Free to explore my hilly corner of the countryside, I found hidden paths to sacred springs, prehistoric monoliths, empty swimming holes …
When I moved from London to a hilly area of rural France in 2017, I brought my bike with me. A faithful secondhand racer, it had served me well over the years to commute from south to central London. On day two in France, I took it out on the road and was completely exhausted by the time I got to the next village, 2km and four big hills away. I put the bike in the shed and forgot about it.
But I didn’t forget about cycling. With its empty roads and miles of meandering logging paths through ancient woodland, the area around my home is perfect for the adventurous cyclist. If only I could overcome the exhaustion problem. I needed to extend the range I could cycle safely, while still getting a respectable amount of exercise.
Five or six years ago I heard about ebikes, and took the plunge on an electrically assisted, low-cost Chinese mountain bike. It was a revelation. Suddenly, all the little byways that I’d drive past on my way to the supermarket opened up to me. I found secret paths to sacred springs that were weirdly adorned with old, mouldering clothing, I came across prehistoric monoliths, clear streams, and river bathing sites where no one else was bathing.
In this landscape, far from the places I had grown up and worked, ecycling made me feel as if I belonged, like part of the chain of humanity that had graced these lands for millennia. And with the wind in my face as I whiz down a hillside track or hollow-way pilgrim route I find the corners of my mouth turning up into an involuntary grin. I don’t think the ecycling is making me much healthier physically – in fact, thanks to French cheese, wines and bread, I’m fatter than I have ever been – but it makes me feel better: about being here, about existing, about enjoying the moment.
I occasionally meet similarly unlikely cyclists on the trail. One man in his 70s told me that ebiking made him feel 20 years younger, getting him out of his car and enabling him to make local journeys that he could never contemplate without battery assistance.
Given the positive effects, I upgraded. The Chinese bike went to a friend who is now discovering the joy of ecycling for himself, while I went for a lighter Italian number with a centrally positioned motor, which is better for balance than the motor in the rear wheel of my first bike.
Thanks to the fitness app that comes with my phone, I can track and store the increasingly obscure and far-flung routes I take, so I can go back and revisit favourites, or avoid places that proved disappointing.
I keep an eye on the state of my battery, but with a maximum range of about 100km, I rarely worry about getting home. After all, the worst that can happen is that I end up having to cycle back without electrical assistance. And that’s where this whole adventure started.
