Riviera Gravel #2 – La Turbie, Fort de la Revère From the beautiful perched village of La Turbie, down to the contrasting modernism of the concrete based autoroute and its péage, back into nature and reversing through time to the ancient fort on top of the mountain. Riviera Gravel #2 is in effect an extension of Riviera Gravel #1. Past Col d'Eze and along the Grande Corniche is the town of La Turbie where Roman ruins sit beside medieval churches which sit beside baroque villas. The fountain in the middle of town is a honey pot for cyclists who have climbed the 658m from the bord de mer to this perched village. Not many of them leave the fountain to climb the Chemin de Simboula up to the Fort de la Revère. CHEMIN DE SIMBOULA Initially the most remarkable feature of this gravel climb is that you start beside the A8 autoroute toll bridge. But it's a feelgood factor to turn your back on the cars and point your nose to the sky on the Chemin de Simboula. It's named after the military battery that is built on and in the summit of the Cime de la Forna and it starts with relatively smooth double track gravel. However, before long the gradient kicks up for the middle part of the climb - nearly 2kms at 8% on gravel is a good challenge. Look across the valley and you can see the Sanctuary of Laghet, where the spirit of the Virgin Mary is said to have manifested herself in the 15th Century in healing the sick, reforming prisoners and performing various other miracles. It is still a place of pilgrimage. But to see the light from the Chemin de Simboula you must reach the summit. The double track at the top of the climb splits. Go right for a view of the Alpes-Maritimes behind and circle around the back of the Fort de la Revère. This is the over-ground obvious military installation that was last used as a prison during WW2. In front is a panoramic view of the Côte d'Azur, Italy to the left, the Esterel national park to the right. As beautiful as that is, the best part of this ride is to the left. This may not be an independent assessment, but the two kilometers of old military road that awaits is one of the most spectacular bits of gravel you can find in Europe. Follow the signs for 'PAI 9 La Fourna' and you commence the front side of the Chemin de Simboula which leads to the actual military construction hidden in the rocks. These are hard to notice because attention is split between the spectacular gravel balcony road that clings to the cliff, the tunnels through the rocks and the mediterranean view to the right. Unfortunately this road is now a dead end. As La Turbie comes back into view over the rocky horizon, the way back down to the Grande Corniche is via a crumbling set of switchbacks which have been deemed unsafe for passage. But that is perfectly acceptable as turning round and riding the chemin in the reverse direction gives another chance to appreciate its magnificence from a different angle. Stop, take pictures, have a drink, have lunch. Whatever it is, take time to appreciate the view and the fact that a different discipline of cycling can give great gifts. Read more about the unbeaten tracks that surround Nice in our Riviera Gravel series. KOMOOT ROUTE

WHERE TO RIDE FROM NICE – MORTOLA Pretend you're James Bond on a bike as you spin along the Basse Corniche out of Nice towards Monaco, cliffs to your left, sparkling sea to your right. Ride a portion of the famous F1 Grand Prix course in Monte Carlo, and then climb out towards Menton, the last town in France, and over the border into Italy. A short loop takes you off the main road, up a lush Italian valley and then home the way you came. Alternatively you can extend the ride to Dolceacqua for a proper Italian coffee in a picturesque riverside village. Either way, Monte Carlo can be congested during rush hour, so keep your eyes open. key kit Sunglasses. Cruising the coast like James Bond? Stylish sunglasses cut out the glare from the Med and allow you to stare at the local residents politely on the traverse of Monaco. VIEW THE GLASSES RIDE INSIGHTS Use this ride to scope out the start of the Col de la Madone, which begins in Menton. A town which is known as La Perle de France and is famous for its gardens and its lemons. READ MORE 1 - THE ROUTE DOWNLOAD GPX Please login or create an account to download file. 2 - RENT AND RIDE Travel light and book your bike. We offer a range of rental bikes, the R5 Cervelo road bike and the Aspero Cervelo gravel bike along with titanium road bikes from French marque Leon. Each bike is complete with pedals, tool bag and rear light while, if needed, each rental can also include Specialized shoes and helmet. VIEW OUR RENTAL BIKES 3 - THE CAFÉ Located on the Old Port, our café is the prefect pre and post-ride meeting place. With some routes that begin almost outside, excellent coffee and a full range of our clothing collections for men and women. There are weekly rides as well if you’d like to discover riding on the Cote D’Azur with like minded companions. You can find us at: 16 Quai des Docks 06300 Nice other rides When the ville of Nice decided to use #nicecyclingparadise to promote the grand depart of the 2020 Tour de France, there was definite method in the madness. If Paradise Lost has over ten thousand lines of verse, this cycling paradise found has almost as many routes, roads, stretches, views, climbs, cols, lacets, stops and starting points. Enough at least to satisfy even the most discerning cyclist. NISSA ALL-ROAD Linking two classic Alpes-Maritimes cols via a gravel ridge-line ride on a loop that takes you from portside to the heart of the mountains and back again. VIEW THE RIDE MONT CHAUVE Mont Chauve, known as Nice’s ‘bald mountain’, proves that nature constructed one of the best viewpoints the city has to offer. VIEW THE RIDE BONETTE Join the climb directly from the village and get ready for a day of zero flat riding by climbing and descending both sides of the mountain,. VIEW THE RIDE Duranus & Saint Blaise Head up the valley to where three rivers meet, climb higher still and take the time to look around. For those who are looking for some serious up, take in the Madone d’Utelle, from our Montaignes a la Carte series. VIEW THE RIDE Gilette & Bonson The extraordinary back country of Nice opens up behind the coast and this ride provides easy access. Enough climbing to be a challenge without being too daunting. VIEW THE RIDE Éze & Madone One of the classic rides of the region, which takes in two legendary climbs and hits you with a 10% slope right at the start. Ride out from our Café in Nice, take on the challenge and return to claim your badges. VIEW THE RIDE Braus & Turini Time to get serious. A ride that includes two of the majestic cols from our Montaignes a la Carte series and typical of what makes riding from Nice such an intoxicating mixture of pleasure and pain. VIEW THE RIDE Vence It includes a col from our Montaignes a la Carte series as well as unforgettable views and a route away from the madding crowds. Climb the side of the Var valley and over to the pretty artists’ town of Vence itself. VIEW THE RIDE ESTEREL & ADRETS The Esterel coast road starting from Théoule-sur-Mer is beautiful, winding through secluded coves and up and down into pretty village ports. VIEW THE RIDE CAP D'ANTIBES A Cote d’Azur roll-out that hugs the sea and arrives at one of the region’s most well-known towns. VIEW THE RIDE Our Badges To celebrate the local climbs and the roads we ride, we created a badge for each of our local cols, collected together in our Montagne à la Carte series. After that we raised our eyes and we added badges for some of the world's iconic climbs, creating our Montagnes du Monde series. Ride the climb and claim the badge. From Col d'Eze on our doorstep to Sa Calobra, Mount Fuji, Mount Baldy and beyond. HOW TO CLAIM A BADGE

