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Spotlight |
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Odysseas: Cyclist and Social Activist |
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Odysseas Savopoulos, who runs a bike station in Rethymnon, is a man who is impossible to pigeonhole. He is a cycling champion, social activist and international peace messenger. He is a tour guide and wildlife enthusiast, passionate about natural Crete. He is a youth worker, organizing a variety of cycling events for children and teenagers. He is a volunteer, using his passion for cycling as a way of integrating people with disabilities into the community. And, oh, yes, he also happens to be an amputee. CMB caught up with him at his place on the Beach Road in Rethymnon. Over Mexican beer and Albanian raki we talked about some of the issues that are close to his heart. Background Cycling, one of the sports that Odysseas had enjoyed before his accident, seemed to be the way forward. However, he soon discovered that there was very little in place in terms of resources and social support for the amputee cyclist—when he took up cycling again in Thessaloniki in 1987, cycling per se as a sporting activity had a very low profile, and the concept of cycling for the disabled was practically unheard of. Odysseas, then, set about publicizing the benefits of cycling for all and became the first person to actively promote cycling for people with disabilities in Greece. Since the 1990’s Odysseas has expanded his horizons to the International arena. He has conducted several bike Marathons to different countries as a Messenger for Peace. In 1996, he made a marathon bike trip from Ieraptetra on Crete to Serbia. There he managed to donate several bikes to amputee children. He has also made trips to FYROM, Cyprus and Istanbul, where he gave lectures to university and high school students. These trips fulfil several valuable functions: Along with promoting cycling, he is able to raise awareness about disability, highlight the need for greater social integration and enhance a spirit of international friendship and cooperation. |
“Everyone has a Disability”
When asked what Odysseas would like us to write about him, he said the following: “Tell them that there is a friendly bike station in Rethymnon, where you can fix your bike and rent a bike. A place that organizes small group tours where people can enjoy cycling as part of a group and also become part of an initiative movement that brings together disabled and non-disabled people.” For Odysseas, social integration is key to enhancing quality of life and personal development, and cycling together as an activity has enormous potential in this respect. It is to this end that since moving to Rethymnon he has organized a cycling club for people with disabilities and volunteers. He then said that he thought it was really important to stress that “Everyone has some form of disability — it’s just the case that some disabilities are more immediately visible than others”. He explained that psychological problems such as depression may be viewed as disabilities, and how cycling in an unspoilt natural environment along with so-called ‘disabled’ and ‘non-disabled’ people has a positive impact on psychological well-being— and by bringing together totally different individuals this gives people the power to grow. He also pointed out that this applies as much to people with what he calls a ‘high level of volunteer philosophy’ as it does to anyone else.
Odysseas feels that there is a long way to go in Greece to change social perceptions of people with disabilities. As he says, what happened to him could happen to anyone. Yet he finds that attitudes are incredibly polarized, almost invariably focusing on the disability rather than on the person: “If they like you, then you’re a hero, if they don’t, then you’re a cripple.” Recognising that social attitudes often become fixed at an early age, Odysseas allocates a considerable amount of his free time to youth work—lecturing to schools and youth movements. He is also currently engaged in setting up a variety of cycling events for young people. One up-and-coming event to look out for will take place in Rethymnon, on 29th July—a series of cycle races for 10-14 year olds. At a local political level, he does all he can to raise the profile of disability and mobility issues with government officials.
To find out more about Odysseas, bike rental, bike servicing and group cycling
activities, contact:
Odysseas Savopoulos, A. Velouhioti 31 (on the Beach Road near Atlantis Beach
Hotel)
Email odyseasthecyclist@hotmail.com
Phone 28310 58178 / mobile 6948279506
