About: Silvia

A growing phenomenon for several years, bicycle-related tourism has literally exploded after the pandemic, with many people rediscovering a different form of travel—one more connected to experiences and emotions than to the “consumption” of destinations and offers.

From the bikepacker setting off from home on their bike to the tourist choosing two wheels for a day trip, there are many forms of bike travel that contribute to the overall impact of cycle tourism in Italy.

According to the report by ISNART, carried out in collaboration with Unioncamere and Legambiente, in 2022, there were 33 million overnight stays linked to cycle tourism in Italy, accounting for 4% of the country’s tourism, with an economic impact of 4.1 billion euros.

To strengthen and retain this flow of tourists and extend it to areas that are still lagging behind in this regard, it is important to work on multiple fronts, from infrastructure to the culture of hospitality and operator training. Services catering to cyclists are also crucial, as cyclists tend to choose facilities and operators capable of providing extra attention to those who opt for cycling.

For an establishment located near a road frequented by cyclists, a cycle path, or a destination particularly sought after by cyclists, there are many measures that can change the perception and make it more attractive to cyclists deciding where to turn. Having adequate space for bicycle parking or storage, for example, is essential.

For cycle tourists, the bike is the means upon which the success of the journey depends, often an expensive mode of transportation equipped with carefully selected accessories and equipment. Leaving it in an open basement or, worse, not having a place to park during lunch break is a reason for not choosing a hotel or a restaurant. On the other hand, additional amenities such as providing tools for quick repairs, an air pump, or a charging station for electric bikes are reasons to choose to stop there.

Foto: Riccione Piadina

Being prepared and well-equipped makes the cyclist feel anticipated and welcome, and this makes a difference. The experience they take home, share on social media, and talk about, generating word-of-mouth, which is beneficial for the cycle tourism movement, depends more on the hospitality than the location. In Romagna, a flourishing tourism industry has been built on this principle, making hospitality and services the flagship of a coast that may not boast the most beautiful sea in Italy.

In Romagna, experiences of hotels that have been working with cycle tourism for years demonstrate the enormous potential of this sector. However, these are isolated experiences of those who have understood the importance of a certain level of care for cyclist customers. This means that there is still much to be done, but also that, for those who seize the opportunity, the future looks promising.

Clorofilla firmly believes in a tourism that has a lesser impact on the environment, capable of moving people and helping them understand the beauty of traveling by bike and discovering the gentle rhythm of cycling. This is how traveling becomes a form of education. We, too, are cycle tourists, and we stand alongside those who believe in hospitality that cares for people’s well-being and the idea of giving meaning to the journey. As always, the bike is a powerful tool. We empower people to use it to make the world a better place.

Happy summer and happy holidays to everyone from Clorofilla.

Clorofilla returns to Eurobike. After the success of its participation in 2019, just a few months after its debut on the market, Clorofilla returns to Eurobike in the new location of Frankfurt-am-Main.

Eurobike is the most important fair in Europe for the “bike” sector, involving not only bike industry operators but also entities from the political, financial, and social world. Today, it presents itself as a meeting place capable of generating new alliances that give rise to innovative business and mobility solutions, with the bike at the center of all activities.

Eurobike is currently positioned in the transition that bicycles are undergoing, from being a tool for sports and leisure to becoming the foundation of sustainable mobility in the future. It is a context in which Clorofilla naturally fits as a manufacturer of tools designed to support the transition towards a more bike-friendly world.

The event will take place from June 21st to 25th. The first three days will be reserved for industry professionals, while the last two days will be open to the public with a “festival” format dedicated to bicycles.

Already in 2022, a record-breaking edition that reflected the enormous growth of the bike universe in recent years, the presence of e-bikes and everything revolving around them clearly indicated the direction of development for two-wheeled mobility.

That’s why Clorofilla has chosen to participate with all the new products released on the market in the last two years, from the Savana line to the Sequoia bike lifter.

Participating in industry trade fairs in the last two years has proven to be particularly beneficial for Clorofilla. For many, the service provided by assistance and charging stations is still a novelty. Making the potential of these services visible to end users and professionals helps spread awareness and increase their usage.

For those who would like to visit us, you can find Clorofilla in Hall 80, booth J22.

Competitive sports have always been a driving force of interest capable of captivating ordinary people with the bicycle. The professionals who, with talent and hard work, battle it out on the race tracks to offer a show of technique and adrenaline are a source of inspiration to sustain and preserve. That’s why it’s important for Clorofilla to contribute, even with small gestures, to support athletes and competitive sports and why you will find Clorofilla at Mtb World Cup events.

