For Bermudian cyclist Elliot Hubbard, the upcoming French Bastille Day holiday holds special memories as it was once a time that spelled cycle racing season for him.

Mr. Hubbard, who retired from professional cycling in 2000, will be speaking at a special L’Alliance Fran|0xe7|aise club Bastille Day celebration to be held at the Grotto Bay Hotel on July 14. He will give a presentation on cycling in France and the Tour de France, one of the most prestigious cycling races in the world.

Bastille Day, or July 14, is a French national holiday that commemorates the 1790 F|0xea|te de la Fédération held on the first anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille. The Storming of the Bastille, a French prison, was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French ‘nation’.

Mr. Hubbard recently told The Royal Gazette that cycle racing forms an important part of Bastille Day activities.

“When I was in France that time of year was usually when we were doing some sort of cycling event,” said Mr. Hubbard. “It was usually part of the celebrations of Bastille Day in whatever town we were racing in at the time.

“Although, cycling is not the only thing going on; you can usually find quite a few events happening on that day. There is usually a lot of support for the racers and roadside parties going on. Spectators enjoy themselves on the sidelines. It is usually summer weather so everyone is happy to be outside and enjoying themselves.”

Mr. Hubbard was on European pro cycling team Aki-Safi, and later American pro team Navigators. He represented Bermuda in the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996, but his hopes were dashed when he was caught up in a crash on the fifth of 17 laps. He also competed solo in the Pan-Am Games and Commonwealth Games. With Aki-Safi he took part in a number of well known “tours” including races in Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, among others.

During the height of his pro-cycling career, Mr. Hubbard lived in France for five years, and he is still fluent in French and Italian.

“France is one of the Meccas of cycling,” said Mr. Hubbard. “Obviously, the Tour de France cycle race history unfolded in France. That is the most popular cycling event. The French have a lot of pride in it. Being involved in professional cycling in France is the closest thing you can get to being a sports hero.”

He said in France he found traffic to be very accepting of cyclists on the roads, even though a lot of roads, particularly in the mountains, are narrow and winding.

“But there is always a level of respect that people have for cycling, and a degree of familiarity with it,” he said. “People are out there and enjoying themselves, and it tends to be fairly safe to ride.”

Mr. Hubbard said he never had the chance to ride in the Tour de France itself.

“To qualify, there is a system whereby international teams, and individuals within those teams, can amass points throughout the season which are then added up,” he said. “To enter the Tour de France you need a very high level of points to be selected. The teams themselves qualify first, not individuals. You couldn’t just sign up for it.

“The Tour de France would have been nice to do, but I was happy with what I achieved. I was able to compete in the Olympics. So I feel I was able to do everything I was able to do, and the Tour de France wasn’t part of that.”

Mr. Hubbard lived in the south of France for five years during the peak of his career, in Menton, and later the outskirts of Cannes. At this time he was racing at least 75 times a season.

<$>“So I didn’t feel like I wasn’t getting the experience or the stimulation that I craved,” he said. “At the stage when I was in France I was probably riding close to 400 miles a week and I was over there for five years. So I put a lot of miles under my belt. I was averaging over 20,000 miles a season, which was from February to September. It was quite a long season.”

He got his start in cycling by riding back and forth to school as a teenager, a six mile ride.

“Then I had a friend my age who started cycle racing on the Island,” said Mr. Hubbard. “At that stage there weren’t too many youngsters involved, so he was encouraging as many friends as possible to get involved. I was one of six or seven of his friends to start to compete in races in Bermuda.”

Mr. Hubbard retired from cycling a few years ago to pursue a law career. He is now married, but likes to cycle for relaxation on Sunday mornings.

“My lifestyle is quite different now,” he said. “That is not to say that I never will race again, but right now I have different priorities in my life. I think I have redirected all my competitive energy to my career, not to say I can’t find a little bit on the bike. But when I ride now it is more about relaxing, than racing.”

He said his cycling goals now focus more on encouraging Bermuda’s young cyclists moving up in the ranks.

“At this stage I am just happy to contribute what I can to the younger, less experienced riders coming up through the sport,” he said.

“I am happy to see a number of them doing really well on the international scene. That is where I derive my sense of action. I don’t feel as though I have anything left to prove on the bike, but I would just like to be involved enough to be able to contribute to those riders who have aspirations to compete.”

Bermudian competitive cyclists most need investment and sponsorship, Mr. Hubbard said. He also thought Bermuda could benefit from having a velo-drome or cycling arena.

“A lot of the Caribbean islands do have this and produce international athletes,” he said. “It would be quite specialised, but cycling is a very good spectator sport. I think a velo-drome could increase the popularity of the sport here. I also think having diversified race courses could help.

“At the moment the only official venue is at Southside, St. David’s where 99 percent of the races take place. It would be nice to have an alternative course, maybe at Morgan’s Point or somewhere like that, so there would be a little more variety in terms of race courses and terrain. I think that would help generate interest in the sport. There have been rumours that these things might materialise.”

The Bastille Day Celebrations at Grotto Bay Hotel include dinner and dancing. A gastronomic Tour De France will be prepared by French chef Gérard Beyer. Tickets are $70 for L’Alliance Francaise members and $80 for non-members.

Tickets can be purchased at Pulp & Circumstance on Queen Street in Hamilton. Cocktails begin at 7 p.m. and dinner is at 8 p.m. There will be a door prize of a Tour de France yellow jersey and fun quiz on the Tour de France.