ABOUT
We are Linda and Silvia, two great bike lovers from Milan, Italy.
The name and the project “Cicliste per caso” – that in Italian means cyclist by chance – were born during a crazy journey in Patagonia, for which we left knowing hardly how to change an inner tube. Cicliste per caso was the perfect name for us!
After that first adventure along legendary Carretera Austral we then made many others, but we remain “cyclists by chance” because in our lives we aim always to remain beginners, amateurs. Because we think it would be nice, at least every now and then, to start something without knowing exactly how to do it, and be amazed like the first time we cycled without wheels as a child. Anyway, today we are also “cyclists by choice”, because cycling is no longer just a way to travel, but it’s our lifestyle.
But Cicliste per Caso is more than a travel project. We take as inspiration bikes – that made so much for women emancipation in history – and ride towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. Our goal is to encourage other women to travel, be brave and independent.
We are not just travel partners, we married in July 2018.
LINDA RONZONI
I’m a graphic designer. After graduating at Accademia di Comunicazione (Milan) and working for some different major agencies, I founded over the years several graphic Studios in Milan. Currently I’m the founding partner of Meccano Floreal, which mainly deals with publishing graphics, working with the largest Italian publishing houses.
I’m an art director of integrated communications projects, brand identity, below the line, events; now creative director of Foundation “Il Lazzaretto”.
I’m also a passionate writer, I attended the famous Holden School of Turin and the course of Raul Montanari in Milan. I’m the one who writes the Cicliste per caso blog, unfortunately just in Italian for the moment.
Follow me also on Facebook e Instagram.
SILVIA GOTTARDI
Former pro basketball player, once retired I’ve been a basketball tv commentator for severl years, and I founded Pink Basket, the only Italian magazine totally dedicated to female basketball.
I’m a marketing and communication expert. After graduating in Sports marketing at Cattolica University in Milan, I attended a Master in Marketing Management at Manchester University (UK) and more recently one in Marketing and Digital Communication at 24 Ore Business School. In the past, I founded my own Communication Agency.
I’m a photographer and filmmaker. I attended many courses and workshops, including: New York Film Academy, Escuela de cine y television (La Avana), Italian Institute of Photography (Milan). My first documentary She Got Game won the Guirlande D’Honneur at FICTS International Festival 2015 and is now visible on Netflix. Pictures and video on this website are mine.
I’m a travel addict: thanks to the charity travel project “Donne al Volante” I drove my pink car around the world: 60.000km and 70.000€ fundraised.
Bikes make no noise, except that of the perfect mechanics in motion.
Bikes do not pollute.
Bikes are anarchic: they not impose themselves, they don’t know hierarchies, they are free.
Bikes take up little space.
Bikes do not disturb the animals in the woods.
Bikes are a gentle vehicle.
— Cicliste per caso