Col de Tende: Nos montagnes à la carte #3 Alpe d’Huez famously has 21 switchbacks, hairpins, or lacets - call them what you want. The Passo dello Stelvio has 48 on the classic, much-photographed eastern side, but that’s in 16.5kms and all on tarmac. The Col de Tende manages the same number in 7.4kms and, actually, if you turn right off the main road just over 1km before the Tende tunnel, you can add 17 more to make a dizzying total of 65 about turns. Plus the last 4kms are on gravel. If you like getting off the beaten track, you will like the Col de Tende It’s easy to see from pictures that the Col de Tende is something worth fighting over. Only 40 kilometres from the sea as the crow flies, it was used by Ligurian tribes in Roman times who established the settlement at Tende. The town grew rich and powerful controlling the pass in the Middle Ages, since it was key to the salt trade between the coast and the noblemen of Savoy. The House of Savoy was one of the oldest and most powerful royal families in Europe, who had ruled the Alps from Turin since the start of the 11th century. The salt came from the Camargue and Hyères along the coast, and was one of the most precious commodities of its age – so valuable, in fact, that in the 18th century the salt route became the first paved road in the Alps. In its heyday, it’s estimated that more than 55,000 mules worked the Route du Sel, also known as the Via del Sale (or the Real Strada, the Royal Route), and those muleteers in Tende were known to be the strongest. For good reason. At the end of the Roya valley, the col road ascends an almost vertical wall of rock, to 1871m, where the col and the Italian border now lie. After Italy came into being, in the 19th century, more than a thousand Italian troops lived at the barracks and manned the forts at the top. And in the Second World War, the whole valley was fortified with concrete bunkers, gun positions and pillboxes, pointing westwards into France. Now, the whole valley is quiet, and feels something like a no-mans-land. Tende has belonged to France since 1947, but still feels like a place apart. Locals still tend the terraced fields above the dead-end villages, and animal herders still graze their flocks in the mountain pastures under the Vallée des Merveilles, the Valley of Marvels, where there are thousands of engravings left behind by a Bronze Age bull-worshipping cult. The local dialect is called Tendasque, and at the local shepherd’s festivals there is more Italian produce on show than French. The spaghetti loops of the col road are quiet now too. The 3km-long Tende tunnel was built in 1882, taking all the traffic away from the top part of the road. So for the adventuring cyclist, it’s the perfect escape. Read more about where we ride and our local climbs in our Montagnes à la Carte series. Or visit us in Nice and experience them for yourself. Photography : Greg Annandale Words : Max Leonard Nos montagnes à la carte Madone d’Utelle Madone d’Utelle, sitting on a bluff that dominates the Var valley at the confluence of the Esteron and the Tinée, is a fixed point of navigation. VIEW MORE Col de la Bonette Claimed to be the highest paved road in Europe, true or not it is perhaps the least of its attractions. VIEW MORE Col de la Madone It’s a dramatic start to arrive in Menton and climb immediately from sea level, Col de la Madone is famed as a training hill for the pros. VIEW MORE Mont Ventoux When Napoleon wanted to construct the best naval fleet, he went for the toughest wood, coming from Mont Ventoux. VIEW MORE Col de Turini The thick forests of the Col de Turini are testament to the unpredictable weather the highest of the coastal climbs near our home town of Nice. VIEW MORE Col de Braus Find the point on Col de Braus where René Vietto, one of cycling’s greatest ever climbers, broke away to win his first professional race. VIEW MORE Col de Vence The Col de Vence lies at 962m, above the bustling town of Vence and if you can tear your eyes off your stem, you’ll enjoy the stunning view. VIEW MORE Mont Vial Mont Vial, standing at the confluence of the Tinée, Esteron and Var valleys, where the three rivers combine. VIEW MORE Col de Brouis For the people of Breil-sur-Roya before the Second World War, the Col de Brouis was a lifeline. It was the only route for them to the rest of France. VIEW MORE Mont Chauve Mont Chauve is Nice’s hidden mountain. It is hiding in plain sight, sitting there just to the north, right above the city, but nevertheless it is hidden VIEW MORE

Riviera Gravel #1 - Vinaigrier, Col d'Èze, Plateau de la Justice It's about time we let the secret out of the bag. Where We Ride has a second playground, a second cycling paradise, a second option to explore. Yes, the roads of l'arrière pays are mostly car-free, but if you really want to get away from it all, gravel is your friend. So we are opening up another world and inviting you to come and adventure the Alpes-Maritimes via our gravel guide extraordinaire, starting with a surprisingly quick and close option. This is Riviera Gravel. THE EZE LUNCHTIME LOOP To be able to climb a classic like Col d'Eze by gravel in a desk-escaping lunchtime ride is special. From the Café it's a climb-fest right out of the box but the fun starts almost immediately. Mont Boron is five minutes away but its quiet roads and views of Villefranche bay make it an instant escape from the city. Instead of following the road we take the paths to get into adventure mode early. There are many different pistes cut between the trees in Mont Boron but it's a rocky outcrop so choose yours wisely (or follow our route via the link at the bottom of this page). This is the most fun way to arrive at the Col de Villefranche on the moyenne corniche that takes the traffic towards Eze village itself. VINAIGRIERThe route traverses the moyenne corniche at Col de Villefranche which sits at 149m. Taking the left towards Parc de Vinaigrier, there is gravel to be found in between the villas. It's alley-cat riding but not as you know it. To arrive at the actual parc, you must porter up a flight of stairs where you'll find a water fountain which can be helpful in the hot summer days. The famous niçois writer, Louis Nucéra, wrote of the Parc du Vinaigrier, 'la Beauté qui se voulait éternelle' - the eternal beauty that we search for. The tracks start on the west side of the mountain before a sharp right and steep climb as they cut their way through the terraced olive grove, past the bee keepers and towards the Eze Observatory. Apparently the parc is an Italian - Provençal combination born a long time ago whose beauty was deserving of protection and maintenance by the local authorities. A great start, in other words, to a challenging bike ride. LA ROUTE STRATEGIQUEAfter dropping out on to the tarmac of the Grande Corniche, it's a quick liaison to the Col des Quatre Chemins and a left turn to find the Route Stratégique. This is the golden section of this ride. As it's name suggests, it's a military road leading to the forts that lie above. It hangs on to the northern side of Mont Leuze and the Plateau de la Justice and stretches for nearly 2.5km at an average gradient of 6%. That begins to bite as there is a flat section in the middle and the road gets steeper and rougher towards the finish. But the beauty of this road is the sense of engineering that the outside wall gives, combined with the double-track gravel below which is nearly always without other people on it when you ride. And, of course, the view to the left of the higher mountains of the Mercantour National Park can inspire you to bigger longer rides. To emerge from behind the Hôtel Hermitage and arrive at the Col brings a certain smug satisfaction. From here there are options. You can turn right and climb further up to the Plateau de la Justice and find another two kilometres of gravel round to the top Mont Leuze before the descent to Nice, with stunning views over the Baie des Anges. Alternatively you can turn left and ride the road to La Turbie to add our next gravel climb to Fort de la Revère. Read more about the unbeaten tracks that surround Nice in our Riviera Gravel series. KOMOOT ROUTE

Col de la Bonette: Nos montagnes à la carte #2 Don’t look too hard at the Bonette’s claim – seen on signposts the length of the ascent from Jausiers in the north and from Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée in the south – that it is the highest road in Europe. There are a few paved roads that are higher. And it’s only the highest inter-valley route (ie, the highest road that actually goes anywhere) if you accept that the Cime de la Bonette loop around the mountain’s peak, above the col, is not cheating. Look instead at the Tinée river, which you follow up to where it is but a tumble of clear water flowing through a high valley to rival in beauty any further north in the Alps. Look at the white pinpricks of the tiny Alpine daisies in the meadows that, for a few short weeks after the snow’s retreat, lose their ochre colour and blasted demeanour and turn the most intense, celebratory acid green. Look at the sheep following their shepherds across the folds of the mountain above the tree line. Stand for a moment on the top of the cime, that dark pyramid with its 15% slopes that rip any remaining air out of your lungs, and then walk to the very top. There, at 2,859m, you’ll see the painted panorama naming each peak around you, and you can listen to the bells of the flocks on either side of the dividing ridge, those on one side dwelling in the high Alps, and on the other in the lower pastures towards the Mediterranean. Look at the remains of the grand forts that guard this ribbon of Tarmac, and imagine the life of the soldiers up here in the winter - when they would throw planks between the roofs of the barracks to create tunnel walkways under the thick snow above, and winch up their supplies from Bousiéyas, a hamlet hundreds of metres below. The Bonette road was built by Napoleon III when Nice and its surrounding county were ceded to the French by the Italians, in 1860. By pledging to create this Route Impériale, the Frenchman was making a statement that he would protect Nice, a jewel on the azure waters of the Mediterranean, and not let this part of the world be menaced by the Italians any more. Then look at the concrete hulks of the Second World War bunkers that also guard the road and the passes towards the border, and realise that one man’s determination can only last so long, and that the life of a mountain is almost infinitely longer. Find, if you can, the secret road to the Col de la Moutière, and take the tough gravel track from the Moutière to the top. Then descend back into the world of heat and scent where you’ll find the best pizza in the world waiting for you.. And there you’ll realise, if it hadn’t struck you already, that this is one of the best climbs in the Alps, of whatever height, and that the prodigious altitude just gives you longer to appreciate its charms. Read more about where we ride and our local climbs in our Montagnes à la Carte series. Or visit us in Nice and experience them for yourself. Photography : Greg AnnandaleWords : Max Leonard NOS MONTAGNES À LA CARTE Madone d’Utelle Sitting on a bluff that dominates the Var valley at the confluence of the Esteron and the Tinée, is a fixed point of navigation. VIEW MORE Col de Tende If you like getting off the beaten track, you will like the Col de Tende. VIEW MORE Col de la Madone It’s a dramatic start to arrive in Menton and climb immediately from sea level, Col de la Madone is famed as a training hill for the pros. VIEW MORE Mont Ventoux When Napoleon wanted to construct the best naval fleet, he went for the toughest wood, coming from Mont Ventoux. VIEW MORE Col de Turini The thick forests of the Col de Turini are testament to the unpredictable weather the highest of the coastal climbs near our home town of Nice. VIEW MORE Col de Braus Find the point on Col de Braus where René Vietto, one of cycling’s greatest ever climbers, broke away to win his first professional race. VIEW MORE Col de Vence The Col de Vence lies at 962m, above the bustling town of Vence and if you can tear your eyes off your stem, you’ll enjoy the stunning view. VIEW MORE Mont Vial Mont Vial, standing at the confluence of the Tinée, Esteron and Var valleys, where the three rivers combine. VIEW MORE Col de Brouis For the people of Breil-sur-Roya before the Second World War, the Col de Brouis was a lifeline. It was the only route for them to the rest of France. VIEW MORE Mont Chauve Mont Chauve is Nice’s hidden mountain. It is hiding in plain sight, sitting there just to the north, right above the city, but nevertheless it is hidden VIEW MORE