The month of June opened with the presence of Clorofilla at Mtb World Cup of Enduro EDR and e-EDR in Pietra Ligure, where some Clorofilla Power charging stations and Liana bike racks were made available to riders during the race days in partnership with the Finale Outdoor Region consortium.

A few days later, Clorofilla began its support for the UCI downhill team Rogue Racing, which has been sponsored now for several years. During the stages of the Lenzerheide (SUI) and Valdisole (IT) World Cup, Clorofilla provides the team with three Sequoia bike lifters to facilitate the constant refinement work on the bikes of the riders competing in the race.

 

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Un post condiviso da Clorofilla 🚲🔧🔌 (@clorofilla_bike)

With a long career as a competitor behind him, the founder of Clorofilla, Lorenzo Buratti, has always believed in the educational value of sports. It is understood primarily as passion and fun, but also as personal commitment and discipline.

Seeing young people so seriously engaged in working towards what starts as a simple passion is becoming increasingly rare, and that is why every year we try our best to be there to help the teams and put the athletes in the best possible conditions.

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.

On March 9th, the CIE Summit, annual assembly of the Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) association, which brings together the cycling industries in Europe, was held in Brussels.

CIE is a young association that was born a few years ago and complements the historic Conebi (Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry), founded in 1960. It aims to represent the voice of the cycling business in Europe and around the world.

Industry and politics move in the same direction at CIE Summit

Unlike other similar organizations, CIE has a cross-cutting vision of the bicycle as a catalyst for different types of activities that go beyond the production of bicycles and components, to encompass infrastructure and services related to cycling, cycle tourism, intermodal transportation, and more.
This service-oriented vision of the bicycle was at the center of the March 9th CIE summit, which saw the participation of Clorofilla’s management.

Clorofilla is finalizing its membership in CIE, which will allow the young Cesena-based brand to connect with international partners to provide products and expertise for services that are increasingly suitable for cyclists.
Cyclists are predicted to be the real protagonists in the coming years, as evidenced by the recent approval by the European Parliament of a resolution defining a Cycling Strategy for Europe, which aims to double the use of bicycles in Europe by 2030.

The CIE Summit was opened by the authoritative voice of the Vice-President of the European Union, Frans Timmermans, alongside the European Parliament member Karima Delli, responsible for the Cycling Strategy resolution, and Vice-Premier and Minister of Transport of Belgium, Georges Gilkinet.
Their speeches on behalf of the EU and member countries were very clear in defining a common direction for European policies in the coming years.

A long-sighted view from the EU

Timmermans emphasized the need to have a forward-looking perspective, quoting Dutch author Diana Vreeland:
“To stay balanced, you must move forward. You must have an unshakable faith in your bike.You must keep your eyes on the goal.”
He also noted that “the bicycle is finally recognized as a means of transport in its own right and will be the only one capable of allowing Europe to meet the commitments of the Green Deal with the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, the improvement of air quality, and so on.”

In addition to the environmental benefits, the bicycle will also have a significant social impact, with the creation of new jobs (one million expected by 2030), the decongestion of cities, and the impact on people’s health, economic savings for citizens and the planet, and more.

Timmermans observed that the mentality of younger generations is ready to embrace this change, and that the bicycle has become the fastest means of transportation for daily commutes, particularly in cities like Brussels.
However, there is still much to be done to make cycling safer, starting with the realisation of infrastructures and implementation of services.

Frans Timmermans has announced the approval of a European Cycling Declaration

In his speech at the CIE Summit, Timmermans added an important piece to the policies supporting the cycling sector, anticipating the approval in the coming months of a European Cycling Declaration.

The document will contain the principles and objectives of the changes that will need to be made in the coming years, as well as the details of the actions and tools that Europe, and consequently the Member States, will implement to achieve these goals. This includes concrete financing methods and defining the proportions of interventions to be implemented, such as doubling the available cycling infrastructure.

Schools, shopping centers, and private buildings will, for example, need to include bicycle services, and the Declaration will ensure that wherever it is possible to introduce a strategy to promote cycling, it will be done.

Timmermans didn’t hide a forecoming sesason of discomfort for everyone as an inevitable consequence of a great change in our habits. In this regard his speech at CIE Summit sounded like a call to action for everyone.

