Home > Holidays > Cycling > Passionate about Cycling

Passionate about Cycling

By Bev Hawman

I had my first taste of cycling in France at the age of twelve when I spent a summer in the Loire with my French penfriend. With only a few words of French in my vocabulary, I found myself jetting off to France alone and being driven to an isolated country home in the Loire region. As my friend’s parents departed for Paris leaving us behind with her elderly grandmother, I realised our only means of getting provisions would be to jump on our bikes and ride to the nearest village. The taste of freedom was wonderful and we spent every day cycling through tiny hamlets and villages, buying produce from the local markets, visiting the local piscine, pausing for picnics by fields of sunflowers and, best of all, cooling ourselves down in the intense heat by cycling under the numerous water sprayers. Come the end of the summer, I was left with memories of glorious days discovering France for the first time on two wheels.

Living in hilly Devon meant that when I returned, cycling in England never quite had the same appeal to me. It wasn’t until I spent a summer selling cuckoo clocks to American and Japanese tourists at the foot of the Bavarian Alps in Germany that I rediscovered the joys of cycling. On my days off I would see how far I could go on my ancient bike whose only means of braking was the efficient continental system of pedalling backwards, very scary when you are hurtling down a mountain and instinct tells you to clench your hands to slow down only to realise there are no proper brakes! I discovered Austria was a few miles down the road and would ride as far as I could before turning back once the light started to fade.

Austria and Germany are perfect for cycling and the following summer I returned to the country where cyclists have their own traffic lights and railway stations are easily identified by the hoards of bikes stacked up waiting for their owners to return. Another summer selling cuckoo clocks, this time in the Black Forest, enabled me to explore another region on two wheels. Tempted by the idea of being able to boast I had cycled through two countries in a day and wanting to brush up both my French and German (I was, after all, there under the guise of studying for my languages degree), this time I headed for the French border through the Kaiserberg vineyard region to Colmar in Alsace.

My next cycling adventures were to take place in Japan when, penniless after graduating, I decided to head to the land of the rising sun. How could I turn down the offer of a first-class flight to Tokyo in return for a few hours’ teaching a week? On arrival I was whisked away to the bright lights of Tokyo and a five-star hotel. Once dispatched to my corner of rural Japan, I ventured out to explore the mountains and villages on my bike, frequently finding myself bombarded with offers of fruit, sake, snacks and even places to stay the night as I cycled past rice paddies. The highlight of my three years in this fascinating country was a four-day expedition around the mountainous Kii Peninsula to the south of Kyoto. With a friend, I cycled up into the mountains and then down towards the sea, the richness of the autumn colours making the scenery all the more spectacular.

Having cycled in various countries around the world, I can honestly say that there is no better way to get to know a country, its people and its culture than on a bike. Locals are far more likely to enter into conversation with someone who takes the time to cycle at leisure through their village and who is interested in learning about the places they visit.

Nowadays I enjoy a little gentler cycling around the Yorkshire countryside on summer evenings or weekends, with just the occasional trip abroad. Last autumn, though, I spent a week exploring the Dordogne by bike. Even after my exploits in Germany and Japan, the country to which I owe my passion for cycling is still my firm favourite. In my mind, nothing beats cycling in rural France. It’s a great way to experience the French way of life and, as a cyclist, you will find you are welcomed with open arms. The locals will be happy to discuss the joys of cycling through the best country in the world; the back roads are almost traffic-free and motorists are certainly far more considerate towards cyclists than in Britain.

In the eyes of the average French person, cyclists earn and therefore deserve respect. They will surely tell you, as I have heard time and time again, that the French do not need to take holidays abroad as their country has such diversity of landscapes – mountains, rolling countryside, sea. Indeed, you can take any kind of holiday you like in France and be assured fantastic food and hospitality. Why go anywhere else? I tend to agree, though as I am about to go cycling in Catalonia and have been told it is perfect cycling country, who knows, maybe Spain and the Spanish/Catalan cuisine will sway my opinion, though it has a lot to live up to!

> Recommended reading

< To the top of this page

< Back to Cycling Index