Madone d’Utelle: Nos montagnes à la carte #1 As ships navigate across the sea according to certain fixed points in heaven, or on a faraway shore, so do cyclists when riding through familiar or unfamiliar territory. A hill on the horizon, a particular house that denotes a turning, or the sea shining down below. Ride in the back country around Nice, and one of those reference points is the chapel of the Madone d’Utelle. It sits next to an aerial on a bluff that dominates the Var valley at the confluence of the Esteron and the Tinée, and is, next to the antenna atop Mont Vial close by, a constant presence. We owe this guidance to Spanish sailors. Over a thousand years ago – or so the story goes – the seamen were caught in a terrible tempest one night on the Mediterranean Sea. Close to death, they promised to build a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary if their lives were spared. At once their prayers were answered: the mother of God appeared in the landward sky, and a blinding holy light illuminated a mountain for them. The sky and the sea quietened and the Spaniards were saved. The marker they erected on the mountain the Virgin had chosen was the origin of the first sanctuary above Utelle, a settlement that had existed since before Roman times, and had become the important first stop on the salt road into what is now Italy from the coast. Locals will tell you that if you look closely you will find star-shaped fossils in the stones around the Sanctuary. This is evidence, for some, of the divine presence on the mountain. But scientists will of course point out that this landscape was once, some 140 million years ago, below the surface of the ocean, before the folding of the earth’s crust formed the mountains that pushed these marine creatures up towards their heavenly counterparts. At 1,140m, the plateau on which the Sanctuary sits caps the Var valley, and offers a 360º panorama from the coast to the peaks and valleys of the Alpes-Maritimes, on the north and west sides, and across to Vence and Grasse to the east. It’s a regular climb of 14.4km from Saint-Jean-la-Rivière down on the Vésubie river below , although the road below the village of Utelle is steeper. In 1800, amid fighting in the region between the local Niçois (who had at that point sworn their allegiance to the House of Savoy and Italy, not France, for more than 400 years) and French and Spanish forces, the French took control of Utelle. The sanctuary was reduced to ruins. The Utellois started a petition to rebuild the holy site, and by 1806 the Madone had been restored – with all the building materials and labour coming up the slope from the river at the bottom. Above the village the road splits and a tunnel heads towards the Tinée valley; but the path to the Sanctuary, now narrowed to a ribbon, keeps climbing through cool woodland that must have afforded the labourers and their mules some respite. For the final few kilometres it opens out, giving tantalizing glimpses of the mountains around, before a final couple of switchbacks take riders to the plateau... This has long been a place of pilgrimage and healing, but one that for cyclists has remained a well-kept secret – beloved of local riders including Joe Dombrowski … until now. In March 2016, the penultimate stage of Paris-Nice finishes on the summit, bringing the views from this holy site to a wider audience. Read more about where we ride and our local climbs in our Montagnes à la Carte series. Or visit us in Nice and experience them for yourself. Photography: Greg Annandale Words: Max Leonard Nos montagnes à la carte Col de la Bonette Claimed to be the highest paved road in Europe, true or not it is perhaps the least of its attractions. VIEW MORE Col de Tende If you like getting off the beaten track, you will like the Col de Tende. VIEW MORE Col de la Madone It’s a dramatic start to arrive in Menton and climb immediately from sea level, Col de la Madone is famed as a training hill for the pros. VIEW MORE Mont Ventoux When Napoleon wanted to construct the best naval fleet, he went for the toughest wood, coming from Mont Ventoux. VIEW MORE Col de Turini The thick forests of the Col de Turini are testament to the unpredictable weather the highest of the coastal climbs near our home town of Nice. VIEW MORE Col de Braus Find the point on Col de Braus where René Vietto, one of cycling’s greatest ever climbers, broke away to win his first professional race. VIEW MORE Col de Vence The Col de Vence lies at 962m, above the bustling town of Vence and if you can tear your eyes off your stem, you’ll enjoy the stunning view. VIEW MORE Mont Vial Mont Vial, standing at the confluence of the Tinée, Esteron and Var valleys, where the three rivers combine. VIEW MORE Col de Brouis For the people of Breil-sur-Roya before the Second World War, the Col de Brouis was a lifeline. It was the only route for them to the rest of France. VIEW MORE Mont Chauve Mont Chauve is Nice’s hidden mountain. It is hiding in plain sight, sitting there just to the north, right above the city, but nevertheless it is hidden VIEW MORE

Les Courses Disparues #7 : Grand Prix de Nice François Urago was as niçois as the Promenade des Anglais itself. Born in Vence to Italian parents he was raised on the rolling roads of backcountry. Born the youngest of three brothers, he was soon infected by his siblings' passion for the vélo. It’s the stuff of Riviera dreams then, that François might one day win the big home race and our latest Course Disparue the Grand Prix de Nice. Compared to some other Lost Races, the GP de Nice had a long innings from the first edition in 1923 to the last in 1976. Like a lot of niçois events, the focal point was the La Prom - with the départ and the arrivée located so as to provide a spectacle for the big crowds that turned out on the beach front. From the seaside the peloton faced a loop of approximately 160kms that traced a path from the coast to the hills, between Nice, Grasse, Cannes and Antibes. It wasn't an all-out climbers' race, but rather one for the rouleurs and the baroudeurs. Being a one-day event, those with eyes on the trophy knew that at some point they would have to go 'all-in' if they wanted to raise their arms at the finish line on the seafront. The list of winners throughout the 50 plus years is a mirror of what we see on the roads every time we ride – a mixture of local heroes and cycling’s elite. From Urago to Bobet, to the path-beating Englishman Brian Robinson and the Irish hero, Seamus “Shay” Elliot. The message to be found in between the lines is that this is a race that made careers for all. Post-war the entry list was made up mostly of local French and Italian neo-pros, just like Urago. He turned professional in 1924 and his career on the road was mostly limited to racing in the region, but that is not to say that the level was lower - he was competing with the likes of the great René Vietto and Fermo Camellini, who both went on to earn global success in the Tour. In his first time racing the GP de Nice as a pro, Urago came fourth but finished a full two minutes behind the winning break. In 1925 he was forced to abandon due to a broken wheel. The 1926 edition of the race was different in more ways than one. The organisers reversed the direction to go anti-clockwise from Nice and the pressure was applied from the start on the gentle slopes that lead to the village of Levens. From there it was a bounce in and out of the Var Valley where the steep parts of the climb from the river up to Le Broc made the first selection. Just 50km into the race and the leading group was reduced to seven riders. Sometimes statistics say it all. Reading the race report from the archives of L'Eclaireur de Nice it's possible to see Urago's tactics were perfect - always near the front but never at the front, he was never noted as being higher than fifth wheel as the peloton gradually self-imploded. The race made its way in and out of the valleys and along the foothills of what are locally known as 'the Préalpes' - the mountains before the bigger mountains. The 'balcony' road that is a traditional route for local cyclists to this day strings together a chain of perched provençal villages from Saint-Jeannet and the famous town of Vence to Bar-sur-Loup and eventually Châteauneuf-de-Grasse - a town which can lay honourable claim to being the birthplace of Café du Cycliste. The real test of the race, when done anti-clockwise, was the climb to Gourdon and above to the Col de l'Ecre, where the parcours of the Grand Prix de Nice meets that of the Grand Prix de Cannes. The Lost Races parcours often criss-crossed each other like this on their way to making the careers of some of the biggest names of cycling's golden era. Post-war was when the Riviera breeding ground got populated by the names that went on to become cycling royalty, such as Anquetil and the Bobet brothers. It was also when foreigners realised they needed to be on mainland Europe and, dare we say it, in La France to not only establish their names but also gain entry to the biggest race of them all - La Grande Boucle. Cycling historians have recited how Brian Robinson laid the foundations of British cycling success in Europe. Robinson arrived in France as part of the British Hercules team in 1955 for what some say was the birth of the modern day winter training camp. Just as the modern day pros have done in Nice and Monaco, Robinson and his English and Irish team mates found pre-season training perfection in the famous Les Issambres winter base just beside St Tropez. It was here the kings of the 50s like the Bobets, Anquetil, Derrigarde and Stablinski did their pre-season work. But as he was still establishing his career Robinson had to return to England for the off-season. As it turned out, a bit of manual labour shovelling earth to make the foundations for a home in England was the secret to success on his return to the Riviera in 1957. “I came home in the winter and dug all the trenches for the place we live in now. I rode my bike at weekends and went back to France in January. With all that trench digging it took me about three weeks to get fit. That’s when I beat Louison Bobet to win my first big pro race, the Grand Prix de Nice.” Robinson won by a mere 50 seconds with a last-minute escape to the line ahead of none other than Louison Bobet himself. Clearly digging holes in the ground had allowed him to dig a little bit deeper on the bike. He went on to finish third in the Milan San-Remo the following month and continued the upward curve of his career to go on and win a stage of the Tour the following year. Unheard of for a cyclist from Huddersfield in Northern England. But let’s return to local hero Urago. Having kept his nose out of the wind as much as possible, he picked two ramps the punctuated the descent back to the coast on which to make a gap. The red mist was down and as the breakaway strung itself out, the two riders remaining on Urago’s wheel had a crash with a car. François was left alone for the final 20km. Soloing to the line, it was a racing cyclist’s perfect moment with the sea and its mountain backdrop, the flotilla of boats in each harbor along the way, and the crowds waiting anxiously on the Promenade des Anglais. Urago went on to achieve greater things on the track but that one day on the 21st February 1926 helped build a family bike business that lasted over fifty years. The Lost Races never failed to deliver. Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France. Read more about the races that gone but not forgotten in our Courses Disparues series.