Karima Delli: no more chitchat but concrete actions

French European deputy Karima Delli reiterated the importance of the bicycle as a means of transportation and stated that we have entered a historical moment in which we can no longer afford to waste time on discussions but must act quickly for change.

With a pragmatic view of the issue, she emphasized how environmental and social issues go hand in hand with economic issues, as in the future it will be increasingly important to convert jobs to sustainable and growing sectors.
Her motto was: “When it’s good for the climate it’s good for the job.”

The intervention of Belgian Vice-Premier and Minister of Transport Georges Gilkinet followed closely, for whom the bicycle is “the fastest way to happiness” and the best way to connect with the world.

As a passionate cyclist, Gilkinet has provenhow the approach to cycling can change and can acquire relevance and importance at various levels.
In Belgium, Gilkinet has transformed cycling into a federal competency, exactly as it happens for means of transportation such as trains and planes, through the BE Cyclist project.

The project is the result of work carried out in close contact with other ministries (economy, justice, etc.) that will allow many more people to cycle in Belgium thanks to concrete measures.
These include, for example, kilometre incentives for bike-to-work granted at the state level, more bike spaces available on all trains, and harsher penalties for bike theft.

These concrete actions, previously only implemented locally, must be transformed into regional and then federal initiatives through what Gilkinet has defined as the European Bike Revolution.

The goal according to Kevin Mayne is to create a European cycling ecosystem

“Business as usual will not create a sustainable, safe, and reliable European mobility ecosystem. We have demonstrated that cycling can double, and we have more potential to create jobs than any other mobility sector,” said Kevin Mayne, CEO of Cycling Industries Europe, in his powerful statement following Minister Gilkinet’s speech.

Mayne recognized the importance of political interventions as a crucial milestone and necessary endorsement for the cycling industry, which is now called upon to produce the expected result.
According to Mayne, we are no longer at the point where politicians recognize the importance of cycling but postpone addressing it because of more urgent issues.
The bike has finally become a priority for them too.

This idea must be spread as the goal is to bring more people on bikes, more women, more seniors, more children, providing more parking, more bike paths and more bicycles. Bikes must become cheaper, including electric ones, which will allow more people to access the use of two wheels.

For Mayne, the path ahead is still to be traveled, but the goal must be to create a European cycling ecosystem. It is a “hard, difficult, and significant” task, deserving dedication and conviction.

Such an inspiring speech by @MayneKevin from @Cycling_Ind_EU to kick off our second panel of the day, dedicated to the #EuropeanCyclingStrategy 🚲🚲🚲#CIE2023Summit brings the heat! 🔥🍃 https://t.co/aO41sLgx8s pic.twitter.com/rYJ4UFC0yQ

— POLIS (@POLISnetwork) March 9, 2023

A world of connected and sustainable services

The rest of the day at CIE Summit confirmed the maturity of the cycling system in Europe, with the intervention of numerous members who defined a unitary vision in which the concepts of connectivity, sustainability, and trust prevail.

According to Anna Buchmann of Noca Mobility, we are going through an exciting moment where we have moved from a general intent of collaboration to a clear vision of how this collaboration can be expressed in the exchange of data and information among companies.
She also observed how sustainability issues must be addressed in detail, without hiding behind the nature of the bike as a green object.
Supply chains must be verified, suppliers must be verified, materials must be verified, and everything that can guarantee a healthy and transparent industry.

Raymond Gente of the PON group reiterated the importance of seizing the moment to demonstrate the reliability of the industrial system and confirm its ability to interact with political forces to produce the expected results.
The convergence of economic and political visions is, in fact, of fundamental importance, but there is still a problem of trust, so the industry must be able to justify the investment of the political part in the cycling world.

Collaboration and development

The impression taken from the CIE Summit on March 9th is undoubtedly that of a decisive moment for the world of cycling.
In a few years, it will be evident whether the desired turning point by politics and economic actors will be really possible.

Our feeling is that the levels of trust and competence are high, and above all, there is a (rare) sense of collaboration among different entities working towards a common goal, also thanks to the work of the CIE.

Clorofilla also understands the importance of this networking that fits into the perspective of a different economic growth not only looking to immediate profit but considering the social role that each operator plays in the current context.
This has always been the philosophy of Buratti Meccanica, and with the intervention in a strategic sector for change such as cycling through its Clorofilla brand, the company aims to make it at the heart of its mission.

