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Leicestershire cyclist marks ride to Paris for TDF - by getting a tattoo

Rob Merry gets a permanent souvenir of four days spent in the saddle

A road.cc user who last year cycled from Leicestershire to Paris now has a permanent souvenir of his ride – a tattoo on his calf.

Rob Merry took four days to ride from Stoney Stanton near Hinckley to the French capital – the first two taking him and a group of friends to Portsmouth for a Channel ferry crossing, following an overnight stop in Newbury.

They arrived in Paris on 20 July, the day before Chris Froome was crowned winner of the 100th edition of the Tour de France in front of the Arc de Triomphe.

Rob told us on Wednesday: “I enjoyed cycling to Paris so much in July. Afterwards i decided that a medal or shirt wasn't enough to remind me of my achievement.

“So I chose to go one step further and have this beautiful work of art done last night. Now there's dedication to cycling.

“Just the small job of cycling to Spain now so i can get the other leg done,” he added.

Rob’s by no means the only cyclist to have got himself tattooed in memory of a specific ride – 2012 World Champion Philippe Gilbert got one of the rainbow bands to serve as a reminder.

That lead Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas to quip this summer: “So Tony Martin got fined for world champ stripes on his bike yesterday? What about @PhilippeGilbert tattoo?? #offwithhisleg  3

Gilbert replied: “lol we payd the rights for the all year! Smarter!”

Off course, anyone getting a tattoo should consider carefully about whether they might come to regret it, as a Google Image search of “Lance Armstrong” and “tattoo” confirms - have a look at this 'beauty'.

Do you have any bike-related tattoos? Share them with us in the comments below…

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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farrell | 10 years ago
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Jens Voigt tattoo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glorycycles/9341083903/in/faves-soxiam/

I'm a fan of tattoos, but for the love of god why?

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William Black | 10 years ago
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Reminds me on time of the chap having his "Ironman" tattoo.

This was about 10 years ago and other than a dalliance with BMX racing as a child I'd not been near a bike in years so had never heard of the "Ironman" and the epic distance that it is...but it did make giggle at the the irony that I've never seen a man wince so much that the outlines were struggling to stay straight with the flinching.

In my opinion commemorative tattoos are just a bit tacky.

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