After the cities, can everyday cycling really conquer the countryside?
The obstacles to its development remain but the population seems enthusiastic about the idea of getting on the bicycle again.
The question was debated in "The club of ideas", on Europe 1.
ANALYSIS
The "velomania" has taken hold of France.
Since the release of confinement, cycling has jumped 87% and sales have soared.
But if the phenomenon seems to be underway and lasting in the cities, some wonder if everyday cycling could not finally conquer the countryside.
Friday, the question was debated in "The club of ideas", on Europe 1.
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"It's quite unimaginable what is happening. In a few months, we have moved into another world", enthuses Pierre Serne, president of the Club of cycling towns and territories.
In large cities, the phenomenon is no longer surprising, but her association of local communities that promote cycling is now contacted by small towns all over France.
From Tarn-et-Garonne to Haute-Savoie via the Deux Sèvres, small towns and "boroughs" would like to create temporary cycling facilities that could be made permanent afterwards.
Pierre Serne cites the example of the small town of Saint-Quay-Perros, in the Côtes-d'Armor, with a little over 1,000 inhabitants.
Or that of a departmental road seeking to have a cycle path on "5 to 10 kilometers".
He is convinced that the bicycle "can also work in rural and peri-urban areas".
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Cycling is not a "magic potion"
However, many obstacles to the democratization of cycling in rural areas remain difficult to overcome.
How do you plan to shop on a bicycle when the supermarket is more than 10 km from your home?
For the professor at the Paris town planning school, Jérôme Monnet, "it is a town planning problem".
It invites us to identify all the chains of dependence that govern life in the countryside.
According to him, the entire development of these areas should be reviewed.
One of the solutions could be to relocate local shops in city centers.
"We must not consider [the bicycle] as a sort of magic potion", warns Jérôme Monnet.
"This cannot concern all populations. You always have to think 'system', if you only think of one link, the bicycle, you risk not doing things correctly."
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The two guests nevertheless agree that a fundamental phenomenon is going through civil society.
"There are communities that have been pioneers, but here we feel that it is spreading oil at an incredible speed", continues Pierre Serne who praises the voluntarism of local elected officials, "on the right and on the left. ', to promote the use of cycling.