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

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

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…