"True bike tourism is a silent mass that uses the bicycle to explore the world".
With his lemon emoji newsletter, Concentré Vélo🍋, Léry Jicquel is a hit. In this meeting place for bike fans, he talks about everything to do with bicycles: from funny anecdotes to economic news, from crazy testimonials to innovations on the other side of the planet, from magical adventures to gender and inequality issues linked to the cycle. It's up to him to tell his own story!
In New York, where he lives, with his trusty steed \_
**Hello Léry! Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?**
My name is Léry Jicquel, and I'm originally from Lyon, but I've been living in New York for the past two years, after 6 years in Paris. I'm a **daily cyclist and cyclotourist**, but I also play Pickleball, run and swim. I create cycling media, such as Vélook, Le Concentré vélo, [Le Podcast Vélo](<https://leconcentrevelo.fr/podcast-velo>) in parallel with my position as **Product Manager at Brooklyn**. My job is to create teams that work together to create products that try to solve the problems people encounter on a daily basis.
## " I love exploring new digital tools"
** How did Concentré Vélo come into being?**
From my used bike advice blog, [Vélook](<https://www.velook.fr/>), first of all. At the time, I was looking to create my own website. I used the knowledge I'd acquired as a student **to find second-hand bikes** to pay for my vacations.
But, during the Covid, the Actu Vélo site unfortunately crashed on the OVH servers, and was never reactivated. Me, a bit of a **"tool guy",** who loves to explore new digital tools, it tickled me. As I consumed a lot of cycling news, I wrote a very simple **newsletter with an automated editing tool**.
Gradually, my \*\*reader community grew \*\*and I was spotted by a media incubator, which helped me a lot to develop my newsletter *Le Concentré Vélo*.
Today, I continue to\*\* experiment with new media\*\*, always focused on the \**needs of readers*\*, because that's my DNA. Like a bicycle craftsman testing a new frame, new wheels... It's my sandbox! And it's free for my readers, so I really don't feel like I'm bothering anyone :-)
## " Electric bicycles have enabled couples to get together for vacations and weekends"
**The velotaf is starting to take root in people's minds. What's the latest on bike touring?**
Bike touring is clearly evolving. For a long time, I used to see \*\*papis on their \*\*racing bikes taking to the cycle paths. And for the past three years, I've come across these same gentlemen with their wives on electric bikes! Electric bikes have enabled couples to get together for vacations and weekends.
*Southern Burgundy by bike!*
## "For me, real bike tourism is a silent mass that just uses the bike to explore the world"
** Do you think bike tourism brings us together?**
Actually, **no**, I don't think so. As much as in bicycle touring, we find the **adventurers on bikes who form a niche**. They make videos, take part in the Vincennes bike travel festival, have their own reading magazine.
And then there are the rest of the real **vélotouristes**, a silent mass **that doesn't seek to tell its own story**, but uses this tool to **explore**. For me, this is a couple on a city-break in Barcelona, who prefer to borrow self-service bikes to visit the city. They are neither **nor activists**.
**Are you a bike tourist?**
Yes, I've been traveling by bike for a few years now, with my wife or friends. We often rent touring bikes from Lyon, where **we take the first TER train out of town as quickly as possible**. That's how I cycled the [Via-Rhona](<https://www.lokki.rent/media/la-viarhona>) in three days, or did a loop in the south of the [Bourgogne](<https://www.lokki.rent/loueur/bourgogne-randonnees>), which was sublime. In general, we don't do more than 50 km a day, otherwise it's a race to find somewhere to eat, we're blown away... I'm not looking for **performance**!
*The via rhona by bike!*
## "When you go out with friends, you find the soccer atmosphere I love"
**What's your best memory?**
One of my best memories is a trip with friends who aren't into cycling at all, and don't even ride velotafs! Of the 5 of them, three are over 1m90 tall. They're more into**intensity**, having ridden mountain bikes with their dad when they were kids. Together, we did the ViaRhona and we did anything! 80 km the first day... But when we got up in the morning, we'd look at each other and say: "My butt hurts! But we're going anyway! It was pure pleasure. It was just us, the river, a bit of rain, our parkas, and we were rocking! At times like that, I rediscover \*\*the team-sports atmosphere that made us friends \*\*: the soccer culture and solidarity.
