It’s a product of the pressure of time, which has a habit of focusing the mind. A mix of studying the maps, getting lost, getting guided by MTB riders and just riding the damn thing resulted in the final route. But it’s not just the route that makes the ride.

Like lunch itself, here is our list of ingredients for the midday hour of joy:

1.The right group – enough to make it fun, not enough to make an administrative burden. The right group wants the same thing and each individual can hand out the attacks, but accept with grace if beaten.

2. Mix it up – Multi-surface is multi-purpose. It’s amusing and testing at the same time. Steps that require ‘porter porter’ increase the heart rate, sharp gradients afterwards stretch the effort, tarmac in between provides recovery. And the gravel provides moments of escapism even though you've just left the city limits.

3. A little bit of magic – That stretch of road that triggers the wanderlust, and that offers a view to the mountains to spark ideas for the weekend when time allows for higher mountains, bigger loops and deeper exploration. In this case, it’s the Route Stratégique to Eze from where you can see the peaks of the Alpes-Maritimes all the way to the Italian border. Dream of Col de Tende as your next gravel riding adventure.

4. Classical climbing, with a twist – to be able to ride to Col d’Eze, a road soaked in cycling history, by gravel, in one hour from the office is the pinnacle of the best lunch ride in the world. It’s special.

5. The unexpected – Never, ever settle on the traditional route. There is more above the Col. And up there, take the single-track to the right, sharpen your bike-handling skills by dodging the big rocks and brushing the tree trunks. Everyone follows the leader, crashes ensue, reputations are both inflated and deflated in equal measure.

6. The perfect end – From 670m high, back to sea level. Drop like a stone down steep descents to the Café and a lunch of the Best Pan Bagnat in the world beside the sea. Take a quick espresso and be back in the office with enough endorphins to tide you over until the next one. Perfection.