Ride & Create | Laurianne Melierre

‘You must listen to your bike. They know a lot about their owner's personality.’

On her bright orange Brompton, Laurianne Melierre skilfully navigates the beautiful neighbourhoods of Paris with equal parts curiosity and power. It’s the same energy and passion the polymath puts into her professional life broadcasting and creating.‘I have a lot of energy to spare, I think I am an “intense” person.’ She says without hesitation.

Born in Lyon, Laurianne is the founder and director of PLUME, an editorial agency based in Paris run by journalists. Since 2018, its authors, strategists and editors from around the world have been setting the tone for brands in fashion, design, wellness, culture and tech. Curious by nature and passionate about many subjects like travel, fashion and culture, Laurianne previously worked for various magazines and newspapers such as Glamour and Le Parisien, alongside TV and radio work.

Since launching Plume in 2018, Laurianne has been rather busy. Alongside writing and editing she does podcast and TV work, talks, collaborations, and interviews with a string of prestigious personalities including Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Assa Traoré, Claudie Haigneré, Aya Nakamura and Emma Chamberlain. But mega-famous work subjects aside, the topic that really lights the fire in her eyes today is the bicycle.

‘I find that the bicycle is an incredible therapeutic tool, whatever the environment, whether you are a few kilometres from your house or the other side of the world. For me, it is a way of truly exploring a territory, at your own pace, on you own terms.’

This year she co-founded Free the Cycle with her friend Marion, a women's and non-binary people cycling club aiming to ‘reclaim the asphalt’ of Paris and its surroundings. A community aiming to promote the exploratory and transformational power of the bicycle, inspiring newcomers without any unnecessary techno-waffle.

‘There is very little content that talks about cycling in an uninhibited way, without going into technicality and performance.’

Having embarked on a trip with her friend, Marion, from Bordeaux to Biarritz on rusty old bikes; ‘an amazing experience’, they decided to create Free the Cycle to share with others their newly discovered passion for travelling by bike.

‘During this journey, we shared our daily adventures on our social networks... We quickly noticed a real interest from our community.’

Discovering too what her body was capable of and pushing physical boundaries, beyond what she had done before, her cycling epiphany was the catalyst for this new project.

‘Coming back to Paris, I saw things differently, I had the impression of knowing myself better. I digested this adventure and I decided to do everything by bike in my daily life.’

Laurianne made other journeys, alone or with Marion, to Brittany, in the Lot, in Auvergne, or Alsace, joining Strasbourg to Basel in Switzerland. Next step: discovering Japan, always accompanied by her bike.

‘The bike has changed my life. My world. My city. I felt faster, freer, more powerful, I clearly gained confidence in myself. Typically, on a bike, I feel much safer, more so than if I walk alone. By bike, you can go out at late hours without feeling in danger, you don't always need to be accompanied. I feel more independent.’

Free the Cycle is still in development, and Laurianne insists it’s not a typical ‘Velo Club’, but it is certainly a community empowered by the bicycle. They have several small project ideas forming, such as the organization of monthly bike rides, departing from Paris. The project is fundamentally about meeting people, gaining confidence in cycling, and discovering for yourself what it's like to travel by bike...

‘For the moment, our club is only for women and non-binary people. We started from an observation: cycling is not sufficiently democratised, it remains a very white and masculine sport. It’s about getting together and cycling without concern for performance or competitiveness, without judgement. This was essential for us.’

It seems that Laurianne is something of an energy goddess, and the bicycle is simply fuelling her fire and passion for the world around her.

‘Certainly, I am human, I can have little moments of fatigue, a little slack, like everyone else. But what is important for me is knowing how to balance my activities. And the bicycle has certainly helped me to do this.’

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