Bury Cyclists' Touring Club

Velocio, Grand Seigneur (1853 � 1930)

by Clifford L. Graves, M.D.

written May 1965

When a throng of cyclists from all corners of France converged on Saint-Etienne one day last July as they had done for more than forty years, they were paying homage to a man who accomplished great things in a small corner of the world. He was a man who devoted a lifetime to the perfection of the bicycle and the art of riding it, a man who inspired countless others through the strength of his character and the beauty of his writings, a man who even in his old age was capable of prodigious riding feats; in short, a man who might well be called the patron saint of cyclists. That man was Paul de Vivie, better known as Velocio.

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Velocio with his unique chains shown close up.

 Three cover of 'Le Cycliste' Cyclotourisme magazine founded by Velocio.

An unknown cyclist poses near the memorial to Velocio at the summit of the Col de la Republique (Col du Grand Bois).