Cn Thursday October 31 at 2 p.m., on the banks of the Nive, a small troop attracts all the attention. Along with the usual pedestrians and two-wheelers who take advantage of the towpath for a leisurely stroll, we cannot miss Jean-Marc Eyharaberry and his gang, perched on recumbent bikes.
The figurehead of this unusual procession is not unknown: Jean-Marc is a golden man with, to his credit, the title of 2022 world handbike champion, and in 2024, that of Ufolep national racing champion online. About this brilliant journey in disabled sports, the sixty-year-old wants to be discreet: “Go and look on the Internet, there is everything”.
The one who carried the Olympic flame during his visit to Bayonne on May 20, 2024, in addition to his career as a high-level athlete, is developing another passion: that of organizing every Thursday on the banks of the Nive, outings to the title of the French Vélocouché Association (AFC) which he launched in May 2023. “The idea is to bring together able-bodied and disabled people to share a moment together,” he describes. “These are courses of 22 km minimum, but we adapt to each person’s situation. »
Jean-Marc Eyharaberry accompanies the Thursday outings. The high-level athlete is, among others, national champion Ufolep.
Nicolas Mollo / SO
A tandem for the blind
In today's team, from 9 a.m. to noon, Jean-Marc Eyharaberry welcomed a group from the APF France handicap. Every two weeks, he sees young people with motor disabilities come from the Hérauritz Center in Ustaritz. It also has its regulars, able-bodied people who come to help take out the equipment located in the garage, close to the Florida training grounds, from where the walks depart.
Recumbent or hand bikes, those with two wheels in front equipped with a pedal (trike): the equipment allows everyone to be taken on board for these nature outings. “We would like a municipality to help us buy a tandem for the blind,” slips the champion who points out the significant cost of this investment, around 16,000 euros.
He works on a voluntary basis and these trips are free after joining the Handiplage association, i.e. 20 euros per year individually or 50 euros for a structure: not enough to save money on expensive purchases.
New entrance to the Ansot plain
Another hobbyhorse of Jean-Marc Eyharaberry: cycle lanes open to recumbent bikes. “The City of Bayonne has just provided access to the Ansot plain,” he announced, happy with this new victory for the handicap.
Anyone who travels “some 300 terminals per week” for his sports training knows how high the fight is to obtain traffic lanes adapted to the handicap. However, he can be proud of a few victories: “We obtained, in 2024, an opening for recumbent bikes near the Villefranque tavern, and another on the departmental road, at Les Salines”.
To publicize the Thursday outings on the banks of the Nive, he will represent the AFC during the Handi'gnité event which takes place from November 18 to 24 in Bayonne, with a wheelchair and recumbent bike course, on Thursday 21, from 11 to 2:30 p.m. And for the curious, able-bodied or not, go to the Florida spot, on Friday the 22nd from 9 a.m., for a full-scale test.
Registrations for Thursday outings can be done by email on [email protected]. Free all year after membership.