Fuel for a Nation Every morning, without fail, a cake stand sits on the Café du Cycliste bar laden with freshly baked croissants and pains aux chocolats to fuel the first cyclists through the door. These morceaux of delight come from Boulangerie Lagache, just five minutes north of the Port on Rue Arson. The Maître Artisan (master craftsman), Monsieur Lagache has a good track record; in 2011 he won the award for the best baguette in the Département of Alpes-Maritimes. We decided to rise early with the bakers and find out what it takes to make breakfast for a large and expectant neighbourhood. To view the preparation work, the folding and kneading, the mixing and the glazing before the ovens were loaded. Then we would profit from the empty roads by climbing Mont Chauve, the mountain that towers above the Baie des Anges, for a view of a fully lit yet almost completely asleep Nice. Bread and cycling; it could be argued that these are two staples of French life. Of course, those at the serious end of the cycling scale professionals and amateurs alike used to hollow out the baguette and simply eat the outer crust on the misunderstanding that it helped them stay lean. Nowadays, professionals avoid it altogether, or so they would say – we have witnessed one local professional end a five hour ride with a pass-by the boulangerie for a ‘recovery baguette’. Everybody loves French bread. Steeped in history, boulangerie is a métier of passion. In France, where some regard the price of bread as the short term trigger to the revolution and therefore the birth of the Republic in 1789, du pain is a source of conflict. The boulangerie profession must feed the people, but also has to be regulated to maintain standards and to prevent the artisans of yeast and flour working around the clock, seven days a week. So Boulangerie Lagache is shut every Tuesday because the government demands it. Legislation was passed in 1920 to prevent the boulangers starting before 4am. “It is forbidden to employ workers making bread and pastry between ten in the evening and four in the morning.” Four o’clock in the morning is early enough for even the hardiest of cyclists. There is no half-wheeling at this hour, especially with Mont Chauve on the menu. A touch over five kilometres at a steady 8% gradient is a testing enough breakfast. The things we’ll do for a pain au chocolat. Because, of course, not all bread is savoury. The croissant is to the sweet-toothed weekend warrior what the baguette is to the hungry post-workout professional. A guilty pleasure of layered dough and butter that puffs with excitement when ready. Just don’t tell anyone an Austrian invented it. It’s crescent shape isn’t dissimilar to that of the curves of the Mont Chauve mountain which are traversed by the road the first set of hairpins before the barrier and the second, tighter set that take you to the Fort on the peak. Here we take in the view of Nissa La Bella and her contours that are exposed by street lights. With low cloud and no moonlight the sky and the sea merge into one dark mass. Beyond the range of the bike lights who knows what is out there - that's part of the thrill of riding in the dark, if done with a friend. The cold air begins to speak up, and it’s time to descend back towards the warmth of the ovens and the gifts that they give. Since modern legislation was introduced, you must have a level V diploma (CAP: Certificat d'Aptitude de boulanger) or higher to be certified as a boulanger. As with most walks of life, qualifications on a piece of paper are only the start. Monsieur LaGache has been a Maître Artisan for over three decades and that experience is evidenced by the queues out the front door when we arrive back in front of the boulangerie. These are the best baked goods in this particular corner of Nice. A bag of croissants and pain au chocolat are collected and we race to La Prom in the hope that the clouds have cleared and the sun will set the bay alight. It doesn’t happen but that’s alright, we have the best of French baked goodness to tide us over. Footnotes: Thanks to all the staff at Boulangerie Lagache for all their co-operation and for their trés trés bonnes viennoiseries .

What lies above, beyond the beach. "There are so many amazing little climbs all over the place, and so many interesting roads that just make you want to explore. It seems to be perfect territory for Forrest Gump riding — just setting out and seeing where you end up." - the Climbing Cyclist on riding the Côte d'Azur. Like Forrest Gump just kept on running, us velocipides just want to keep on rolling : round the next corner, over the unbeaten path, through the col. Quick city exits and quiet roads that keep on winding and climbing and crossing borders into principalities, Italy, or simply the next valley. Keep on keeping on. The Riviera might evoke a packed hullabaloo of tourists fighting for space on busy coastal roads as they make their way to the sea. The fact is, if you choose your route correctly, you can be up and out of Nice in less than ten minutes, and at 1,000m above the Mediterranean in less then sixty minutes. Up there, in the depths of l’arrière-pays, time can stand still like a sun-worshipper with a 30€ a day front row beach transat. Between the Mediterranean and the highest peaks lies a plethora of valleys overlooked by perched villages built in pastel colours, each one offering the obligatory boulangerie, brasserie and free fountain water to top up your bidons. Layers of folded earth crust, laced with french road engineering that surely justifies some of the taxes paid by the French citizens. Choose to stay in the compact folds of the collines, or venture further north where the valleys are deeper because the peaks are higher. The Roya valley, the Bevera valley, the Veusbie valley and the Tinée valley. Take the last one to end up at the foot of Europe’s proclaimed highest road*. The beach bums don't have to be forgotten; you can nearly see them on a clear day from 2,000m above sea level if you venture round the Boucle de l'Authion - the 14km loop above the 24km climb to Col de Turini. That's nearly 50km of climbing if you start from Nice. Up, ever up. And after the snow line is reached or when the sun is on its descent over the western peaks of L'Esterel national park, all that is left is to turn around and freewheel back to Nissa la Bella. The roads are waiting. The roads are calling. The roads are empty. For more information on the routes and climbs of the Côte d'Azur, check out WHERE WE RIDE

