Cycling in the Channel Tunnel

File:Mike on a bike.jpeg

During construction, over 200 bicycles were used by construction workers. These consisted of 80 bicycles from Peugeot bicycles on the French side; plus 125 bicycles from Saracen Cycles on the British side.{{cite journal|issue=47|title=On Your Bike|journal=The Link|editor-first=John|editor-last=Hamlen|date=October 1993|page=21|publisher=Translink J.V. (TransManche Link)|location=Folkestone}} The Saracen mountain bikes had been ordered by plant manager Kevin Otto—an initial order of twenty-five had been ordered with the rest of the fleet following on later. On the UK side, over 850 workers had been trained and issued with passes for their use inside the service tunnel.

During one Sunday in October 1993, Wally Michalski and Mike Turner, working as contractors on the British side, used a pair of the Saracen bicycles to cycle the {{Convert|100|km|adj=on}} round-trip from Folkestone to Coquelles and back again. The pair took around five hours to complete the journey, while wearing full overalls and needing to carry respirators.{{cite news|url=http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgarian+claims+title+first+cycle+through+Europe+Channel+Tunnel/10056605/story.html|title=Calgarian claims title of first to cycle through Europe's Channel Tunnel|work=Calgary Herald|date=22 June 2014|accessdate=20 April 2020|first=Michael|last=Wright}}{{cite magazine|title=Riding the Channel Tunnel|first=Linda|last=Laker|magazine=Cycling Weekly|date=7 August 2014}}

In November 1993, journalists Nick Dutton-Taylor and Damon Brown used the same Saracen bicycles as other construction workers to cycle into the tunnel for an article in Mountain Biking UK.{{cite magazine|magazine=Mountain Biking UK|id=EAN 9770954869039|date=June 1994|volume=7|issue=6|issn=0954-8696|publisher=Future Publishing|editor-first=Tym|editor-last=Manley|title=MBUK Opens Chunnel Shock!|department=Scoopette|first1=Nick|last1=Dutton-Taylor|first2=Steve|last2=Behr|first3=Damon|last3=Brown|pages=64‒68|quote=Of course we wanted to be the first to ride right through, but security put the mocker on that. … Clive is a loco driver, who, having trained other loco drivers, had been drafted in to train cyclists, 850 of them to date. … Plant manager Kevin Otto, himself a cyclist, set about looking for a supply and, after a commercial assessment of manufacturers, asked Saracen to supply the bikes. Initially they bought 25 Sahara Elites}}{{cite web|url=http://forums.bikemagic.com/showthread.php/2628-Ben-Nevis-ridable?s=14fadae30237768ebf20ec15da2b4e1a&p=38481&viewfull=1#post38481|title=Ben Nevis ridable?|format=comment|date=9 May 2001|accessdate=29 January 2015|quote=Who do you think we are? MBUK abseiling into quarries with bikes on our backs, and riding through the channel tunnel.|work=Bike Magic|archive-date=4 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204013220/http://forums.bikemagic.com/showthread.php/2628-Ben-Nevis-ridable?s=14fadae30237768ebf20ec15da2b4e1a&p=38481&viewfull=1#post38481|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/singletrack-latest-issue-wtf/page/4#post-5667015|title=Singletrack latest issue WTF|work=Singletrack World Magazine |date=2014|accessdate=29 January 2015|quote=Lets not forget MBUK of oldish days … It also did features on riding through the Channel Tunnel before it opened to trains}}{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/roadcc/photos/a.395296355613.177154.57482865613/10152174281920614/|title=road.cc – Timeline photos|website=Facebook |date=7 July 2014|accessdate=29 January 2015|quote=An MBUK journalist rode through the tunnel … Damon Brown That was me and my friend Nick but we didn't ride all the way through. Well remembered!}}{{cite web|url=http://road.cc/content/news/122850-video-chris-froome-v-channel-tunnel|title=Video: Chris Froome v the Channel Tunnel|date=7 July 2014|accessdate=29 January 2015|quote=Didn't MBUK ride through the Channel Tunnel shortly after it opened? Or possibly during construction? There was definitely a feature along those lines.}} They were trained and accompanied by the cycling trainer Clive, but not allowed to go the full way through.

File:Chris Froome in the Eurotunnel.jpg in June 2014, one of a number of cyclists to have ridden through the Channel Tunnel]]

