominaco, Fagnano Alto and Villa Sant’Angelo.
The two proposed loop routes, 40 and 70 kilometers long, wind through the Navelli plain and the Subequana Valley, touching three different natural parks: Gran Sasso, Sirente Velino, and Maiella. The non-competitive initiative is open to all types of bicycles, traditional and electric-assisted.
Each participant will receive a race pack with Misura products and a personalized water bottle, along with cardboard leaves that should be placed in designated containers along the route. Each leaf corresponds to a number of trees that will be planted in Italy. The more kilometers are covered by more people, the higher the number of trees planted.
These trees will become nurseries for the species needed to repopulate our forests. Past reforestation projects have often faced a lack of tree species suitable for our latitudes. Therefore, the objective of these nurseries will be to increase the richness and biodiversity of the available tree heritage in Italy, respecting the specific characteristics of the territory.
The Green Fondo Cicloappennina is just the latest in a series of initiatives implemented by the Colussi-Misura group to promote the Ciclovia dell’Appennino, currently the longest in Italy with its 3,100 kilometers of route spanning 16 regions.
Adding value to this unique project in Italy is also the presence of rest areas that host the Clorofilla charging stations. Here, cyclists have the opportunity to rest, recharge the batteries of electric bikes, make minor adjustments or repairs, and obtain informations about the area they are in and the route they are following, thanks to the accurate signage provided.
Recently, the cycle path has also been equipped with an app available for iOS and Android, which guides cyclists in discovering the beauties of the territory.
The initiative will be supported by sports figures Marta Bassino and Omar Di Felice, DJ Francesco Frank Lotta, journalist and writer Ludovica Casellati, and cycle-traveler and blogger Pietro Franzese. The ambitious reforestation project will be supported by Veneto Agricoltura, the Botanical Garden of the University of Rome La Sapienza, and the germplasm bank of the Maiella Park.
The latter will provide some rare plants native to the L’Aquila area, which will be planted the day before the Green Fondo Cicloappennina in the inaugural ceremony of the initiative.
For all information about the Green Fondo and to register, please visit the website cicloappenninamisura.it.
To discover the route of the Ciclovia dell’Appennino and download the app, visit appenninobiketour.com.
