Paris and Cycling
Two things that compliment each other like coffee and croissant. The bicycle is woven into the very fabric of the French capital. From the final stage of Le Tour to 'Vélib' – the city's shared bike scheme – cycling is an unavoidable part of the Paris pulse. One fine spring morning, we took to the Paris streets to explore everything on offer – narrow cobblestone streets, the centre ville and the nearby hills and forests.
The foundations of any epic ride are best reinforced with a shot of caffeine. That's just the way it is. We do it in style – meeting friends for petit déjeuner at L’Échappée Belle, one of the city's best bike shops and cafes. It's something of a ritual for Parisian cyclists to start their rides here with a bolt of espresso in the lounge area. We didn't need any persuasion, even getting to spend some time with Romain, one of the shop's owners, dialling in our bikes for the adventure ahead.
Our ride begins by heading southwest towards the famed Bois de Boulogne – at one time a royal hunting ground, now a 2000 acre park on the city's edge. The only hunting these days is for the Strava KOMs on the uninterrupted five kilometer loop complete with a climb and faux finish-line.
From the Bois our ride crosses the Seine and continues into the suburb of Saint-Cloud [pronounced 'Clue']. Here we reach another nature reserve – the 1,000 acre Domaine National de Saint-Cloud — usually referred to simply as 'Parc de Saint-Cloud' – a park that played a crucial role in the history of bike racing. It was here, as the plaque inside the park confirms, that 'On 31 May 1868, James Moore became the winner of the first race for vélocipèdes in France.' The vélocipède was the first pedal-powered two-wheeler and it was Moore – a 19 year old Englishman living in Paris – who helped create it in 1867. The following year he won the world's first city-to-city road race: the 130-kilometer Paris–Rouen. The 1868 race, over a 1.1- kilometer gravel course in the Parc de Saint-Cloud, required permission from the French Emperor Napoleon III to use the royal park for a sporting event.
This park, a mere 10km from the heart of Paris, is a bike rider's dream. A car-free paradise of hills, calm roads, gravel paths and, amazingly, even a switchback climb with views of the iconic city below. From here it's only another 10km of exceptional riding to the majestic Château de Versailles – the largest and most ornate palace in the world. A place too immersed in Le Tour folklore – as it was here that the famed final stage – an individual TT – began in 1989. When Greg Lemond powered away on his aero-barred bike to break Parisian hearts and snatch Tour victory from Laurent Fignon by a mere 8 seconds. A defeat that haunted Fignon for the rest of his life.
The aroma of fresh crêpes can easily convince you that you're hungry and so it proved. We sit down at the nearest crêperie where the talk quickly turns to bikes. Our French friend Foucauld is riding a new BURA SL – NeilPryde's sub 800 gram framed racebike. He enthuses about the positive connection between body, bike and tarmac. About it's incredible stiffness to weight. About the power transfer as he hammered the bike up the corkscrew Saint-Cloud hills. His positivity – as well as the sugar and caffeine rush – has us frothing and we blast our back into the city to check out the scene.
Rested, our Paris adventure continues when we ride northwards towards the legendary Montmartre. We pass Avenue Junot and along the Rue de l’Abreuvoir – of Woody Allen's “Midnight in Paris” fame. It was here where Owen Wilson’s character Gil is picked up each night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. There's history in these parts and it's palpable as we climbs the suburb's steep, narrow cobblestone climbs. In the 1940s these streets would be thronged with over 100,000 spectators for the legendary Cyclo-Cross de Montmartre – a crit style cross race where the 150 riders would carry their steel bikes on aching shoulders up and down the monumental flight of 300 stone steps to the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur.
Our ride avoids the steps and leads to Butte de Montmartre where we're rewarded with an iconic view of Paris. Descending through 9th arondissment we pass the former home to Café de Madrid – it was here in 1902 that L'Auto owner Henri Desgrange conceived a bike race to be known as 'Le Tour de France'. Continuing along the Seine, the weather tempts us further and we follow the river to Palais de Tokyo, a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art and another coffee stop. This marriage of bike and bean is undergoing something of a boom here in Paris. The last year has seen more than half a dozen cycling coffee shops opening their doors – transforming the city's coffee culture.
As dusk falls on our Paris escape. we continue riding along the river's banks – the air abuzz with music and children's play. We reach our start point of L’Echappée Belle once again. Our knowledge and feel of this great city now enhanced and with a desire to return once more to soak up the unique velo-vibes of one of the world's great cities.
