The “Factor” foundation in cooperation with Drag Bicycles organized the first amateur cycle marathon - tour of Bulgaria, which ends today, 4th of May. The event was to promote the bicycle as a vehicle to travel safely in populated areas and certainly achieve it.
Here’s how it went on:
A total of 30 people participated in the entire tour of Bulgaria - 33 days.
It passed through 28 regional centers.
The total distance of the marathon is more than 3000 km.
Over 1,000 people took part in its stages.
Cyclists from South Africa, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Switzerland, Greece and Ukraine took part in the tour.

On 4thof May, Wednesday, the tour goes to the final stage:
Kyustendil>Yabalkovo>Konyavo>Tsurvenyano>Dragomirovo>Radomir>Pernik>Vladaya>blvd. Tsar Boris 3> Russian Monument> NPC

At 17:00 you can join the group in Vladaya that will go on and pass through the bicycle lane on “Tsar Boris III”. From Russian Monument Square the marathon will continue with police escort to the NPC. Planned arrival is 17:30. An hour later will be held a presentation entitled “Safe Cycling” in the Aula of Sofia University.

All participants enjoyed the hospitality of the municipalities and local citizens, that were hosting the cycle marathon. The benefits of the bicycle lanes and the cyclingwerepresented to the public. Cycling enthusiasts also discussed with local and regional authorities the need of:
∙ Building new and doing maintenance of already established bike trails, cycling tracks and cycling sectors in Bulgaria. National strategy for building a national network of bicycle paths;
∙ Establishing standards in cycle infrastructure building, construction and road markings;
∙ Creation of European cycling tourist corridor in Bulgaria - “EuroCycle”;
∙ Road marking of existing recently constructed roads and bike paths.

Participants shared the idea for the future when people will live in a better environment: clean, quiet, with clean air, less stress, better health and more positive emotions. And this is possible by massive use of bicycles as a transport and the availability of infrastructure, ensuring the safety of this movement is needed.
The event was organized by the support of the Ministry of Environment and Water, “Nestle Bulgaria”, “Master Tsvetko” - meat products manufacturer, “Balev Organic Market” - trade in organic food, “Mazda Bulgaria”, mineral water “Bankya”, “Drag”bicycles, 30 municipalities and many NGOs. For the time of the cycle marathon they provided the participants with 500 kg of meat, 1,200 kg.of pastries and organic energy foods and 2,000 liters of mineral water.

Chairman of the “Factor” foundation and one of the organizers of the event is travellerVyacheslavStoyanov. He became famous for his bicycle tours of the Black Sea and the coast of Greece in 2009 and tour around the Mediterranean Sea in 2010.ViatcheslavStoyanovmade these cycle marathons to populate the need of the collection and recycling of waste dumped in landfills along roads, river banks, rivers and beaches (for more information: http://vyacheslavstoyanov.com/). Detailed plan of the tour can be found at the site of the “Factor” (http://www.factor-foundation.org/)