Spin Cycle.
Montmartre Vélo Club
The Montmartre Vélo Club and Café du Cycliste present a race with a twist…
La Kermesse de Joe is a hill-climb race with a twist. Or rather, several.
Taking place in the northern Parisian suburb of Pantin, it challenges Montmartre Velo Club riders to be the first to the top of a multi-storey car park where one of their members, Joe, has his carpentry workshop. Who will be the king and queen of the parking?
Left, left again, then turn left, and left to finish. Four storeys corkscrewing anti-clockwise, heart pounding and lungs burning, to the dizzy heights of the finish line.
It’s an infernal test of tactics and lactate, pitting one rider against another with no respite. The prize for second: elimination.
Spin to win is the name of the game.
The day starts with a 70-kilometre warm up ride north of the city, the cyclists arriving to brunch, coffee and a festival-like atmosphere. The spring sun is shining and all of Paris is laid out on the horizon.
Then the shootout begins at high noon. But competition goes hand in hand with camaraderie; even the kids get to have a go!
As the heats progress, the pressure ramps up and up, to ever higher levels. Each heat is over in a few seconds, leaving one rider to fight their way closer to the podium.
Commiserations to Rémi, of Café du Cycliste, who came second in the men’s event.
Congratulations to Thomas and Véronique, king and queen of the parking, 2025!
