July 14th : The great attraction

English translation of the message from the blog of the 147th RI

120 years ago, on July 14th, 1901, the cycling company of the 147th RI was " The great attraction "during the review at Longchamp. It was only after the First World War that the parade took place on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

Leaving Sedan on july 10th, 1901 in the early morning, the 150 men of the cycling company of the 147th led by Captain Henri GÉRARD, connected Paris in three stages through Reims and La Ferté sous Jouarre. Their machines were folding bicycles manufactured by Peugeot, of which Henri GÉRARD was the inventor.

Arriving on July 12th in the capital, they were housed in two of the bastions of the enclosure of Thiers. On July 13th they recognized the route to the Longchamp racecourse by crossing Paris from east to west. On the morning of July 14th, the men had left the exercise pants for the madder red pants, the officers had put on the white gloves, and forward towards the review.
They had the honour of marching twice : once riding bicycle, where their perfect alignment was appreciated by the 100,000 spectators present, and once bicycle folded on the back.

What cheers from the audience ! What a memory for those 150 men who left the next day for Sedan !

This history is evoked in more detail in volume XXX of the Pays Sedanais, a review of the Société d'histoire et d'archéologie sedanaise and in the proceedings of the 26th international conference on the history of the cycle