BOLD’O(VE)R

It was after the 1919 bicycle Bol d’Or, that the president of the Association of Former Military Motorcyclists (AFMM), Eugene Mauve, began thinking about a motorcycle version. Most members of the AFMM were World War I dispatch riders, keen participators in motorcycle events and, like many veterans, had difficulty picking up civilian life after the atrocities of the Great War.

To attract as many paying spectators and entrants as possible, Mauve wanted a short-distance track consisting of public roads close to Paris, and preferably out of town. Aimed at amateurs – though he wouldn’t say no to paying professionals on specialist machinery – the 24-hour race was opened up to entries of one rider per motorcycle.

Mauve found a suitable location northeast of Paris, south of where Charles De Gaulle airport sits today. Several clay roads connecting the towns of Livry-Gargan, Vaujours, Coubron and Clichy-sous-Bois made up the so-called Vaujours Circuit which measured 5.126km. The first edition of the Bol d’Or 24 Hour took place from 27-29 May 1922. There were two 24-hour races; the first, a motorcycle