“There are more and more people by bike in Toulon”: this Var fights so that cycling is developing in town

The meeting is fixed at the bicycle coffee that the Pharmacycles association opened last spring. On his bags frame despite the polar cold, Cyrille Papon arrives right on time.

For this former sailor, the bicycle in town is not a problem, it is a solution.

You took the presidency of pharmacycles almost three years ago. For what?

I was already a member and I was trying to get involved in the association, to give time to others. It seems important to me to help your neighbor. We are not all at the same level of happiness.

Happiness goes through the bicycle?

Among others! For me, it's obvious. Since my arrival in Toulon twenty-five years ago, I do it every day. Even if it was not always simple.

Did you scare yourself?

Almost twenty years ago, I already took my children to the crèche with a trailer behind my bike. At the time, we didn't see much. I was a kind of pioneer! And, no, I was not afraid. But with hindsight, it was probably a little dangerous.

And today?

Things improve. It is enough, precisely, to see the growing number of Cargos bikes in town. In general, there are more and more bikes in Toulon. I have found the change even more noticeable for a year and a half, even if the figures on the part of soft modes in travel are still below what exists elsewhere. Autosolism (the fact of moving alone in your car, editor's note) remains too important.

Do you find that the public authorities have made efforts?

Yes. There are new cycle bands, new tracks … Mayor Josée Massi has installed a Mr. Bike. It organizes one meeting per year with associations. All this is obviously in the right direction.

We were used to a more virulent discourse of pro-Vero associations. You are not afraid to serve as a deposit in the city with this type of remarks?

It is not a game of dupes. We know that when approaching the elections, we are going to be caressed in the direction of the hair. But we also know that we can take advantage of the calendar to assert our grievances and pass ideas. And they know we know!

How do you look at the more militant collectives, such as critical mass?

It's good that they are there! You need scratching hair so that a democracy is fair and balanced. They also get things done. We pursue the same goal but we work a little differently. Pharmacycles is more with the idea of ​​rendering services to the population.

What types of services?

The same as those carried out by our predecessors since the creation of pharmacycles in 2010, starting with the participative and united workshop. We also bought a cargo bicycle to relocate our activities from time to time, reaching a more disadvantaged audience. We do a little event at the bicycle coffee, we created an alleycat (a treasure hunt by bicycle). And we have other projects.

What are these projects?

We would like to relaunch an amateur cycling race on the Faron, even if the form remains to be determined. In relay? By climbing Mount several times? The idea is that it is festive and general public.

There, we are no longer in the daily mode of transport of everyday life …

No, but it doesn't matter. With Pharmacycles and the association “Sourie, you pedal”, we also promote cycle tourism and cycling.

You yourself are a follower of bicycle trips?

Quite. When I was twelve-three years old, I left with my father and my grandfather to make trips of 400 terminals. At sixteen, I did a mini-trip from Europe. There, I really caught the virus. In 2018, I did fourteen weeks in the Alps. An incredible memory. And this winter, I joined my brother in Brittany over nine days and 1,300 kilometers. These are strong moments when we are no longer alone in pedaling …

Let's go back to the streets of Toulon. If there was a priority concerning the bicycle in town, it would be what according to you?

Infrastructure must be thought differently. Before making a strip or a cycle path, let us first ask the question of whether we can send our child of ten or twelve years pedaling it independently.

Let her ten -year -old child roll alone on a bicycle in town, you have to be a little unconscious, right?

This is the problem. Why wouldn't it be possible? Why could a kid not go by bicycle to school safely? Certainly there is a desire to do things well, but we start from afar. Now if we want France to become cycle, you have to start with children. I remind you that my grandfather, at the time, made most of his trips by bicycle.

And then the car took up room …

A huge place! And the worst is that it continues. We do colossal work to expand the highway even though we know that the car will not be able to be a priority in ten or twenty years. It is ecologically essential to start thinking otherwise.

Local favorites and little secrets

Where do you take someone who comes to us for the first time?

At the top of Mount Faron. If the person is sporty, we go by bike. Otherwise on foot. I live in town a little by obligation and I need this regular contact with nature.

With a magic wand, what would you change in the region?

I would go away the Toulon mountains from 3 to 4 km inside the land, precisely. It would solve a lot of problems. Real estate pressure, the possibility of building and renovating otherwise, of carrying out ecoconstruction projects but also the fact that policies could no longer hide behind the narrowness of the city so as not to make tram.

What are you missing when you are not in the region?

The smell of the garrigue, and more particularly of the thyme that I appreciate for its virtues.

If you were to live in another region, which one would you choose?

The North Finistère, where part of my family is installed.

It remains between us

What puts you in a good mood in the morning?

Get up, be healthy, know that a new day is waiting for me!

And in bad mood?

The irresponsibility of our politicians, who sometimes pass their personal interests before the general interest.