In 2023 Clorofilla joins Euromobility, the Italian Association of Mobility Managers.
Standing besides firms and public administrations already activre in the field of sustainaible mobility, Clorofilla puts its experience to the service of a more bike-friendly country.

Who are mobility managers

The so-called “Decreto rilancio” (“Restart Decree”) of 2020 (Law 17th July 2020, n. 77) introduced the obligation for all private and public subjects having more than 100 emlployees and situated in cities with more than  50.000 inhabitants to adopt an home-work commuting plan.
This plan aims to define a strategy to facilitate the commuting of personnel and avoid urban traffic congestion.

Therefore a mobility manager has to be designated with competences useful in contributing to the decisional process, the programming, definition and realisation of the commuting plan.
It is thus clear that the figures of mobility managers will be more and more requested and present in the working field, as more and more competences about sustainable mobility will be more and more necessary.
Euromobility Association is involved in training on these themes since its constitution in 2000, when the mobility manager was defined by the law but not yet mandatory a role.
IN 2011 it was designated by the Ministry of Environment and Safeguard of Territory and Sea as the National Focal Point for Italy in EPOMM – European Platform on Mobility Management.

What does Euromobility do? 

Today the Association takes care of the relationships around sustainable mobility with the national and international institutions, by promoting meetings, events, symposiums and projects of awareness and education in schools, such as Annibale, il Serpente Sostenibile.
It also gives courses and workshops on themes such as mobility management, quality of air, cycling mobility etc.
Every year it organises two conferences on mobility, MobyDixit and the national conference on PUMS for planning urban mobility and in particular on Sustainable Mobility Urban Plans.

It supports private firms and public administrations in the redaction of home-work commuting planes and for the introduction of sustainable mobility services.
It realizes surveys and campaigns of monitoring to estimate the impact of sustainable mobility on the quality of the environment and it gives technical and scientific support to research in the field and manages two observatories, PUMS and Osservatorio 50 Città.

Why Clorofilla enters Euromobility

By joining the Association Clorofilla aims to contribute with its know-how and its products to the diffusion of a culture of sustainable mobility involving both private and public actors at large.
Moreover, by signing a convention with Euromobility, Clorofilla makes cheaper and immediate the purchase of products that can be useful to implement areas and services dedicated to cycling.
Furthermore, the participation of Clorofilla team to the events and seminars organised by Euromobility will make us more capable of fulfilling the needs of users and to develop a deeper knowledge of problems linked to sustainable mobility that could be useful both in consulting activities and in developing new and more adequate solutions.

On the first days of December, taking advantage of some festive days, some of Clorofilla staff’s members decided to experiment a new way of travelling.
Long holiday weekends always put us in front of a dilemma.
Staying home and renounce to explore our beautiful land with its many treasures or get in the car and contribuite to clogging highways, worsening the air quality for everyone and getting higher stress levels for all those who are simply willing to get away from everyday routine and relax?

The solution already exists and we have it and it’s as handy as simply riding a bike, thus getting around the obstacle and contributing to a new, slow mobility. Without renouncing to the things we love, in fact adding something more to our travel experience, we can take part in changing things. For three days, far away from traffic and chaos, we rode on the Rotta del Sale (Route of Salt) bike trail, the cycling path that goes from Cervia to Venice. The gpx files of the route can be downloaded on the website  rottadelsalebiketrail.it , where you can also find many informations abouts the services on the route and useful travel tips.

We documented our adventure in a short reportage that marks the beginning of a new series of videos through which we would like to share our passion for riding, our vision about the future and how we can have a part in shaping a new mobility.
Enjoy.

With a recently signed agreement officialized during the annual plenary assembly held on December 1st, Clorofilla becomes sponsor of  Finale Outdoor Region (FOR)  for 2023 together with Bosch, as main sponsor, Ship to cycle e Futurenergy.
Finale Outdoor Region is a private consortium of the hospitality, food & beverage, beach and outdoor operators in the Finalese area with the aim to promote, safeguard and enhance the territory starting right from the outdoor activities that have made Finale Ligure an important brand throughout the world.

The owner Lorenzo Buratti on stage with Enrico Guala during the presentation to FOR Consortium

The presence of Clorofilla in Finale Ligure is the result of human relationships that were born before professional ones. Relationships that have created in the many years during which we have been visiting this territory as passionate bikers, thus falling in love with its territory and testifying its evolution.
The huge effort displayed by FOR Consortium is born from a group of long-sighted people who thirty years ago have bet on the potential of the  outdoor activities, and in particular on mtb and e-mtb world as a flywheel for the growth of all the territory.