L'ANNÉE 2018 "Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride" - Eddy Merckx Every time a cyclist rides, they create a story. Long or short, at home or abroad, there is always a tale to be told. Before we hit reset the digital kilometre counter, we take a look at some of the stories that the road presented to us in 2018. From south of Marrakesh to as far north as the Arctic Circle, exploring new roads, gravel roads, fly fishing and fig hunting. Here are our notes from the field. #1 - BACKDROP OF THE YEAR The return of Morocco. Snow covered Atlas Mountains and a visit from the locals. It is an on-going love affair between Café du Cycliste and Morocco. You only have to go 50km south west of the nation's capital to be at the feet of the Atlas, where multi-coloured rollers meet snow-covered backdrops and endless empty roads disappear over vanishing point crests that lead to the peaks above 2,000m. #2 - RIDE OF THE YEAR Rolling on the edge of the 'Île Magique', off-season but still in the sun The first of Le Week-End Prolongé series was a roll-on, roll-off ferry ride to explore the northern roads of Corsica. It was a father-son affair which, of course meant the gloves were off any time weakness was shown. But riding the dramatic west coast of Cap Corse after the Best Charcuterie In The World, towards the sunset on Nonza beach was a cycling memory that will live forever. #3 - AUDAX OF THE YEARDue North, from Nice to London to join the Café du Cycliste dots with an on-saddle sommelier to guide by the glass through the regions. Audax can be whatever long distance audaciousness you want it to be. This year we challenged three riders to put the Audax range to the test in a shop to shop adventure from Nice to London. The seven day, 1,200km voyage gave plenty of time for musings on what is long, why is long, and how is long. Plus the opportunity to raise a glass in every region of la France. #4 - PRODUCT OF THE YEAROcéane, a culmination in Riviera style that has evolved since the beginning of la Belle Époque. Inspiration and escapism from the Côte d'Azur. Inspired by the French Riviera, Grace Kelly and the glamour and sparkle of life beside the Mediterranean. The Océane jersey was a limited edition pièce de résistance of the summer. Shelves were emptied as quick as monsieur Richie Porte climbs Col de la Madone. Shot in the sun on Cap Ferrat, apparently the most expensive real estate in the world. #5 EVENT OF THE YEAR The Fête des Zinzins : a celebration of craziness on all three sides of Col de Turini Group riding the Brevet des Zinzins. First approach from L'Escaréne, second from Sospel and third and last from La Bollène-Vesubie. From half-wheeling to survival of the fittest to the rise to top of the cream of the climbers. Nine strong riders, 170km on the horizontal axis and 4km on the vertical axis. Only five men finished but everyone plus more will return next year. #6 - MOUNTAIN OF THE YEAR This year our badges for cols went global. The snake that is Sa Calobra proved the most popular. Sumitting mountain roads delivers many rewards, but another one doesn't do any harm. Badges are now available for a selection of les Montagnes du Monde, from Taiwan to NYC's Bear Mountain and including the Tour classic Tourmalet. With more to come in 2019 make sure you claim a deserved badge of honour. #7 - OFF ROAD ADVENTURE OF THE YEAR Magical misty river scenes were the reward for a pre-dawn gravel start to go fly-fishing with Solenne Fly fishing was not only the new excuse to ride but also the reason to stop and enjoy nature's finest offerings. On the last day of the fishing season, le serpentine river, up a dead-end road out of the Allos valley, was a special start to a great day out. #8 FUEL OF THE YEAR Fuel is one of the key parts of a good ride. Even better if it's picked from the Mother Tree of Col d'Eze We all know how important fuel is during any ride. We've had an over-dose of tajine in the Atlas, savoured the Best Socca In The World, but what is better than picking fresh figs off the Mother Tree on a late summer's evening ride up the Grande Corniche? If we had to pick only one source of fuel, the fruit of the Garden of Eze would be our choice of the year. #9 - LIGHT DELIGHT OF THE YEARA burning sky in the crisp cold of the Arctic Circle. We chase sunrises and sunsets all over the world, but this year we found the best one in Alta, Norway. #10 - LLAMA OF THE YEARThe boss of the Col de Tourmalet Somewhere on Col de Tourmalet this Llama is having a great and relaxed time but wondering why the guy on the bike never moves.

Nissa La Bella Nissa La Bella is the official anthem of our home town. Sung every week at OGC Nice football matches and in schools around the town, it's an ode to where we ride. Viva, viva Nissa la Bella ! O la miéu bella Nissa, Regina de li flou "Long live Nice, long live beautiful Nice Oh my beautiful Nice, Queen of all the flowers" Seen through the eyes of photographer Benedict Campbell, to have another view and another angle is to find another way to love our home town.

There is no plan. I’m from the Southwest of Ireland. People always talk about the weather here, it’s the first topic of any conversation and it fits snugly into the small-talker’s comfort zone. We live in a maritime climate, at the mercy of the pagan weather gods. In any one day we can experience sun, torrential downpours and howling winds, so it’s no wonder it dominates our behaviour, our moods, our outlook on life and our plans. I’ve always been drawn to extremes, to landscapes and cultures that are, by nature, tough. In my own way, I guess I’ve been trying to understand how people forge a life in these wild, weather-beaten locations. This curiosity has brought my wanderings by bike to some of the most far-flung islands in the Northern Hemisphere: Iceland, the Faroes, the Hebrides. My recent trip to the Isle of Jura in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, is one that will definitely stay with me forever. Organized by Pannier.cc, we were in the company of Chris McNally, cycling illustrator extraordinaire, his sister Wren and photographer Chris McClean. It was going to be a good trip, fun people, up for adventure, it doesn’t get better. The island has only one road that stretches 30 miles from south to north from the ferry. There are no prescribed adventures on this island, you need to make up your own. And make up our own, we did. After riding 10 miles from the ferry to our camp spot in a beautiful location overlooking the sea, we tucked into a warm dinner, enjoyed some of the local whisky then retreated to our tents in howling winds and lashing rain. Not the warmest reception...but we woke to blue skies and a whole day of exploring ahead of us. The thing about ‘planning’ bike adventures is...plans never really work out how you imagined them to - and that’s just it - the ‘plan’, no matter how well thought out, is a figment of the imagination. The plan usually goes out the window when you roll away from your empty camps pot and all the unpredictable stuff starts to happen. Like bad weather, getting lost, getting lazy...and so on. We had ‘planned’ to ride as far as a shack on the tip of the island where George Orwell took refuge to write but, we lost so much time buying whisky in the Jura distillery, buying heads of cabbage and food for our camp dinner in the only shop on the island, then chatting with a farmer and his wife who are diversifying with a gin business, that we simply ran out of time. So, stuck at a crossroads, we were forced to choose between George Orwell and a deer stalkers Bothy (recommended by the gin-making farmer who has probably never ridden a bike). We decided to forgo Orwell and head for the bothy which was...according to Komoot, about 10km away. Apparently ‘trail’ in Scotland covers an extremely varied plethora of interpretations. I’ve experienced what are categorised as ‘gravel’ trails by locals to be singletrack worthy of a full-suspension mountain bike. And on the Isle of Jura, it's no different. This ‘trail’ was a line through the bog, slightly darker than the rest of the bog, created by men in rubber boots holding guns, looking for deer. What ensued was over an hour of pushing our laden bikes (the cabbage and gnocchi) over and around mounds of bog and sea grass while being feasted on by midges to the point that we couldn’t stop moving. Even.for.one.second. We did have to stop because we needed to discuss the fact that we were only moving at 4kph and at this rate it would take us 2 more hours to get to the bothy even going downhill - never-mind getting back up over the hill and riding the 30 miles the next morning to catch the ferry. Again...we aborted the plan, returned to the road and had some whisky. The whisky must have made us come to our senses, for it wasn’t until we each had our fair share of the aptly named Jura brew called ‘Journey’ that we settled on the best plan of the day: find a camp spot in a little cove, build a fire and make some cabbage salad and gnocchi. That sounded like a good plan...and it sure was! Footnotes: Photography : Chris McClean / Text : Fiola Foley @ Komoot

