We commute all week long along the seaside between Nice and Monaco; From Monday to Friday we can see the mountains in the background, calling us. We can only dream and plan our next escape… So when the week-end comes, we are ready!
This time it was pretty simple, a day-out, between friends, up to well-known gravel climb and back.
We like those simple days. We love to start and finish in Nice, by bike only. No car, no train, no plane or ferry.
It’s quite simple but not easy. The change of scenery is total between the city and the mountains but you have to climb your way to the paradise.
The plan is to have lunch at the top of Mont Ferion, after 50km and 2000m of ascent.
With the boys we meet for a morning café in a small Italian place (of course) at the corner of rue Gambetta and rue de France. Then we leave the city. A few kilometers on the tarmac and then we find the beloved tracks on the slopes of the Mt Chauve with one of the most beautiful view on Nice.
When we hit the first gravel, it’s fun time for us and our bikes and everybody is smiling. Time to have fun with our bikes. And not just any bikes.
We have just created our brand with all our passion, our ideas, our crazy desires and above all our love: Massacan.
It smells like spring. The sun is riding with us. Sunglasses on the nose. T-shirt rides are just around the corner!
We have a smile on our faces and we take it easy, at “fun pace”. We stop to take pictures, to pee, to check the view, to refill our bottles. Lunch will probably be a bit delayed.
We eat rocks on the fire trails which make us happy and the troop is delighted. I love these moments. Before the last big climb we go to the bakery in the village of Levens. We stuff our bags with “Pan-Bagnat”, “Pissaladière” and other local delicious food. A last coffee on the terrace and we’re off again.
I haven’t counted the turns but there are many of them. And they are also an opportunity to take photo breaks again and again.
What could be better than riding with friends at the gates of the Mercantour. Once at the top, it’s deliverance. We lean our bikes against the refuge, We lay down our sweaty clothes on a drying rack at the very top, waiting for us.
And we rest, we eat, we laugh, we admire the views, our bikes, knowing perfectly that it is only downhill from now.
Words & photos by Massacan