Road Rides

When we first moved to St Antonin it was the quality of the road riding which most attracted us. Several years and lots of customers later and we know we were right about that. The scenery is stunning and changes depending on which direction you ride. We’re completely off the beaten track, but that means there’s almost no traffic. You’ve probably never heard of our region, and for a cyclist, that’s just how things should be. If everyone knew how wonderful it is here, the roads would be full of traffic!

But it’s not just the scenery and the quiet roads which make this area so remarkable. We have a seemingly endless supply of quiet valley roads, which means you can enjoy the hills without riding up too many of them. That’s unusual, in most places the main roads follow the valleys. That means that most of our routes follow two valleys with a hill linking the two. We also offer train assisted rides which mean you can get much further away from our base.

We’re in the Aveyron gorge and there’s wonderful riding both up and downstream from here with dramatic cliffs all around. We’re also on the smaller Bonnette river, which is a charming wooded valley, reputed to have more watermills than any other in France and an amazing waterfall you can admire without even getting off your bike! To the north is the huge Causse de Quercy, a limestone plateau peppered with tranquil villages, which gradually gives way to the Lot valley and totally different scenery to what’s on our doorstep. To the south, we have the endless Gresigne forest and the Gaillac vineyards, to the east the wilder and more mountainous terrain of the Aveyron.

Most of our customers opt for self-guided. I’ll talk to you about exactly what you’re looking for in terms of distance, climbing, eating and what you’d like to see along the way and put a programme together for you. The rides will be loaded on to a GPS – you can bring your own or rent one from me, and I’ll talk you through the route before you set off. Self-guiding works best if you’re already familiar with using a GPS for navigation, but the units we hire aren’t complicated. I’ll also come out and rescue you if necessary. Self guided is available whenever we have rooms free.

I can also offer guided rides, which tend to work better with groups. That removes any possibility of getting lost, means the ride can be altered as we go, and I can tell you more about the places we’re riding through.

We ride year-round, but the best riding weather tends to be between the start of April and the end of October. Midsummer can be quite hot, but there are plenty of swimming spots to cool off.

OUR CALENDAR OF ROAD CYCLING HOLIDAYS