Les Courses Disparues #6 : Tour de Corse “THIS GUY HERE IS THE ONLY BIKE RIDER WHO EVER MADE ME SHIT MY PANTS" It took over 100 hundred years for the Tour de France to finally pass through Corsica. On paper, it’s a cyclist’s paradise; endless coastal roads; snow-capped spring peaks; and sunshine to accompany you for much of the year. On newspaper, it was deemed too edgy; too much of a risk for the organisers of the world’s biggest bike race. However, no parchment can quite convey how mesmeric these roads really are. Ask any rider who was at the start line five years ago; there’s nowhere quite like it. The hundred years which preceded this historic départ were, of course, not “sans vélos”. Whilst the Tour de Corse will perhaps resonate more with fans of four wheels than those of two, the course cycliste was a popular amateur event before the Second World War, first running in 1920. Then some 32 years after the amateur race had ended the pros finally descended upon l’Île de Beauté. The plan to entice the professionals away from their mainland comforts was concocted by Henri Angelotti and Francis Ducreux. Somewhat of a maverick, Ducreux would devote much of his post-racing career to organising races in Africa, while Angelotti was a native Corsican with a passion for the sport. They began by organising a one day crit around Bastia, paying a small fortune to attract the likes of Merckx and an aging Anquetil. Following another successful edition in 1969, they finally launched the Tour de Corse two years later; with none other than Monsieur Jacques as race director. It was set up as an early season stage race, a bit like the Critérium du Dauphiné, which allowed it to cover almost the entire island, visiting Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio and ending in the north at Bastia. It took them nearly a decade to attract the big teams like Peugeot but once they did, some of cycling's patrons and the next generation of Neo-pros came and wrote their stories on the sinuous roads. Amongst the Peugeot riders was the young Irish neo-pro, Stephen Roche. He was so fresh to the scene that before the first stage he was being mistaken by stewards as Robert Millar’s driver. But having just finished third at G.P. de Cannes and second at G.P de Monaco, Roche was in the process of making sure everyone would know his face soon enough. In Monaco he’d been ordered to let his team leader Jean René Bernadeau to take the win, so the Irishman was confident he could challenge in Corsica, even in a loaded field. The entry list included Bernard Hinault, the young Greg Lemond, and a similarly debutant Laurent Fignon. Although perhaps his biggest challenge would come from within his own team; Jacques Bossis, Michel Laurent and, the Aussie, Phil Anderson were all viable candidates for the win. Following two tight stages on the opening day, the key stage for Roche would come on day two, from Ajaccio to Porto Vecchio. Bossis attacked early, quickly gaining a minute. Seeing an opportunity, Roche decided to jump across to his teammate. With 120 kilometres still to go they worked together until it was clear they would maintain the gap to the finish. Knowing that he would take the leader’s jersey Bossis allowed Roche to take the win over the line, small change for what had happened in Monaco a few days earlier. A routine stage into Bastia was followed by the decisive ten-kilometre time trial up Col de Teghime, that sits on the spine of the ridge separating Bastia and Saint-Florent. With Hinault in third, but still within striking distance, Bossis quite naturally feared the Badger more. Roche, however, had more to prove and climbed more than 40 seconds faster than Bossis to take his first pro win. If the racing world missed his island victory, the Irishman sealed the deal with a win at the Paris-Nice two weeks later thus ensuring that when he returned to Corsica the following year, he was one of the stars of the peloton. This new status allowed him to gently remind the organisers that he had still not been paid for an autograph session from the previous year and advise that if the money was not received, he would withdraw from the race. Ducreux had to admit, “This guy here is the only bike rider who ever made me shit my pants”. Money was promptly paid. The winner of the time trial up Col de Téghime was Michel Laurent, thereby jumping ahead of Hinault on the podium. Laurent was the most successful rider in the history of the Tour de Corse, finishing on the podium a record five times, whilst winning it twice. In fact, he’d finished ahead of Hinault before at the Route de France and clearly the potential was there to make the top level. But maybe he was only a one-week racer, or maybe he didn’t have the killer instinct of Hinault and Roche. Either way, despite victories at Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné, Laurnet never made it to grand tour success. Back in Corsica that killer instinct in Hinault was ignited and once more, during the final running of the event in 1982, the time trial up Col de Teghime was critical. The story goes that Henri Angelotti in his role as commisaire, knowing Hinault was behind on Roche’s time, drove up alongside him shouting “Vas-y!” as if he was approaching the end of the course. Hinault got a whiff of victory, stood up on the pedals and began his final effort with over a kilometre to run. Other riders might have popped once they realised the greater distance to the line, but the fire had been ignited in Hinault. He held on to win the stage by seven seconds and the event by five. Financial strife eventually brought an end to the the Tour de Corse. Since then the centenary edition of the Tour de France and the Critérium International have brought global attention to the island. But with the latter no longer in existence, Corsica can once more rest easy. We have to thank it for the stories made whilst careers were being forged on the sinuous roads that traverse this mountain in the sea. But there is a tranquillity often hard to find in more popular cycling spots, which leads us to think perhaps it’s for the best that the circus no longer descends upon this beautiful island. Leaving it untouched for others to discover. Read more about the races that gone but not forgotten in our Courses Disparues series.

Brevets des Zinzins de Turini The Zinzins de Turini is an open challenge for those who love to climb. All participants must abide by the prescribed set of rules. RÈGLEMENT The aim is to scale the Col du Turini by at least three of the principle routes (Sospel, La Bollène-Vésubie and L’Escarène via Luceram and the 'lacets' Baisse de la Cabanette). The climbs must be completed in a single day (of twenty four hours) but may be done in any order and on any date that suits the rider. SÉCURITÉ & CONTRÔLES Each participant is considered to be unsupported and must pay close attention to and obey all local, municipal and national traffic rules and regulations. Each participant must ensure they have any and all relevant insurance cover. The route card is included with any Café du Cycliste Audax product purchase. Cards are also available at Café du Cycliste in Nice. During the period June to September, the card should be authenticated by being stamped by any business owner or local official in Sospel, La Bollène-Vésubie and L’Escarène as well as at the summit. Outside this period, or where this method proves impossible, authentication is permissible by photographic proof or via Strava. HOMOLOGATION At the finish of the day, the participant should present their original route card to the organisers (at Café du Cycliste) to be verified. On successful completion, each participant will be awarded the Col du Turini badge. The times of authentication must be marked on the route card as well as the date of the attempt. The absence of any single required control may lead to a refusal of verification. MEN'S AUDAX COLLECTION WOMEN'S AUDAX COLLECTION

Fly fishing at La Serpentine & Val d'Allos A fisherman retires from the water’s edge, collects his equipment and begins walking back to his car. On the way, he crosses a farmer who, seeing the rod, net, sling, rucksack and various other accessories smiles at the man facing him. “You know there are no fish in that river?” The fisherman responds; “Why did you have to tell me that!? You’ve just ruined a great day’s fishing” A fisherman retires from the water’s edge, collects his equipment and begins walking back to his car. On the way, he crosses a farmer who, seeing the rod, net, sling, rucksack and various other accessories smiles at the man facing him. “You know there are no fish in that river?” The fisherman responds; “Why did you have to tell me that!? You’ve just ruined a great day’s fishing” To fish is to play nature’s algorithm. Algorithm is the modern-day internet buzz word. Google, Facebook, every trading company on the stock market has their own world-beating secret super computer trick. If you don’t have an algorithm, you can’t demand the big bucks. Nature's algorithm came first, and it's still the one fly fishermen (and us cyclists) love to play the most. No river, no lake, no fish, no fly behaves the same way on any given day. Things change with every cubic metre that flows every second down the river bed, every single day. And that is the point. To fish is to be in nature, to stay in nature and to try to understand nature. Whether we can fully comprehend all the variables is a rhetorical question and one that keeps outdoor lovers coming back for more. To fish is to rise early and be there before the sun lights up the river. Up in the mountains, across the departmental line from the Alpes-Maritimes and into the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence there is a river that flows from a glacier lake into an amphitheater that is a slice of nature's finest offering. A waterway that twists almost as much as the Col de Turini, hiding in the mountains somewhere around 2,000m and surrounded by peaks that extend much, much higher. It is known as La Serpentine, and it rests just below Lac d'Allos, one of France’s most spectacular natural lakes. To fish is to read the river and the environment around you. Where is the sun, is there a blanket of valley floor fog, what is the water temperature, what is the stream flow rate? Where are you on the river; the small pocket flow in the beginning or the traditional runs, riffles, rapids and holes where the river plunges down the mountain side? Are there boulders providing shelter and feeding opportunities for fish in the fast flowing water? Riding the environment is also reading the environment and it is a familiar experience. From the Allos valley up the side road, through the forest and past the tree line to the car park at the trail head that leads us to the river. The climb reminds us that dead-end side roads are usually steeper than the cols that connect the valleys. The rewards are worth the pre-dawn effort. It is pure pleasure to read the environment at La Serpentine. Look up to the towering peaks of Mont Pelat, look down at the dying flowers that have turned from bright purple to ochre brown to indicate the end of both the fishing and competitive cycling season. But look mostly at the magical gradient of colours and textures from the autumn valley floor to the brilliant yellow and blue sunrise lit sky and thank yourself for that 5am rise. To fish is to think like the fish. It is the art of imitation. For a fly fisherman that starts with the fly. You might think the type of fly is the only variation but you would be wrong. For a start we must consider at what stage in the fly's life the desired fish are interested. The nymph, the emerger, the adult. Or the streamer, the bait, the grasshopper. We're told some fishermen can get caught in a fly-tying obsession so badly that they forget to actually go fishing.... At La Serpentine the experienced fisherman (maybe not the cyclist) would recognise the overhanging edge and the undercut of the river's flow which provides the perfect hiding place for the trout. It's relatively shallow, relatively slow moving water. Would you take a nymph instead of an adult fly to tempt an aggressive fish out from beneath the banks? To fish is to perfect your cast. Like fly tying, this is in itself an art form. Search the internet or the never-ending fly fishing guide books and you'll find full dissertations on the methods and the masters of this element of piscary. How will you cast to get a fly pattern that might resemble the real thing? Where will you land the fly? How will you get a good drift towards the hungry prey? Even amateurs can have fun, with the backlight of the sunrise, making shapes with their lines. The leader and the tippet snake their way through the air like the water cuts through the ground. At La Serpentine the swoosh is the only noise that compliments the sound of the river. Like planning a ride, you cast far or short, fast or flowing and see what it brings. To fish is to select your equipment. Rod, reel (or no reel), backing line, leader, tippet, hook, fly, fly box, waders, polaroid sunglasses, net, knife...the list is endless. Preparation is key for success at the water’s edge. For cyclists, Tenkara fly fishing makes a lot of sense. A rod with no reel, a line tied to the end and all foldable into a tube that fits easily on a rear rack or across a handlebar pack. Lightweight and flexible for any opportunity that arises on a gravel ride. To fish is to explore your region and beyond. River basins of the main waterway, fed by the more minor rivers, each river has its different sections. From the source to the sea, rock pools to rapids through boulders. Rivers are a whole book in themselves. Which is why gravel riding and fishing go hand in hand. Away from the road and its temptation of speed, the lure of going far, the ever watchful Strava eyes, gravel slows things down. There is an argument to say the slower you go, the more you appreciate your surroundings. And it forces you to look at different parts of the map. From the Lac d’Allos road, further south there is a dotted line leading to the Cascade de la Lance. Once all the fish are aware of our presence at La Serpentine it is time to change it up – a faster river, more pools, a completely different feeling. To fish is to forget. From one river to the next, from sunrise to sunset, from hiding in the reeds to standing in the pool. Immersing yourself in the activity and its setting. Concentration on the moment to the exclusion of all other things. Like the focus required to climb an hors catégorie climb at the end of a hard ride or to pick a line between the roots and the rocks on a steep chemin. To keep turning the pedals and understand how to conquer the road ahead. To fish is an excuse. An excuse to buy equipment. An excuse to spend hours on maps looking for new locations. An excuse to go to the mountains. An excuse to be by yourself. Does that sound familiar? If nothing else, to fish is another reason to ride.