On the night of 2/3 December 1994,{{cite web|url=http://www.ina.fr/video/I11298797|title=Défi cycliste passant par le tunnel sous la Manche|date=3 December 2014|accessdate=16 July 2014|author=Association Francaise contre la Myopathie, France 2|format=Video: 45 seconds|publisher=Institut national de l'audiovisuel|language=fr}}{{cite news|title=Le Téléthon en Tunnel|author=Eurotunnel|work=Eurotunnel News|issue=10|date=February 1995|page=7|quote=Dans la nuit du 2 au 3 décembre dernier, un groupe vingt journalistes et de sportifs a participé au Téléthon 94 en traversant le tunnel de service à vélo. Après «Le Walk», ce raid cycliste a constitué une première qui, de l'avis de tous les participants, fut aussi insolite que passionnante, ainsi que le confirme le rédacteur en chef de France 3, Henri Sannier: «grâce à cous, ce Téléthon a été une fois de plus un succès. (…) Qui pouvait imaginer qu'un jour vingt fous traverseraient la Manche à vélo ?»|language=fr}} a group of professional and semi-professional cyclists went road bicycle racing from London to Paris in aid of {{lang|fr|Téléthon en France '94}} broadcast live on French national television.{{cite news|url=https://www.humanite.fr/node/92453|title=Téléthon: trente heures de générosité contre les maladies génétiques|date=3 December 1994|work=L'Humanité|accessdate=16 July 2014|first=Dominique|last=Widemann|quote=Henri Sannier sera le fer de lance des trente heures de cyclisme dont le départ a été donné au pied de la tour de Londres avant de rejoindre Paris via le tunnel sous la Manche…|language=fr}}{{cite web|url=http://www.chamrousse-team.fr/2014/09/froome-en-dans-la-manche.html|title=Froome en a dans la manche!|date=25 September 2014|accessdate=4 February 2015|quote=Même si Froome dit qu’il est le premier c’est faux, cela avait déjà était fait pour le Téléthon.|first=Christian|last=Boujard|work=CHAMROUSSE TEAM CYCLOSPORT |publisher=Chamrousse Team|language=fr}} This 1994 peloton was led by Henri Sannier and accompanied by Jean-Michel Guidez,{{cite news|url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/lambersart-jean-michel-guidez-met-sa-passion-de-la-video-ia22b49742n1214720|title=Lambersart: Jean-Michel Guidez met sa passion de la vidéo au service des courses cyclistes amateurs|first=Serge|last=Carpentier|work=La Voix du Nord|date=30 April 2014|accessdate=16 July 2014|quote=Dans les années 90, il sera le complice d’Henri Sannier sur les grands raids du téléthon. Il fera Bordeaux-Paris, Berlin—Paris, Londres—Paris aux côtés d'Antoine de Caunes, Marc Toesca, Patrick Chêne ou encore Jean Mamère, entouré par des pros de l’équipe Castorama comme Thierry Marie.|language=fr}} Patrick Chêne, Jean Mamère, Marc Toesca,{{cite book|title=Le Téléthon: Scène - Intérêts - Ethique|last=Walter|first=Jacques|isbn=9782296361270|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0XzseR3wWAC|year=1998|publisher=Editions L'Harmattan|series=Champs visuels|language=fr|accessdate=16 July 2014|page=41|quote=parmi lesquelles les fameux «fils rouges» : l'épreuve cycliste Londres‒Paris, avec Henri Sannier, Patrick Chêne, Patrice Cordebar (Founder of www.BelSeva), Jean Mamère, Marc Toesca, etc.}} Thierry Marie, Paul Belmondo, Bernard Darniche,{{cite news|url=http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/Locales/Calais/actualite/Secteur_Calais/2010/11/28/article_c-etait-dans-l-edition-calaisienne-de-la.shtml|title=C'était dans l'édition calaisienne de " La Voix du Nord ", en novembre 1994|language=fr|date=28 November 2010|accessdate=4 February 2015|work=La Voix du Nord|quote=Aujourd'hui, retour sur la semaine du 27 novembre au 4 décembre 1994 … Ils ont pédalé sous la Manche … Toujours du côté du Tunnel, mais à l'intérieur cette fois, un peloton traverse la Manche pour la bonne cause. Le Téléthon 94 conduit par quelques célébrités (Paul Belmondo, Bernard Darniche, Thierry Marie, Patrick Chêne…) rallie l'Angleterre en passant sous la mer.|archive-date=11 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211020707/http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/Locales/Calais/actualite/Secteur_Calais/2010/11/28/article_c-etait-dans-l-edition-calaisienne-de-la.shtml|url-status=dead}} Jean-François Guiborel{{cite web|url=http://www.sportbreizh.com/Interview-334-122-0-0.html|title=Jean-François Guiborel, de Ménilmuche à Longchamp|department=Interview|work=La Sport Breizh|first=Denis|last=Papin|date=2013|accessdate=5 February 2015|quote=…où chaque année, j'étais partie prenante pour le Téléthon. Nous avions ainsi parcouru chaque année, Bordeaux-Paris, Berlin Paris, Albertville-Paris, Londres-Paris avec le premier franchissement du Tunnel sous la Manche à vélo soit 50 kms (sic)!|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205212750/http://www.sportbreizh.com/Interview-334-122-0-0.html|archive-date=5 February 2015|url-status=dead}} and others. The group used the service tunnel to cross the channel between Folkestone and Coquelles, accompanied by a STTS vehicle.

On 1 June 2014, Chris Froome rode eastbound from England to France in a video promoting Team Sky and publicised during the 2014 Tour de France season,{{cite web|title=Chris Froome cycles through the Channel Tunnel|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/10951008/Chris-Froome-cycles-through-the-Channel-Tunnel.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708120826/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/10951008/Chris-Froome-cycles-through-the-Channel-Tunnel.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 July 2014|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 July 2014|accessdate=3 March 2015}} taking 55 minutes to cross.[https://kickasstrips.com/2014/07/chris-froome-first-man-to-cross-the-english-channel-cycling-through-the-eurotunnel/ "Chris Froome, first man to Cycle through the Eurotunnel crossing the English Channel"]

On 9 November 2018, Children in Need's Rickshaw Challenge team rode through the tunnel on the first leg of their journey from Calais to Salford.{{cite web | url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/weald/news/children-in-need-rickshaw-challenge-to-travel-through-kent-191327/ | title=Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge to travel through Kent | date=11 October 2018 }}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/traveller-info/vehicles/bicycles/ Eurotunnel LeShuttle cycle service]
• [http://www.ina.fr/video/I11298797 Téléthon 94 video montage]

{{Channel tunnel}}

Category:Channel Tunnel