CYCLING THE EARTH

LETS’S CARE ABOUT FUTURE GENERATIONS !

Have you thought of cycling the Tour de France once a year as many cyclists and I do, with an average of 300 km a month on your wheels ? Yes, you may keep cycling under the rain with a raincoat, in the wind, and even on the snow in Paris, as I did today, in winter times.

Cycling has become to me a new Nature, a natural way of life. During the last 9 years now (since Fall’2011), I have cycled over 35,400 kilometers, already 80% of the Earth’s circle at the Equator (42,000 km). And I keep cycling further, day in, day out, week in, week out.

Is that difficult ? Not really ! But please be cautious. Your life is worth a lot more way more than a simple helmet, whilch I do strongly recommend !

What do you need to start ?

You may start with a simple bike, with good brakes, to be checked every 6 months, a bicycle bell, good tyres, lights in front and in the back, an indispensable helmet to protect your head, ideally gloves for long distances or the cooler seasons, And ideally a fluorescent vest to be seen at night. 

And I promise you : Your hardest part will only be to ride for your first 3 km and feel confident on your bike. Once you’re on and cycling with tiny regular efforts, nothing can stop you !

You will enjoy

• fresh air in your face

• no pollution coming out of your wheels

• moving a bicycle of 8 to 20 Kg around rather than a car from 400 Kg to over 2,000 Kg (2 tons)

• being free and find alternative and shorter routes, without being stuck in your car…

• a better sensation of Nature, Trees, Parks, Streets, Rivers, Flowers and Life

• natural daily physical efforts keeping you fit, young and beautiful 

• going freely alongside long lanes of cars every morning or evening in peak times, remaining free on your 2 wheels

Tour de France professional racers do cycle between 3,200 and 3,900 kilometers a year, along 3 weeks, in 21 days.

I do anything between 3,600 and 4,200 kilometers a year and you may do your 3,900 kilometers in 24, 48 or 60 months. Important is only to ride without polluting and carrying a very heavy car for your limited use (80% of daily commuters are alone in their cars, ie a 1.4 ton car to carry a 70Kg Human).

Any new kilometer on your bike will mean less CO2 and pollution in the air, a way of telling your kids, your grand-kids and grand-grand-kids : 

« You are important and you do no matter for me. I care for you, your future Earth in the 2030’s, 2060’s,  and 2080’s and yous comming generation ! ».

The recent confinement in France and in Europe has had a significant consequence in Paris : Decathlon sports shops (leader in Sports articles in France) and especially the cycling sections of the shops have been assaulted by hundreds of buyers lats May 2020, making most racks empty for days or weeks, following the wish of many to cycle rather than being cloaked with hundreds of other passengers in transport cars, subways or commuter trains, with long transportation time and risks to catch the #virus. They also took advantage of some 180km of new cycling lanes installed in Paris.

This gets quite visible on the cycling lanes, where some parts of them see hundreds of cyclers going both way on certain sections and cycling links, like Javel (former Citroen cars factory and headquarters) to Saint-Michel famous Jazz and Cabaret section of Paris alongside the Seine river.

Now, Europe has grown up from 30m cyclists every week to over 70m in a matter of years. In France alone, the figures have nearly trebled from 3m to over 8.5m people cycling at least 4 times a month, some of them daily, as I do.

And don’t forget, you need a 10-year mature Tree to compensate the CO2 pollution emissions of an average car, while your bikes will help you enjoy Nature and prevent Greenhouse gases induced by CO2 cars and trucks.

Yes, transports do account for 45 % of CO2 emitted in France and your bikes will help prevent Hurricanes, Floods, Sea-Level Rises, Wild Fires, Hundreds of buildings burnt like in California, catastrophic Temperature rises in Alaska, Australia, Brasil, Canada, Siberia, Japan, India, China, Asia, Spain, Portugal, France, Africa and so on…

Be most welcome to comment and share about your cycling experience, wherever it be !

Best to all of you and to all of my friends cycling the EARTH !

François P. VALLET, ESCP EUROPE, Coach in Innovation, small and mid-size companies, and Start-Ups.