Les Vélos a Paris

This is an excerpt of an email to my dad; does a blog have to be genuine material?


Concerning bicycles:

I visited a velodrome today- La Cipale in the Bois de Vincennes. I watched some young boys practice, perhaps they were 10-15 years old. Some of them were pretty fast! It was very interesting to me how cyclists in Europe, or in France, are started and trained at such a young age. It seemed as normal as T-ball to these kids. I wonder how many of them chose the sport and how many are children of cyclist parents and were pressured into it, versus soccer. The bicycles they were using were just like the bicycle I use with brakes and derailleurs, only much smaller. 10 year old sized. I saw a few Bianchis, a Cinelli, a Giant, and many others that I did not recognize. I wonder how much one of those miniature bicycles cost!

While I was standing in the bleachers, two young boys were talking off to my right. Suddenly, one of them threw a chunk of dirt in my direction. I figured he couldn't have been throwing that at me, so I gave them a look and remained standing. They kept talking and then again, the same boy threw a large seed pod / nut at me! He ran over and picked up the nut and threw it over the balcony behind me. He ran off and left the second boy standing off to my right threw yet another nut at me! I gave him a shout and he ducked a little and ran away. I figured it was time to go, since the little boys were taking shots at me, so soon after I walked back to the Metro and came home.

I also visited two bike shops today- one was a mega sports store called GoSports and their bicycle section had a lot of hybrids, a few road bikes (2) and lots of kids bikes. No one spoke with me when I walked into their department and the repair area had a line out the door. I left that shop and went to another shop that Mme C told me about; a smaller business further away that she prefers to go to. I found it, and it was quite charming. A small storefront full of bikes with about 50 used bikes parked outside for sale. There were three men working inside, all doing some kind of repair, and one greeted me as soon as I showed interest in their shop. They had a few new bikes (I think, maybe two or three? All were Giants) but lots and lots of old ones. I'm sure when they close up for the night, all of the bikes outside come inside and there is no longer any floor space.

Anyway, I bought some handlebar tape (that cost considerably more than at GoSports) and looked around some more. After one of the men noticed me loitering around, he asked if there was anything else I needed and I asked him if he knew much about riding on the velodrome. He told me you need a "special" bike for that, and I said yes. He told me that about three times that they did not have any at his store and he would write down the name of a shop that carries these special bikes. (A track bike is called Une Piste, in french)

After another series of events, they were flipping through the Giant catalogue to find a track bike for me because they said they could not be rented, when an older man entered the conversation. He told me to contact the PCO- Paris Cycliste Olympique- and ask to see if anyone would let me borrow their bike to try out on the track. I read on a poster at the track that you need a bike, a helmet, and a license to use the track, but no one at the shop could tell me anything about the license. One man said all you need is an insurance card and join a club.

I couldn't find an email address for the club but instead found the street address for the velodrome that I visited today as well as a phone number. I don't know if I have the courage to call the telephone number, but I might as well give it a try.