Toute la nuit
As a graphic designer, Matthieu of Manivelle.cc sees the beauty of cycling through creative eyes. His inventive mind couldn't help itself and he devised 'Toute La Nuit' - a 260km night ride from his home town of Marseille to our new Café in Nice to prepare himself for the challenges he faces on this year's Paris-Brest-Paris Brevet.
If I were to sum up this last night out on the roads of the French Riviera, here are the words that come to mind: a sunset, an Istanbul Kebab, a funfair, the Milky Way, a fox surprised by my headlight (I think), the hairpins, dawn on the Corniche de l'Esterel, the Croisette and a welcome arrival at the finish.
In order to maintain my endurance fitness and try out some new accessories for the upcoming Paris-Brest-Paris race, I decided to embark on a night ride from Marseilles to the cycling stronghold that is the Café du Cycliste, located in Nice.
For a route, I opted to follow the coast as far as possible and so at the stroke of 8pm, I find myself at the top of the Col de la Gineste. I briskly make my way through all these familiar roads where I used to train so that I can ride along the sea at dusk. Once I’m there, I alternate between the main road and the sandstone bike path.
The night quickly becomes black, and after a stop-off for water in a Toulon Kebab shop (the only open shop with drinking water along the way), the route alternates between fast deserted roads and street lamps that twinkle in the distance like marine lights. It’s Monday night, well past midnight, and the summer season hasn’t quite begun so it’s rare to see anyone else along the way. And so much the better.
These roads seem like gifts: empty, and mostly in very good condition. A sequence of bumps keeps my headlight beam on its toes, giving me the sensation of steering and speeding blindly through a heady Milky Way that I haven’t witnessed since the BRM 600. The somewhat troubling soundtrack of wild animals makes me cross my fingers for no flats. In that regard, luck was on my side .
This time around, I made sure to take my time. I don’t mean that I slowed to a leisurely crawl; I came to a complete stop to indulge in the simple pleasures of cycling. That’s to say, stop, shoot some pictures or just take a few minutes to drink in one of the countless panoramas while nibbling on the food in my musette. I also made sure that I was all on my own (apart from the sea beside me), a required precaution for my senses when riding at night.
It’s the perfect weather, with moments of fresh breeze, and so it’s in short sleeves that I begin the sublime L'Esterel Corniche at sunrise. Surrounded by a glassy sea and a landscape worthy of an old western film, I don’t cross paths with a single soul whatsoever until arriving in the next town: absolutely magical, 'my' road.
In the same way that the sun rises, the human body tends to wake up at the same time, providing a second wind to push through the journey and arrive exactly on time. La Croisette, its luxury shops and its sleepy municipal employees who prepare the film of the day see me whiz by like a ghost ... I won’t stop until I reach the port of Nice.
It was at exactly 8am that I arrived at Café du Cycliste. Coffee in hand, I finally discovered the place I had only seen under construction and I can only admire the work done by the team to create a truly welcoming space: outside of coffee (or tea for that matter), there is a series of gleaming bicycles available for hire, a mechanical workshop, a bike wash station (very cool idea!), and brand new changing rooms.
The café is certainly the perfect ambiance to meet with other cyclists and exchange about all kinds of adventures!