The Audax Club Parisien (ACP) is a French Cyclist Touring Club. It is a non-profit voluntary association formed in Paris in 1904. It organizes long-distance rides in France. The most popular event is the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur, held every four years. The Audax Club Parisien is also the international reference for randonneuring and works with other randonneuring organizations worldwide through the international association Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (LRM).
History
April 1904 – Creation of the Brevets Audax Cyclistes In April 1904, Henri Desgrange, the editor of the French daily sports paper L’Auto, organized a 200 km Brevet from Paris to Gaillon and back, in groups led by so-called road captains in charge of maintaining an average of 18 km/h. He was inspired by Italian cyclists who attempted in June 1897 the challenge of cycling from Rome to Naples, a distance of 230 km, during daylight hours. The Italians had called their event Audax, which means, in Latin, audacious (daring), and Desgrange adopted the name.
30 November 1904 – Foundation of the Audax Club Parisien The non-profit voluntary association Audax Club Parisien is formed by a group of friends, some of whom had ridden the Brevets Audax. The purpose of the association is "to encourage the development of long-distance bicycle touring, to educate cyclists, to turn them into ardent bicycle tourists and confirmed randonneurs, and to organize excursions". The ACP registered office is located at Café du Vaudeville, 29 rue Vivienne, Paris. The birth of the club was announced in the Official Journal of the French Republic on 28 December 1904.
1906 – Organization of the Brevets Audax In 1906, Henri Desgrange entrusted the ACP with the organization of the Brevets Audax. The club then contributed for fifteen years to the prosperity of these Brevets.
1921 – The Split In 1921, two reasons are leading Henri Desgrange to withdraw the organization of the Brevets Audax from the ACP. First, when organizing the Polymultipliée de Chanteloup (a climb race, see below), the ACP forms a partnership with the paper L'Echo des Sports, a rival to Desgrange's 'L'Auto. The second reason is that the ACP road captains are accused of not having observed the 18 km/h required average during a Brevet Audax run on 10 April 1910. Following this, some road captains leave the ACP and form the Union des Audax Clubs Parisiens, known today as Union des Audax Français. That is the body that Desgrange begins to favour, entrusting them with the organization of the Brevets Audax (on which the pace is set by road captains; those brevets are still organized today by the UAF). In response, the ACP creates the Brevets de Randonneur Français à allure libre (free-paced brevets). Riders are free to go as fast or as slow as they want, so long as they stay within the time limit of the brevet (14 km/h). Since that time, the Audax Club Parisien homologated and recorded every free-paced brevet ridden around the world according to their regulation. The 1,000,000th brevet was homologated in 2017.
1923 – Birth of the Fédération Française des Sociétés de Cyclotourisme (FFSC) 8 December 1923 marks the birth of the Fédération Française des Sociétés de Cyclotourisme (French Federation of Cycling touring Societies, FFSC), that would become the Fédération Française de Cyclotourisme (FFCT) in 1942. The Audax Club Parisien is one of the founding members of the Federation, with les Francs Routiers, le Cycle Excursionniste Parisien, le Touriste Club Parisien, and les Tandémistes Parisiens. Gaston Clément, then member of the ACP, is the first President of this new federation.
1963 – The Merger At the beginning of the 1960s, French bicycle touring is in decline and two long-distance organizing clubs are at the lowest ebb : the Audax Club Parisien and the Vélo-Club Courbevoie-Asnières (VCCA). Jean Dejeans, president of the ACP, meets Gilbert Bulté, president of the VCCA, and proposes a merger of the two clubs. A few members present since the beginning and others, who returned on this occasion, will then join forces to bring the ACP back to the status of a leading club in bicycle tourism. Robert and Suzanne Lepertel are part of the VCCA members who came to strengthen the ACP. Gilbert Bulté is appointed President of the Audax Club Parisien.
Today The recovery of the ACP is due to the work of a great leader, Robert "Bob" Lepertel supported by his wife Suzanne. The Paris-Brest-Paris of 1971, headed by Bob, is the first milestone of that renewal. The club membership and their organizations keep growing. The Brevets de Randonneurs become Européens, then Mondiaux, allowing foreign randonneurs to organize qualifying brevets in their countries. When Bob passes the baton, the foundations are solid, and the ACP known throughout the world. Marie-Thérèse Martin succeeded him, followed by Jean-Claude Massé. The latter creates the PBP Commission and organizes the PBP Centenary (1991). After him, the presidency was taken over by Claude Aubague and then, for thirteen years, by Pierre "Pierrot" Théobald. Despite the magnitude of the task, they maintain a dynamic association. Many activities are offered to the club members: Flèches de France in groups, Easter meetings in Provence, excursions across France, gatherings at Epiphany, gentleman's rides, pancake parties, etc. At the same time, the club becomes an even bigger organizer. The international participation in the brevets and in PBP keeps growing. The ACP members reach the limits of what a group of volunteers can do on their own. After the brief presidency of Thierry Miton, the new President Thierry Rivet works to delegate some tasks, and allows the ACP to take up the challenge of welcoming every four years more than 6,000 participants from the whole world in the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur. Today young cyclists joined the ACP and the new president, Luc Coppin, intends to negotiate the transition to the digital age while maintaining longtime values: sport, friendship, tourism, and long-distance riding.
