42nd Annual Tour de Paris Bicycle Rally

The Tour de Paris is one of the oldest cycling events in Northeast Texas. Now in its 42nd year, the rally draws riders from across the region for a Saturday morning that blends community fitness, outdoor recreation, and the kind of Lamar County scenery that doesn't show up in most cycling event brochures. The routes wind through rolling countryside, past cattle fences and old-growth trees, along the Northeast Texas Trail, and across county roads that see more pickup trucks than road bikes on a typical day.

Route options

The rally offers a range of distances to match different skill levels and ambitions. Off-road options include 14-mile and 24-mile routes on the Northeast Texas Trail — a paved rail-trail that runs through some of the most scenic stretches of Lamar County. For road riders, the rally offers routes of 22, 35, 57, 68, and 80 miles through the surrounding county roads, each designed to showcase the terrain and character of the region.

Registration is available online through BikeReg. All routes start and finish at the Love Civic Center in Paris, and the event is organized to accommodate everyone from casual family riders to serious endurance cyclists looking for a challenging July morning.

What it says about the area

Events like the Tour de Paris reveal something about a community that listing descriptions can't: how people spend their Saturday mornings when no one is selling anything. Lamar County has a cycling culture that surprises people who assume rural Texas is all trucks and tractors. The Northeast Texas Trail, the county road network, and events like this rally make the area a genuine destination for outdoor recreation — and for buyers looking at acreage or homes here, that's part of the equation.

The drive from 3870 County Road 45080 to the Love Civic Center is about 20 minutes. Close enough for a Saturday morning start, far enough to ride home through the country when it's done.