Classics Challenge, a community and a new route per month
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Louise Poirel has been living and working in Paris for four years. Like a lot of others, she avoided the metro to avoid the Covid, discovered her daily journey between Étoile and République in a different light, and took on other habits. The coolness of the Seine, the dawns rising on the façade of the Musée d’Orsay seduced her. In fact, these two times thirty minutes of daily pleasure soon whetted her appetite. And the young woman, who for having run a lot and always practiced judo says “to have good land”to wonder how to satisfy this need to swallow the kilometer: “I’m used to hiking a lot in the summer, and this year, the storms frustrated me a bit. Back in Pais, I needed a prolonged effort to end the summer. It was while looking for an idea that I discovered the existence of the Classics Challenge. »
Neither one nor two, she rents a “racing” bike, she who had never “changed gears”, and commits, flat pedals and sneakers, for the Classics Challenge Paris-Rouen on August 27: 168 km and 2000 of elevation gain. “It’s long, yes. I was a bit apprehensive. But I’ve always done sport in a naive way. I thought it could pass. »
Louise Poirel, smiling before the start of the Classic Challenge Paris-Rouen. (Clement Cangiano)
Free, gratuitous, and fraternal
The idea of the Classic Challenge was born in 2016, in the mind of François Paoletti, a long-distance cycling enthusiast, who then expressed in the form of books, the salt of his travels. François Paoletti seeks to reinvest the rich heritage of Ile-de-France races: starting with Paris-Rouen, their mother to all, born in 1866.
“We continue to fill up, especially since we are blocking outings to 300 participants for organizational reasons.
Immediate, the success of the CC rests on three asserted pillars: freedom, free, fraternity. The members of the community are offered a monthly course with small onions and an appointment. Freedom, because it is left to everyone to honor the said date: who is not available on the right date, or prefers to ride alone, will simply download the GPX track. Free because no commitment fees or dues of any kind are required from members. And fraternity: because it goes without saying that we are not here to shoot each other in the paws (the fluff, possibly) but to share the joys of the great outdoors with guests. To put it in a nutshell, the Classic Challenge is the opportunity for everyone to ride in good company on pretty little roads.
Slowed down by the epidemic, the activity of the CCs has therefore resumed its rhythm. The community now numbers 11,000 souls (11,127 when these lines are written), recipients of the monthly proposal. “We continue to fill up, especially since we are blocking outings to 300 participants for organizational reasons, and in particular that of the return by train” explains Mr. Paoletti, “but the most encouraging thing is that we constantly see new participants coming to us. The regulars, who have flown off to other adventures, in particular ultra-distance, we continue to see them occasionally. But the renewal is constant, and we are happy to be able to put the foot in the stirrup of less seasoned cyclists. »
Open mark: for free
On the strength of this success, the creators of Classics Challenge, frequently asked by their community, to organize in the region, (“When will you come to us? ! ») wanted to push the notion of sharing further. And have decided nothing less than to make available to anyone who wishes to appropriate it, not only the “brand” Classics Challenge, but also its tools: the site for distributing traces and recording registrations, as well as the legal and insurance framework.
A group of participants in the Classic Challenge. (Thomas Michard)
“Why not contact us, takes over the founder, to the possible organizers in the same terms as to the participants? The Classics Challenge are made for us to make our own. The brand is open, without commercial discussion. Of course, our requirement, but it will be the only one, is to respect our state of mind: free availability of beautiful courses, welcoming outings organized by group of pace, no external ravito to irrigate the local trade , No Motor-Driven Cycles… “
Louise Poirel meanwhile, after having practiced the handling of the derailleur a few minutes from the start, has indeed completed the 168 km of her first outing! She waited until she reached Gisors to tell her companions that it was her first time. “But surely not the lastshe says. I discovered a world and an eminently social sport. We talk, and it goes quickly, I was able to finish keeping a little under the pedal (sic). I am already registered for the CC of 17. I will try another bike to see what suits me best. It will be very nice! »
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