Main Organizations
Brevet Randonneurs Mondiaux (BRM) BRMs are non-competitive, unsupported long-distance cycling events organized worldwide according to the ACP regulations. Only the ACP has sanctioning authority for BRMs. There are five distances: 200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km and 1000 km. The time limits are respectively: 13 hours 30 minutes, 20 hours, 27 hours, 40 hours and 75 hours. The brevets are self-paced: participants are free to ride as fast or as slow as they want, so long as they stay within the time limit of the brevet. All brevets have checkpoints with opening and closing time, where the rider's personal brevet card must be signed and stamped. No follow car is permitted on the brevets, except at the checkpoints. Night riding is usual. The brevets can be used as qualifiers for Paris-Brest-Paris or for 1200 km + events homologated by Les Randonneurs Mondiaux.
On 11 September 1921, the ACP organized the first Brevet de Randonneur à Allure Libre, allure libre meaning self-paced. The minimum average was 14 km/h. In 1931, having ridden a 300 km brevet was mandatory to enter the first Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur. Later, the 400, then the 600 also became mandatory, and in 1979, all the entrants were required to have completed a Super Randonneur series (200, 300, 400 and 600 km) in the year of PBP. The organization was extended to Europe in 1976 and to the whole world in 1983, at the instigation of Robert Lepertel. It was then named Brevets Randonneurs Mondiaux (BRM). This allowed foreign randonneurs to organize qualifying brevets in their countries. Today, the multiple brevets run around the world are not only qualifiers for longer events, but also the usual way to enjoy long-distance riding.
Paris–Brest–Paris The Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur (commonly called PBP) is a 1,200 km randonnée taking place every four years. The race began in 1891. Cyclists try to complete the race in under 90 hours. Today, it welcomes more than 7,000 riders coming from all over the world. In 1931, on the occasion of the fifth edition of the professional race Paris-Brest et Retour, Camille Durand, President of the ACP, created a free-paced randonneuring event of 1,200 km. Two deadlines are defined: 60 hours and 96 hours. 62 participants took the start, 44 finished. The time limit was reduced to 90 hours in 1966. Due to World War II, the second edition of the PBP Randonneur did not take place until 1948. The event is organized every five years until 1971, and from 1975, every 4 years. The progression of foreign participants has been constant since 1971. In 2003, their number exceeded that of the French riders. They are twice as numerous in 2015, and three times in 2019.
Flèche Vélocio The Flèche Vélocio is a French team ride of 24-hour duration, usually held over the Easter weekend. Teams consist of 3 to 5 bikes, all members ride together. Each team chooses its own start point and its own route. Teams start on Good Friday or on early Saturday, and head to the traditional Easter Meeting in Provence. At least 360 km must be covered in 24 hours, but the goal is to ride the longest distance possible. After the Flèche, the team members join the meeting and hand their cards over to the ACP official. Support vehicles are not allowed, except for refueling at determined checkpoints (in early times, those were limited to 3).
The Flèche Vélocio was created in 1947 as a tribute to Paul de Vivie (alias Vélocio), who used to ride from Saint-Etienne to Provence at Easter (a distance of about 400 km). The event was tested by a team of 4 ACP members, who started on Friday 4 April 1947 at 6 p.m. from Notre-Dame de Paris to reach the Easter Meeting in Provence. After 24 hour of riding, they reached Limonest, having completed 462 km without any support. Early Sunday morning, they joined the meeting, which was held in Grignan.
The Flèche Vélocio was opened for registration in 1948. First organized by a group of ACP-members, the event was managed by René Martinez from 1959 to 1963, by Claude Aubague from 1964 to 1995, and by Michèle Hugon since 1996. Until 1983, the minimal distance to cover was 350 km. The participation was modest for over 20 years, peaking at 26 teams. From 1976, the Flèche Vélocio has grown significantly with teams starting from all over France. In 1984, 216 teams took part. The distance record is 778 km, held since 1995 by the cycling club US Métro (the only club to have participated in all editions of the event since 1948).
Fléchette Vélocio The Fléchette Vélocio (fléchette means little arrow, dart) was tested by a team of ACP-members in 1987 and opened for registration in 1988. The goal is to make young people discover and enjoy long-distance riding in a team. The Fléchette is a 12-hour team ride towards the Easter Meeting in Provence. The team must ride from 150 km to 250 km. Night riding is not mandatory, and should not exceed one hour. Each team has a maximum of 5 participants, including 4 young people aged 14 to 18 (14 to 20 since 2004) and one adult having already completed a Flèche Vélocio, or holding an instructor diploma delivered by the FFCT.
Flèches Nationales The Flèches Nationales are organized according to the regulations of the Flèche Vélocio, but with a meeting place located elsewhere than in Provence, either in France or in other countries. In France, the event was first called Flèche Pascale (since 1982). Traditionally, the destination is the Easter meeting in Quercy, but any organizer can suggest another place. In other countries, the first Flèche Nationale events were born in 1985 (Canada, Australia). Their development was increased by the presence of the Flèche Nationale in the list of qualifying events for the Randonneur 5000. Suzanne Lepertel ensured their management until her death in 2014. Valéry Rochard took over (2015–2016), then Sophie Matter. In 2021, there are 37 organizing countries.