Where we ride - Local Climbs Explore some of the most celebrated climbs in Europe. And a few less celebrated but no less good. LA MADONE D'UTELLE ALTITUDE: 1174 M LENGTH: 15.30 KM ASCENT: 894 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 5,8 % MAX GRADIENT: 8 % START: SAINT JEAN LA RIVIÈRE VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE TENDE ALTITUDE: 1863 M LENGTH: 7.40 KM ASCENT: 587 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 8.0 % MAX GRADIENT: 18 % START: TENDE TUNNEL VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE LA MADONE ALTITUDE: 925 M LENGTH: 13.30 KM ASCENT: 920 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 7.0 % MAX GRADIENT: 12 % START: MENTON VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE TURINI ALTITUDE: 1604 M LENGTH: 24.00 KM ASCENT: 1244 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 5.2 % MAX GRADIENT: 9.3 % START: SOSPEL VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE VENCE ALTITUDE: 963 M LENGTH: 9.70 KM ASCENT: 643 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 6.63 % MAX GRADIENT: 9.0 % START: VENCE VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE BROUIS ALTITUDE: 879 M LENGTH: 11.90 KM ASCENT: 531 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 4.46 % MAX GRADIENT: 7.3 % START: SOSPEL VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE LA BONETTE ALTITUDE: 2802 M LENGTH: 25.80 KM ASCENT: 1652 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 6.4 % MAX GRADIENT: 15 % START: SAINT-ÉTIENNE-DE-TINÉE VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL D'ÈZE ALTITUDE: 507 M LENGTH: 10.00 KM ASCENT: 490 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 4.9 % MAX GRADIENT: 10 % START: NICE VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA MONT VENTOUX ALTITUDE: 1912 M LENGTH: 22.70 KM ASCENT: 1622 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 7.2 % MAX GRADIENT: 10.8 % START: BEDOIN VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA COL DE BRAUS ALTITUDE: 1002 M LENGTH: 10.30 KM ASCENT: 662 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 6.43 % MAX GRADIENT: 15 % START: L'ESCARÈNE VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA MONT VIAL ALTITUDE: 1549 M LENGTH: 17.60 KM ASCENT: 1195 M AVERAGE GRADIENT: 6.79 % MAX GRADIENT: 12.5 % START: VESCOUS VIEW MOREVIA STRAVA

Where we ride - Rides Where we ride is who we are and what we do. All of our clothing is inspired by the roads and routes, both on our doorstep and slightly further afield. VENCE & COL Take the piste cyclable west and then climb the side of the Var valley and over to the pretty artists town of Vence. VIA STRAVA ANTIBES Simply take the cycle path west along the sea front, keeping an eye out for rollerbladers and for cars filtering on and off the main road. ASPREMONT & LEVENS A lot of ups and downs in a short ride here, with the reward of great views over the Var valley, the Alpes Maritimes and the sea. BRAUS & TURINI Two of the big boys of the Alps Maritimes – the beautiful Col de Braus and the imposing Turini. After warming up on the gentle Col de Nice, Braus takes you up sculpted switchbacks to 1,002m. DURANUS & ST. BLAISE Take the cycle path from Nice and then at Saint Laurent du Var take up the Var valley cycle path. It climbs slowly to where the Var, Tinée and Vésubie river gorges meet. THE ESTEREL & TANNERON This route takes you into the Esterel national park west of Cannes. Take a train to Cannes and ride out along the sandy beach or, if you want a long (160km) ride, simply head out along the cycle path from Nice. ÈZE & MADONE This is one of the classic rides of the region, which takes in two legendary climbs and hits you with a 10% slope right at the start while you're still in the middle of town. GILETTE & BONSON The cycle path on the western side of the Var river is an easy and flat route into the arrière pays, the deserted hinterland behind Nice. MORTOLA Head out of Nice towards Monaco, cliffs to your left, sparkling sea to your right and then ride a portion of the famous F1 Grand Prix course in Monte Carlo.

Fête des Zinzins Fête des Zinzins. A celebration of the Brevet des Zinzins de Turini for a select group of cycling assassins. Assassins trained to kill cols with their legs using only carbon, a bit of forged aluminum, and a lot of force and determination. These are those willing and, maybe-hopefully-possibly, capable of three times Turini. Scaling each side of the mountain triangle, that is no mean human feat. Kieran, Valentin, Saif, Pierre, Sonny, Thierry, Matthew, Nico et Denis. Each to a man possess the correct amount of mental (dys)functions when it comes to two-wheeled challenges. Tenacity, curiosity, audacity...and maybe a little crazy - French translation : zinzin. It’s almost an hour’s riding from the Café to the first control stamp at Pan d'Aqui, L'Escarène - the boulangerie beside the bridge. The bread had been cooked, the question on everyone's mind was how well done their legs would be by the end of the day. 'Bien cuit, bien sûr’ Old bornes are the best bornes. This one, at Lucéram is an in-house Café favourite, apart from the remaining distance indicated. It's a full 27kms for the FIRST climb from L'Escarène via Lucéram. Do not rush, let the mountain rhythm come to you. The twisting and turning really starts between the Pas de l'Escous and the Baisse de la Cabanette. That’s a 'pas', then a 'baisse' before the premier arrival at the col. It takes a lot of research and debate to distinguish between these three terms relating to peaks, points and passages in the mountains. Multi-layered folds of the earth's crust criss-crossed with mazes of quiet roads linking the perched hamlets to the valley villages below are part of what make Turini so special. It takes a brave Zinzin to race another on this Brevet. This group is crazy, not stupid and so riders find their place on the road based on pace. Pierre, Matthew and Nico show their form at the front, Thierry and Denis share memories of previous adventures, the Micheline brothers Valentin and Sonny admire each other's cycling jerseys, whilst Saif and Ivan appreciate the place as it's Saif's first visit. What a way to introduce yourself to Turini. Through Peïra-Cava and into the freshness of the alpine forest on the cooler north side of the mountain. The first arrival at the col is barely acknowledged given the task ahead. But then the stamping of the cards amongst the pinball machine collection that resides in the bar attached to Hotel Les Chamois is a clear yellow and black marker of the achievement so far. When pondering a challenge based on climbing it's all too easy to forget the other not so insignificant part of the ride. Down to Sospel takes approximately 45 mins which is an indication of both the length and complexity of the southern facing side. It requires both effort and concentration and is no small part in the challenge of this Brevet. The group lines out for the hairpins nestled below the Notre dame de Menaour. Sospel is known more as a mountain bike town. Today it's central fountain is zinzin. Denis is feeling the heat. Maybe it's the fatigue of the new baby in the house and not just the high 20's barometer reading. Immersion in the water is the only option. Water, food, cards stamped, the group turns around quickly, eager to get the second ascension in the bag because two thirds is better than one half. After the fact it is common perception that the 24km climb from Sospel is the hardest. Changes in pitch, the heat of the Gorge du Piaon, the rough road surface after Moulinet, the painted kilometre count-down in the unrelenting 8% of the forest at the top all contribute to a testing second climb. Counting switchbacks in the forest becomes difficult as the trees block visual reference points and the gradient never relents. Tiredness affects judgement and the col is hidden from view. Why do humans always push their limits this way and in others? To create a sense of control over themselves, or their surroundings? Is it a kind of self-destruction? Simple endorphin addiction? There is logic (but also a certain lack of fear) in the statement that you cannot know where the limit is if you never go past it. On this particular day for some of the Zinzins, two climbs was the limit. The beauty of an open brevet, however, is that it will always be there to be ridden when time, weather and form allows. There is no number to be pinned, no entry fee to be paid. Just an old-fashioned card to be stamped in an old-fashioned manner to justify some good old-fashioned simple mountain riding. And thus the selection for the third and final up-and-down was made, with Pierre, Matthew and Nico still all looking frustratingly fresh and even excited at the prospect. The third descent has been referred to in Cyclist Magazine as 'the best in the world'. Consistent surface, corners with predictable radii and good visibility for a majority of the road all mean that speeds are as a high as the fun factor. La Bollène-Vesubie is the sleepiest of the three base towns of the Turini. Perched two kilometres above the Vesubie valley it could be tempting to stay and then roll down beside the river back to the seaside. However, with a Brevet card five-sixths full, abandoning now is not an option. Settle in and pedal for somewhere between one to one-and-a-quarter hours to Zinzin glory. The remaining group make it look easy. At this stage rhythm is there. Bodies and minds have accepted this mountain and the effort required to climb it. At the top there is even the energy for a race to the summit between wheelie-pulling Nico and Matthew. Pierre trails by a few seconds but pulls a Contador-style pistol in front of an infectious smile, letting out a bit of his internal crazy in a moment of finish-line happiness.   RIDERS' NOTES Discover the Brevet des Zinzins de Turini HERE Komoot Route Footnotes: Photography : Matt Wragg

