Paul de Vivie

Paul de Vivie, also known as Velocio (April 29 1853 - February 27 1930), was publisher of "Le Cycliste", an early champion of Derailleur gears and father of French bicycle touring and randonneuring.

De Vivie was a prosperous young silk merchant. When a friend challenged him to ride his new bicycle 100km in six hours, he set out to the mountain resort of Chaise-Dieu. The peace, adventure and countryside changed his life - and persuaded him he needed a better bike.

He went to Coventry, where the best bikes were made, and joined the Cyclists' Touring Club. In 1887, he sold his business, opened a cycle shop in St-Étienne, France, to import bikes from Coventry, and began a magazine, "Le Cycliste". He signed his articles "Vélocio".

In 1889 he was riding up the col de la République outside the town when one of his readers overtook him - smoking a pipe. De Vivie felt challenged but also trapped: if he lowered his gear, he would go slower on the flat. But on the gearing that he had, he could not climb hills fast enough either. So he fitted two chainrings between the pedals instead of one, using the larger on the flat and the smaller on hills, and in 1906 fitted extra cogs on the wheel and invented the derailleur to move the chain from one to the other. He overlooked taking out a patent and made barely any money from an invention which changed cycling.

Traditional cyclists, however, did not appreciate his new gears. The organiser of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange, dismissed them in "L'Auto" as fit only for invalids and women. De Vivie campaigned for his invention and rode every morning up the col de la République for the joy of passing riders without gears.

Vélocio wrote of his tours in a language that inspired a nation - France - in which holidays with pay were unknown. Of one he wrote::"A shaft of gold pierced the sky and rested on a snowy peak, which, moments before, had been caressed by soft moonlight. For a moment showers of sparks bounced from the pinnacle and tumbled down the mountain in a heavenly cataract. The king of the universe, the magnificent dispenser of light and warmth and life, gave notice of his imminent arrival. But only for an instant. Like a spent meteor, the spectacle dissolved in the sea of darkness that engulfed me in the depths of the gorge. The glistening reflections, the exploding fireballs were gone. Once again, the snow assumed its cold and ghostly face."

He devised a code for the wise cyclist:

1. Keep your stops short and few.

2. Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're thirsty.

3. Never get too tired to eat or sleep.

4. Add a layer before you're cold, take one off before you're hot.

5. Lay off wine, meat and tobacco on tour.

6. Ride within yourself, especially in the first hour.

7. Never show off.

De Vivie was a strict man who started every day of his later life by reading ancient Greek. On February 27, 1930, the last words he read were from Seneca to Lucius::"Death follows me and life escapes me. When I go to sleep, I think that I may never awake. When I wake up, I think that I may never get to sleep. When I go out, I think that I may never come back."

Then he collected his bike and began pushing it across the road. He stepped back to avoid a car and was hit by a tram.

His memorial is at the top of the col de la République, which he preferred to call by its lesser-known name of the col de la Grand Bois.

ee also

* French bicycle industry