Cote d Azur 2018
This wasn't planned specifically a bike trip but I have Family who rent an Apartment annually in Theoule sur Mer, just west along the coast from Cannes. The area provides some beautiful biking so this year I decided to rent both a road bike and a mountain bike to go exploring while my family relaxed, shopped, ate and drank!
The Rental shop in Theoule, So Watt, is part of a chain of shops around the area, stocking E-bikes along with Look road bikes and Sunn mountain bikes. First up was the road bike, a Look 785 Huez, it is vastly different to my road bike at home, a Specialized Diverge, a chunky Aluminium "Adventure road bike" with comfortable 28c tyres. French road bike of the year, the Huez is a £4000+ lightweight climbing machine with Di2 shifting, weighing in at only 7.2kg it felt like it could really fly up hills but made me more cautious on the downhills!
I picked it up at 5pm and headed straight out for a spin along the coast before dinner, heading west out of Theoule along the stunning coastline to Agay. This direction is a lot quieter than the built up areas along the east through Cannes and Nice, there wasn't much traffic and the drivers were considerate and left space or stayed behind until there was a clear section on which to overtake.
You go past some beautiful rugged bays along this stretch of coastline, the red rocks around Cap Roux look amazing contrasted against the turquoise blue of the sea and I had to stop a few times to admire the views and make the most of some photo opportunities. Heading back from Agay you are riding along the coastal side of the road so the views are even better, I got a little carried away with my ride and got back to the apartment to find dinner waiting for me, could an evening get any better?!
The next morning I headed down to the Village to pick up the almond Croissants we had pre ordered the previous day, I delivered them to my waiting family before heading east along to Mandelieu, stopping on the cliff top to eat my croissant on route. From Mandelieu the route I was following takes you north, up into the hills to Tanneron, it was already hot and the climb was a good steady slog, nothing says "Good Morning legs!" like a 11.5km climb first thing!
Tanneron is a cute mountain Village with coffee shops and a couple of bars and restaurants, popular with cyclists because of the quiet roads and picturesque climbs surrounding it. I opted to just refill my water at the village tap and take a moment to admire the view down over the hills towards the sea.
The route took me west from here, a fast decent into a valley before climbing back up and along to the next village, Les Marjoris before dropping down to Lac de Saint-Cassien where the quiet mountain road joined onto the D37, crossing the A8 before hitting Les Ardets and up to Col du Testanier. There were a mix of road and mountain bikers milling around this area but I started to continue down the main road before realising I had missed the turning I wanted for a small mountain road called Route D'Italie. This is the point where I would have preferred to have been riding my Diverge with its forgiving 28c tyres, the route was fairly rough and gravelly and the Look felt a lot harsher than I'm used to, although it coped just fine and it was nice to be away from the cars, even if I did get some funny looks from a few walkers and mountain bikers.
At the bottom of Route D'Italie it was time to head south and join the coast road, The traffic here got worse again, although there are cycle paths or wide hard shoulders you can cycle in, I went down through Frejus to Saint Raphael and had a quick refreshment break at the beach before taking the coast road back east towards home.
Along the coast around Boulouris I found a Rotisserie restaurant and picked up a "Sandwich au Poulet" in my best French, The baguette conveniently fitted perfectly in my spare bottle cage until I found a pretty spot overlooking the bay of Agay for a picnic and to cool my feet in the sea.
From here the route was the same as the previous evening but I continued along further to Cannes before turning backhand heading home to Theoule to drop the bike back in time for a shower and change before an amazing meal at Le Revere in Port Rague, Another perfect day!
The following day my family were heading up to market day in the mountain town of Valbonne, owing to my general dislike of crowds and shopping we all decided it was for the best that I went biking again, Yay! This time I opted for a Mountain bike to take up into the Esterel area behind Theoule. The guys at the shop seemed surprised to see me again, this time opting for a mountain bike. Despite their best efforts to convince me to take out an E-bike I resisted and opted to rely on full leg power, even though the Sunn I rented was heavier and with smaller wheels and longer travel than I'm used to at home! I took the road up from the shop and followed Chemin du Sanglier up to Notre Dame d'Afrique, a monument in memory of soldiers who died during the wars in Africa.
The various routes and cols are well signposted up here and went along to Col de Theoule, Col du Treyas, Col de la Cadiere and then dropped down to the valley of Pont Sarrazin where I found a small stream and decided to take a chance and risk filling up my water bottle, It was hot and dry up here and I was getting thirsty!
At the end of the path I came across a large building covered in graffiti, I have no idea what it was but it made for some good photos!
The path too me back up the mountain towards Col de Theoule again, by this time it was blisteringly hot on the south facing paths, the rock absorbs the heat and throws it back at you and I was really glad of my bottle of stream water! I had only rented the bike for 4 hours this time so rather than starting a new loop I headed back down towards the sea, taking a quick peep up another path behind the village bakery, this is an alternative route up to Col de Theoule but as time ran out I turned round to deliver the bike back before changing into my bikini and plunging myself into the sea. If only ever ride could end like this :)