The exceptional numbers presented during the annual assembly of the consortium testify how good their vision was. A vision that  has made Finale Ligure one of the most craved destinations for bikers all over the world, with several other realities looking at it as an example of good practices and innovative ideas for sports tourism.
Clorofilla  recognizes itself in the values behind this vision that sees the presence of cyclists on the territory as a reason of sustainable growth, safeguard and enhancing, not of exploiting.

The sponsor agreement provides visibility to Clorofilla through the several communication channels activated by FOR, beyond a direct relationship with the members of the consortium.
The sponsorship also comes through the installation of Clorofilla  Power station and a  Liana rack  in the Outdoor Base of Finale Ligure.

Outdoor Base info point in Finale Ligure is an essential referee for all the riders

Info point and starting point for the bike shuttle and tours on the trails, the Outdoor Base is a mandatory stop for the many bikers in the region, who can thus take advantage of the services provided by Clorofilla.
In spring 2023 a second info point will be open in Pietra Ligure, where a wide trail area especially designed for e-bikes is being developed. The Outdoor Base of Pietra too will be furnished with a Clorofilla recharge and repair station and bike rack accessible to all riders for free.

Spreading the bicycle culture comes also from being able to narrate cycling, to bring it among the people, through its hybridization with what apparently does not relate to it, in the least expected places and ways.

Here is why Clorofilla, together with other realities of the territory such as Oli e-bike systems, Alba 87 gin , Valle Savio Bike Hub  and Cantina Braschi chose to participate as a partner to an initiative organized by the friends from A.S.D. Cicli Neri  with the support from comune di Cesena to bring to town “Cane vecchio sa-und”.

The poster of the event of December 1st in in Cesena

But what is “Cane vecchio sa-und”? It is the name of a “cycle-musical” project conceived by Luca Gregorio e Riccardo Magrini, whose voices are well known to bike lovers since together with they are the ones commentating all the main cycling events for Eurosport Italia together with Moreno Moser.
However only a few know know that “Greg” e “Il Magro” are also passionate musicians, who have devoted their voices and their guitar (Luca Gregorio) to the public between anecdotes and cycling curiosities, in an informal and funny question and answer.

Riccardo Magrini and Luca Gregorio

Clorofilla was present with its products which have been used to set up the exhibition of bikes and historical jerseys displayed from 6:30 p.m. that has served as the right scenography for the aperitif organized by Chiosko Savelli, while the music has been the protagonist of the dinner held at the adjacent restaurant Piza from 8 p.m. in genuine regional Romagna style that has put together not only cycling and music but also great food and wine.

The available places have gone sold out in a few hours from the opening of the reservations, testifying the interest of our more and more bike-friendly territory in  all the initiatives gravitating around the cycling world, especially if they are able to connect different experiences to open the doors even to non-cyclists to attract them in the orbit of the bicycle as an instrument of good health, well-being and fun within everyone’s reach.

Just right at the Savelli Gardens a Clorofilla Power station will soon be installed by the municipality of Cesena for the mechanical assistance and the recharge of ebikes at the service of the many urban cyclists passing by this welcoming place in the city every day.

Our expo season has closed last week with our first attending as exhibitors to the renewable energies expo Key Energy together with Ecomondo from 8^th to 11^th November.

An edition that has seen the participation of 1.400 exhibitors who attracted 600 buyers and 41% more visitors than the previous edition in 2021, with people from 90 countries, as officially stated by Italian Exhibition Group at the conclusion of the event.

A great confirmation for Clorofilla too: thanks to the capability of our products of putting together functionality, simplicity of use, reliability and a particularly recognizable design, many contacts and interlocutions have had place during the expo days at our stand, both with public administrations and private subjects, from Italy and foreign countries who first discovered our brand.

Amongst top level specialized technologies, Clorofilla was able to share its part of visibility right because of the immediacy of the concepts at the core of the service offered by our stations. The interest from a sector that deals with energetic development and sustainability shows us a clear path that not only touches the “bicycle” world but more in general all the subjects involved in what we hope will become a true revolution towards a mobility human-shaped.

Recharged by the positive energy of an event where we could feel the pulse of a field in full expansion and participate to meetings and formation with corporations and authorities leading the energetic development in Europe, we go back to work following up the many requests received which will open new growing spaces for us renewing our energies for the development of brand new projects for 2023.