The Otesha Project (Australia): Cycling for Sustainability

The Otesha Project (Australia), formerly known as Cycle for Sustainability (C4S), was founded in 2000 when an amazing team rode an epic 5000 km (over 5 months) tour, from Perth to Sydney. The idea was the brainchild of Karen McKenzie who was quickly swamped with the support of offers from other rad folks. So, a community fluctuating between 15 and 25 cyclists embarked on their first ever shared dream of riding across Australia to empower young people.

Dressed with inspiration and padded bike shorts the sustainabots set off on a mission to celebrate sustainable ways of living, sharing and gathering awareness of pressing environmental and community issues as they travelled. A key ingredient of their project was engaging with youth and the broader community on sustainability issues by performing The Lorax by Dr Seuss, and doing workshops in schools while touring. Other ingredients included fundraising for a diverse range of groups who were dedicated to solving, repairing, and avoiding environmental problems throughout Australian communities. It was with all these ingredients that they whipped up an amazing, inspiring, and driven sweet yummy jam filled sustainable treat for communities throughout Australia.

Movements are created...

A crew of the C4S team ventured down to Tasmania with Nick Towle and his Forest Cycle team for the last few weeks of their campaign. The amazing combination of these two tours planted the seeds for another cycle tour, and voila, Cycle for Sustainability ideas began.

Kevin Hamilton, who joined C4S Australia in 2000, was so inspired by the journey he went back to his homeland of Canada to organise Cycling for Sustainability Canada 2002, an epic cycle tour for 4 ½ months across Canada. Cycle for Old Growth Forests 2002 was reignited again by Sean Marler after his ride with C4S and in 2002 they rode from Brisbane to Hobart over 4 ½ months.

Keep on rollin in 2004...

It wasn't long before another tour was sparked in 2004 by Nick Towle with the support of a funky rad crew of individuals will to help plan this epic journey. It was during this time that Nick first discovered The Otesha Project, in Canada, which provided him with some ideas and inspiration along the way. As our name might indicate we exist in an international grassroots network of inspired, funky, energetic, and passionate youth that want to make change in our world.

It was with the amazing relationship of the Sustainable Living Foundation, based in the heart of the Australian sustainability movement in Melbourne, we were able to pull off an epic journey from Brisbane to Hobart riding almost 5000 KM's in over 5 crazy months in 2005. Another movement was born the following year that road in 2006 from Sydney to Hobart over 4 1/2 months that travelled 3300 KM's in total (holy calf muscles batman!). Both crews performed the An Hour of Choices skit and conducted workshops to secondary school students empowering change along the way. WOOT WOOT!

In total the 2005/2006 crew reached out to over 60 schools, and performed to over 7000 students plus countless parents and teachers along the way.

We are truly inspired, charged, flying off organic fair-trade coffee, and generally stoked about our future tours and empowerment. It is with this evolution that we are now The Otesha Project (Australia), and with wonderful, energetic, passionate, inspiring, and knowledgeable people throughout our history that makes us what we are today. So for that we thank you...

now it's your turn to help us shape what we are!

- The Otesha (OZ) Crew