“Team Watts is a group of French cyclists and runners who meet on Saturday mornings for a bike ride around Paris" he tells me. Mathieu LapeyreMathieu Lapeyre, one of the more than thirty members of Team Watts, a group of sports enthusiasts who cultivate their friendship on a bicycle.
A story that had a beginning: "It all started with Nicolas, the captain, who lived a couple of years in New York, making good friends on a bike in Central Park. When he came back to Paris, in 2018, he wanted to recreate that spirit, going out with him on a bike." With that experience, Nicolas laid the foundation stone of what is today "30 good friends who live in places as different as Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Paris and Zurich; who take any excuse to go out on a bike or just have a few beers after work" continues Mathieu.
What is "making the duck"?
I ask Mathieu about the duck on the Team Watts crest and he puts it in context: "Every ride we do, there are laughs about the two-levels we offer people, especially between couples. Another option is to stay at home and cook lunch for your partner while she rides her bike. It's what we call in France "doing the duck". That's why our symbol in the networks is the "duck", with it we communicate with people".
Thus, they have managed to consolidate a small community around Paris to go out cycling because "cycling with others is much better, you enjoy it, the scenery and the company. We don't want to be too many, as large groups can be dangerous on the road.
One thing the members of Team Watts have in common: they are all in good shape. "We don't have people who are starting to do sports at the moment, in any case those who join us again come with a good track record of physical activity, not only cycling, but also running or other. But we know how to ride on the road without endangering anyone.
In fact, they have some very good people, for example Pierre, who has been French cycling champion, or Valentin, the same, but in duathlon. There is also Quentin, a professional ironman, while Aurelio, Nicolas and Kevin do the 10 km in 30 minutes and a marathon in two and a half hours. There is little nuance in these statistics.
Paris, a city for cycling
They move in and around the city. For Mathieu, "Paris is not a bad place for urban cycling. The city council has made a big effort to promote it. It's a city where you can get around on a bike 90% of the time, you go everywhere with it, to work, to parties, to restaurants... and causing less hassle than with a motorcycle."
The good thing is that "in half an hour, you can be in the outskirts of the big city," he continues, "with lovely scenery and lots of options. You never get bored. True, we don't have any big climbs, but we have some very fast tacks to test you."
Favorite route
They have a prime route, they call it "Café de la Poste"in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, in the area of the Chevreuse forest. It is a small village about 50 kilometers from the city center, a little beyond Versailles. "Here we stop for a coffee and a chocolate bun. We talk about the week, the upcoming races... it's like a vacation every weekend" Mathieu portrays.
Possibly, if you go around Paris you will see them, all nicely uniformed, in an elegant and striking green, a design that they left in the hands of GobikWe wanted something that was good value for money and we looked to Gobikbecause of the number of sites where it is present. So we contacted them. The process was very simple, we gave them the basis, i.e. colors, logos and general lines, and within a week we had their proposal. Within four weeks we were wearing our customized clothing".
In that group, "not everyone is from Paris, just as not everyone has the same objectives, some want to get in shape for a race, others for a marathon, and others simply want to have fun. We don't go with a set schedule, we define our goals as the year progresses. We are very active in the whatsapp group, proposing and studying options. Every year, we organize a couple of 3-4 day stages cycling and finishing the day with a couple of beers" concludes Mathieu from the very center of the city of light.
