Tourisme et « 2 roues » — L’Officiel du cycle, 1 May 1954, André Defert of the Touring-Club de France on Touring and the Bicycle

From L’Officiel du cycle, du motocycle et du camping, 1 May 1954, the paper’s special export number, printed in French, English, Spanish and German, pages 79 and 81: tourisme et 2 roues: statement by M. André Defert, president of the Touring-Club de France, on the relation of the bicycle and touring and the drift toward motorized cycles and scooters; French, English and Spanish. The title, headings, captions and lists are transcribed as printed; the text is summarized in Ebykr’s words, and the page images carry it in full.

— Page 1 —
TOURISME ET « 2 ROUES »

Voici, sur les rapports du Tourisme et de la Bicyclette, une déclaration de M. André DEFERT, Président du « Touring-Club de France » :

Here is a statement on the relationship between the French bicycle and touring by Mr. André DEFERT, Chairman of the « Touring-Club of France » :

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. In the French statement André Defert, president of the Touring-Club de France, says that the club and the “petite reine” were tied together from the start, since the club was founded by a team of French cyclists, and that through its events, competitions and appeals to every initiative the club has never ceased to promote bicycle touring to the fullest. He then asks what its position should be before the most recent development, which he would almost call a revolution: the tendency toward motorization, by which the cycle seems to be turning more and more into a motorcycle in all its forms. The club, he answers, does not overlook the advantages: motorized cycles allow outings in medium mountains without great physical effort and greatly extend the range of a trip. Among its members the club counts many users of the motorized cycle and it has cyclo-motorist excursion groups in Paris, Le Havre, Bordeaux, Salon-de-Provence, Saint-Nazaire and elsewhere; as for scooter riders, the groups of Algiers, Lille and Paris are already in full growth. But the club cannot forget that the plain bicycle, with the personal effort it calls for, the rhythm of its outings and the particular atmosphere in which it places the tourist, gives joys of its own that nothing else could replace. The balance between these realities and the new tendencies, he concludes, is the Touring-Club de France’s point of view for the fullest and most harmonious use of the means at its disposal. The statement is printed in French, then in English (a translation of the same text) and then in Spanish.]

He aquí una declaración del Sr. André DEFERT, Presidente del « Touring-Club de Francia » sobre las relaciones que existen entre la Bicicleta francesa y el Turismo.

[A text page of a trade review set in three languages inside ruled sections. A ruled box across the head holds the title “TOURISME ET « 2 ROUES »” in large heavy roman capitals, with two short italic introductions, the French one at the left and the English one set lower and to the right, each beside a small eight-pointed star ornament. At the upper right a halftone photograph shows an elderly man with gray hair and glasses, seen from the waist up in three-quarter view and looking to the right, holding a folded sheet in one hand before shelves of bound volumes; no caption or signature is printed with it. Below, the statement runs in two narrow columns of roman type in French, with a large drop capital O, then in two columns of English with a drop capital E, then, after a short Spanish introduction in roman type, in two columns of italic Spanish with a drop capital B. Thin horizontal rules separate the three language sections. No artist signature appears.]

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Im folgenden geben wir eine Wieder Erklärung des Herrn André DEFERT, Präsident des ” Touring-Club von Frankreich ” über die Beziehungen zwischen dem französischen Fahrrad und dem Reiseverkehr :

[Ebykr summary; the article’s text is not reproduced. This is the German version of the statement by André Defert, president of the Touring-Club de France, which opens on the preceding page in French, English and Spanish. It says the same things in the same order: the Touring-Club and the “little queen” have been closely tied since the club was founded by a team of French cyclists, and the club has always promoted bicycle touring through its events, competitions and appeals; the question is what position to take toward the newest development, which he would almost call a revolution, the drift toward motorization that is turning the bicycle more and more into a light motorcycle of every kind. The club does not overlook the advantages, chiefly outings in medium mountains without great physical effort and a much wider radius, and it counts many followers of the motorized cycle among its members, with touring groups of motorized-cycle riders in Paris, Le Havre, Bordeaux, Salon-de-Provence, Saint-Nazaire and elsewhere and scooter groups in Algiers, Lille and Paris already in full swing. But, he adds, it must not be forgotten that the plain bicycle, with the muscular effort it demands, the rhythm of its outings and the surroundings in which it puts the tourist, gives pleasures of its own that no other means of travel could replace; the balance between these facts and the new tendencies is the standpoint of the Touring-Club de France for the fullest and most harmonious use of the means at its disposal.]

[A text-only section of a trade review set in German, in two narrow columns. A short italic introduction in two-and-a-half lines opens the section and gives the speaker and his office; the statement follows in roman type, with a large drop capital M at the head of the left column and guillemets around the whole statement. Thin horizontal rules close the section at the top and the foot. No drawing, photograph, signature or artist mark appears. The section is the German version of the statement on the preceding page; nothing from a neighboring item falls inside the crop.]