“It’s a wonderful release when you find it. When you discover that every step of the journey is the same. You can enjoy the first step and the last step and every step in between. They’re all just as important. Crossing the line is euphoric, of course, but that’s all there is. It’s short lived. After a couple of days you are back to taking single steps again”. Stevie the ferryman, Salcombe, South Devon.

I’ve always thought that the best days on the bike are the ones that are as much a journey, a voyage of discovery, as possible. Nothing beats the satisfaction of all day ramble whether ridden hard or just pottering. I’ve never been one to go chasing segments or sucking up the less interesting roads just because. For me riding a bike is about that time to decompress, to free the mind, to let it wander and soak up the world around it free from thought or daily life.

Despite the fact that vicariously, through any number of channels, we can all delve into any number of experiences from our homes, it is still possible to set yourself loose on a modern day odyssey, a release from the flow of the tide. A kind of grand tour of the Alps had been on my agenda for many years and the impending relocation to Europe was just the opportunity to finally get my teeth into one. As it turns out, Bike Dreams, a Dutch based cycle tour company, have been running Les Dix Alpes, a journey from the shores of Lake Como to the Mediterranean at Nice, for a few years now. It offers a magnificent opportunity to explore some of the grandest of the French cols but still leaves plenty unexplored for future European raids. If you want to get a real tasting plate of the Italian and French Alps, there are few easier ways to start.

Every bike is a gravel bike

13 of the best from a year of limited adventure

Part 3 - Downhill to the Med

Part 2 - Les Grandes Alpes

Finally!

Hell of the North East