DUE NORTH It must be a common thought amongst many cyclists faced with a point to point journey. "Why not do that by bike some day?" Turning two hours in a pressurised cabin full of recycled air with 100 plus strangers into a seven day, fresh air adventure across an entire country between three close friends. An adventure that distills cycling down to its core. From the minutiae of pre-ride planning to the moral fibre of our chosen sport or, dare we say it, our lifestyle. Turning two hours in a pressurised cabin full of recycled air with 100 plus strangers into a seven day, fresh air adventure across an entire country between three close friends. An adventure that distills cycling down to its core. From the minutiae of pre-ride planning to the moral fibre of our chosen sport or, dare we say it, our lifestyle. So what about joining the Café du Cycliste dots and connecting HQ on the Old Port to the flagship store in the City? Nice to London. Sun to the City.     It was a task deserving of our resident long distance expert, Matthieu, aka Manivelle.cc. A flâneur on a bike, Matthieu was instantly and slightly over-enthusiastically committed to the concept. Even it if means riding from sun, into headwind, into rain. It is London, England after all. But first thing is France. Or to be more or less precise, her many regions and the bounty that their diverse landscapes provide. And for bounty, of course, read wine. Enter Elisabeth. Très française, très gentil, très bien éduquée dans au vin. Elisabeth likes to dance, she likes to cycle, but most of all, she likes wine. Gregory makes up the triumvirate. Born in Lyon, living in Berlin, Europe is his playground. He says his accomplices are drinkers with a cycling problem, a statement which will be tested out on the road. Details. Pre-departure is all about the details. The equipment: luggage and luggage packing, tyres and tyre pressures, clothing and clothing accessories, spares and second spares. And a knife. Always take a knife. The route. Planning progress against preferred minor road choices. Planning around the weather. Planning the mid-morning, mid-day, mid-afternoon stops. Planning the over-night halts. And planning the drinks menu. The finest of each region. Bandol, Côteaux Aix-en-Provence, Chateauneuf du Pape, right up to Calvados before the channel hop. All has to be thought about. On the road. The cold snowy winter pushed the pencil line on the map west of any possible mountain traverses. A precautionary trajectory was made along the coast towards Fréjus before cutting north west on a few higher roads leading to the Rhone valley. Riding out any unexpected faults in preparation, and settling into the task ahead. A little over 230kms as a prologue. And a refreshing rosé to end the first day. Once in the valley for Day Two, it was a game of dare and double dare with the wind. As happens, the triumvirate lost. In other words, 228kms into a headwind. Had it been day five, it could have broken morale quite quickly. But as it is, an Audax a day keeps the doctor away, and London in sight. The following days promised small roads, winding between rapeseed fields and small villages with cafés with eccentric patrons. Behaviour changes on a multi-day brevet. From civilized humans, a certain devolution takes place, and primal behaviours begin to dominate. The days and the kilometres pass by with a disconcerting sweetness, but preservation of the body is the primary concern. Listen to its hunger, its thirst. Locate the good bakeries and shops where quick refuelling can take place - fruit, sweets, peanuts, the best grab and go snacks you can find. That way the length of the stops are minimized. Sweeping, curving roads wind out in front and behind, caressing the undulations of the landscape and slowly becoming hypnotic. The details are now buried in a pile of kilometres and a million pedal revolutions. It becomes difficult to know which day it is and where exactly you are riding. The beep of the Garmin indicates the next route marker. Follow with familiarity and trust. Due North is becoming embedded in the internal global positioning systems of the three riders and eventually long distance becomes a constant motion blur. They skirt the big cities, barely touching them. Outsiders, traversing a country without a steel cage and a motor. Our nation's capital is avoided and suddenly, in the blink of a long-distance eye, after saying goodbye to the Mediterranean a few days ago, there is Dieppe and the return of the sea. Euphoria seizes everyone. The port also realigns the senses. It must mean it is Friday, as planned. France has been conquered in the allotted six days and the only thing hidden from customs before boarding the ferry is the 1200kms in the legs. The bottles of cider and calvados, on the other hand, are fully declared. A new day in Newheaven. On the road it feels like relearning everything again. It's the first time all three cyclists have ridden in England. Everything is upside down and details try to sneak back into a consciousness that had become accustomed to the flow of France. The English version of cycle friendly, quiet paths resemble mountain bike pistes rather than pistes cyclables. Progress feels worryingly slow. Thankfully, with 150kms to go to London, three friends are riding to meet the trio. At East Grinstead, they come together for an escort into the City. And here it is. A surreal sixty minutes traversing London, trying to make it in time for the shop closing. With twenty minutes to spare there is champagne in the city, on the footpath outside Café du Cycliste London. Three French friends who don't really know yet what they've just done. There is nothing else for it but to go to the pub, wash it all down with a few beers and celebrate the fact that they pierced France like an arrow and hit bullseye, right on time, in central London. RIDERS' NOTES Strava File - https://www.strava.com/activities/1526572500 Footnotes: Photography : Manivelle.cc

Haute couture cap Madame Marnier-Lapostolle was simply seeking to downsize. Thirty-five acres of gardens, an Olympic-size swimming pool and room for 30 horses had become a bit of burden. She should have known the house sale might have caused a few ripples in the global property pond. It is after all Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. And since M. Marnier-Lapostolle put up a price tag of 1.1 billion dollars for her too-big-to-maintain Villa les Cèdres, the small peninsula beside Villefranche is known as the most expensive real estate in the world. It didn’t used to be that way. Cap Ferrat and, in fact, much of the French Riviera, was just normal coast line where normal people had their normal holidays. One-piece bathing suits and big hair capped in bonnets to enjoy the sun and the sea. It took nearly 30 years after the original construction of Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat for the tide to turn from aristocrats wintering on the coast to artists and beatniks coming for summer sun in the early 1930s. The tide changed partly due to the filming of Don Quioxte by a German filmmaker. The film’s crew stayed in the hotel during the production and were so influenced by the beauty of the location that they returned with their families the next year. After the Second World War that came as close as destroying the lighthouse beside the hotel, the bohemians arrived in the summer in deliberate contrast to the wintering elite. At the start of the peninsula, where Villefranche simultaneously merges into Cap Ferrat and Beaulieu-sur-Mer, is Villa Nellcôte. It's here that exile by the tax man led to Exile on Main Street. Avoiding 93% income tax, the Stones turned the baroque building, also a former Gestapo HQ, into an open house party venue with a recording studio in the vast but damp and dingy basement. The Provençal air and sea views allowed the sparks to ignite and create one of the band’s most famous albums. Nowadays bankers and industrialists reportedly own most of the villas that hide amongst the cedar trees behind faux hedges and high walls. It’s ironic that the other original crown jewel of the Cap is the Villa de Rothschild, built by Beatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild from the original and famous banking family. Rumour has it that the Villa is currently being sold. If that is the case then Madame Marnier-Lapostolle’s sale might be surpassed. In between the villas and the super-yachts is the sentier littoral, the walking path which outlines the entire cap and links the bays and beaches. You can isolate yourself from the headlines and the temptation to peak through the holes in the high hedges and over the automatic gates and soak in the light that Matisse and others so adored. And with that light you can forget the attention grabbing headlines and speculative price-tags and enjoy the place for what has been described as 'an earthly slice of paradise'.