Cycling at the heart of French countryside.
After following Lieven Loots through the first two chapters of his extraordinary journey from Saint Malo to Nice, we come to the final moment of this unique experience with Ciclitorino Sport & Tour. We cycled with him through breathtaking landscapes, discovering the essence of slow travel: a way of life that combines exploration, awareness and passion for cycling.
In this last section of his story, Lieven takes us towards our destination, but not without giving us new reflections. Each kilometre covered represents a continuous dialogue between man and the land, between movement and time that stops to observe, listen and learn.
A finale that celebrates the soul of Ciclitorino Sport & Tour: it is not the destination that counts, but the journey itself, made of emotions, sharing and contemplation. Find out with us how this adventure ends and be inspired to get on the saddle (of a Ciclitorino…) to write your own story.
“My bike of choice to travel all the way from the north to the south of France was a steel Ciclitorino Audace Adventure gravel steed, kitted out with a Sram Apex 1×11 groupset with hydraulic disc brakes and running on wide 700x32cc road specific tyres. The bike was kindly lend out to me for the duration of the trip by Ciclitorino’s Stefano Tarticchio. A fully blown road bike may have gotten me there faster, but who needs fast when there is du pain, du vin et du boursin to be had around every corner? I needed to get there in comfort and in style, and the Audace Adventure has both and a lot of it. One of the perks of guiding cycling holidays is the presence of a support van carrying food, water, spares, luggage and if necessary tired clients. No need to load up the bike then, one can travel light with just a small frame bag, seat bag for tools and spare inner tube, one water bottle and a gps for not getting (too) lost. But then I am sure the Audace would have performed perfectly fine also fully kitted out, bike packing style.
Setting off from the fortified town of St Malo along the Channel Coast to get a glimpse of Mont Saint Michel, the first couple of days were then spent cycling south through rural France meaning tiny little villages, lots of cows, and fields of corn (and corn and corn and yet more corn). Not the most challenging panoramic roads for sure, but still a good warm up for the harder days to come. It is nice as well to be able to tick off “Cycling along the banks of the Loire gawking at its famous chateaux” from one’s To Do list. Soon enough the daily climbing totals start rising over the 1000 meter mark, making you – and your legs – realize you have entered the Perigord (foie gras anyone?) and Dordogne regions in hilly central France.
