ROTM: Velocity and Light in Paris

‘Saturday morning rides are synonymous with Paris for me,’ says Rémi Clermont, founder of Café du Cycliste. He’s returned to the city where he once lived to join a ride marking the launch of his brand’s exclusive collaboration with agnès b.

‘First a coffee, a spin alongside the Seine to warm-up, and then out of the city into Ile-de-France, it’s like I never left.’

Departing at 7.30 from the Bois de Boulogne Park on the western side of the city, the route will take a dozen riders out into the countryside surrounding the French capital, stopping at the Le Barn Hotel, then returning for brunch at Le Pain Grillé, the café at the agnès b. headquarters.

100km of rolling terrain (‘in the footsteps of the Barnexpress’ according to Strava) and the perfect exercise for testing out the new road kit designed by the two brands.

Remi is clearly very happy with this sartorial and physical confluence of the two design teams, and today feels like a big moment for the company he started with some friends in the foothills of the Alpes Maritimes over 13 years ago.

‘To collaborate with a brand I’ve always admired, sharing common values of creativity and sustainability, and basically having fun with it. It’s a real pleasure to see it come to life.’

Alongside new renditions of agnès b. classics, the collection offers up two signature Café du Cycliste performance pieces for long summer rides.

Using fabrics made from recycled yarns and aerodynamic tailoring, the print is derived from a photograph taken by agnès. This is a truly fast and vibrant expression of the collaboration.

The print is based on a moving image made by agnès whist travelling on a TGV, the trains that run from Paris all over France and beyond.

Using a tiny Japanese digital super-8 camera called a Harinezumi, this so-called ‘strokes of light’ pattern illustrates the velocity and motion of cycling, creating a distinctive and dream-like palette of colour and movement.

It represents the wonderful blur of colours seen by both riders and onlookers circulating the roads and mountain passes of France during the summertime.

Classics Challenge: A Parisian Promenade.

Every month, 300 Parisian cyclists meet at the KM0 bike shop, a few meters from the Arc de Triomphe. The idea is simple: ride as a group for 100–200km.

Ride of the Month: April.

It’s officially spring, the clocks have swung forward and the Port of Nice is waking up. Bleary-eyed deckhands scrub and polish the big yachts, and little painted dinghies bob gently. Jérôme Cousin, espresso in hand, is discussing his love for ‘slower’ riding since he stepped out of the pro peloton last year.

Ride of the Month: March.

Every Spring brings an enchantment here in Provence, when the famous yellow Mimosa trees bloom on the Tanneron and in the Esterel. Located just a few kilometres from Cannes, the massif overlooking the Mediterranean is ablaze with gold, exhaling a sweet scent of honey and vanilla.

Ride of the Month: March 2022.

In the world of cycle racing, Milan–San Remo is one of the most prestigious events of the season. To win this trophy is to have your name chiseled into history. But only if you’re a man.