\*\*Does bicycle travel contribute to sustainable tourism? \*\*
Yes, absolutely. When I launched Concentré Vélo, it was a mass of information. Then, by creating categories to list the different themes, I analyzed which were the most widely read. **Cycling is one of them**. And yet, my readers aren't really bike tourists, but they're fascinated by it, and I think we've reached **"the Ushuaïa effect".** One day, in one of my articles, I wrote about a young woman who had cycled close to home for three days. She shared her journey. The title **of her first post was: "forget me"** and I think many of us dream of that sometimes!
## "To develop bike tourism, we need to dust off the image of bike sellers and renters"
**What needs to be done today to develop bike tourism?**
Eurovélos are generally well equipped . You can sometimes get lost because of signage problems, but overall it works well. You can travel hundreds of kilometers without setting foot on the road, as we did this summer in Burgundy.
But to go from a TV report on these unusual families who travel by bike and pass for aliens to a norm, it will require the development of infrastructures, but also the sharing of stories and media coverage.
And *not just young urbanites*. I also think we need to dust off the bike industry, and show a different **approach to the customer experience in bike and rental stores.**
I think we need to focus more on\*\*travel advice\*\*, less on technique, but also the introduction of \**lugagerie*\* services, and obviously the improvement of **the train-bike interface.**
## " In my dreams, the last carriage of every TGV is dedicated to bicycles"
**What do you think tomorrow's bicycle tourism will look like?**
In the medium term, there will be too many people. The Atlantic coast is going to be crazy. But if I'm in my dream futurist prospective mode, **the last carriage of every TGV is entirely dedicated to bicycles**. There's a default service when you select your hotel "we'll move your bike within a 50 km radius.
**What information interests you most and what makes you angry?**
In my newsletter, I like to use a teasing and positive tone. For example, I once shared the story of a tiler who used a huge trailer on his bike to work, and for whom it felt good. He's a genius, considering the drudgery of his job!
What I hate is all the **blabla**. Press releases from brands and local authorities. I worked in the public sector for a long time. \*\*It's often a lot of "noise". \*\*It really pisses me off, because everyone's part of this charade. I'll be happy to share the plans when they are **effective**.
## "My newsletter has opened my eyes to issues in the cycling sector that I didn't know existed, including inclusion and equality".
**Why are you so interested in the subject of inclusion and equality in cycling, and what do you think about it?**
My newsletter has opened my eyes to issues in the cycling sector that I didn't know existed. In 2021, I organized a bike-focused hackathon, where I met Christophe, the head of the [Staarp](<https://staarp.org/>) association. This association organizes tandem bicycle outings for duos of sighted and visually impaired people. Christophe told me about the **difficulties encountered** transporting a tandem bike by train or renting one in tourist areas. Since then, I have been frequently contacted by **associations** that seek to promote **diversity and inclusion** through cycling or in the cycling sector. I'm thinking in particular of [Les Femmes à Vélo](<https://www.lesfemmesavelo.com/>) or Les [Roues Libres](<https://lesroueslibres.fr/>).
**How is bicycle touring evolving in the USA?**
Bicycle touring in the USA is enjoying a major boom , stimulated by a growing awareness of the benefits of cycling for **health and the environment**, particularly in big cities.
America's vast landscapes, from its national parks to its major urban centers, offer a wide variety of itineraries. What's more, improvements to cycling infrastructure and the growing number of **events** dedicated to cycling are contributing to this positive trend.
In New York, for example, you can visit the city by bike every year, because the **municipality blocks the main arteries** to cars, making them accessible only to cycles.
THE CULTURE MINUTE by Léry Jicquel
Music for bike trips: [Ain't No Mountain High Enough](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABfQuZqq8wg>), Marvin Gaye.
Reading to discover bike trips: These are books I like to read or reread during my bike trips: Amine Maalouf's historical novels like [Samarcande](<https://www.livredepoche.com/livre/samarcande-9782253051206>), [Léon l'Africain](<https://www.livredepoche.com/livre/leon-lafricain-9782253041931>)...
