Like Forrest Gump just kept on running, us velocipides just want to keep on rolling : round the next corner, over the unbeaten path, through the col.

Quick city exits and quiet roads that keep on winding and climbing and crossing borders into principalities, Italy, or simply the next valley. Keep on keeping on.

The Riviera might evoke a packed hullabaloo of tourists fighting for space on busy coastal roads as they make their way to the sea.

The fact is, if you choose your route correctly, you can be up and out of Nice in less than ten minutes, and at 1,000m above the Mediterranean in less then sixty minutes. Up there, in the depths of l’arrière-pays, time can stand still like a sun-worshipper with a 30€ a day front row beach transat.

Between the Mediterranean and the highest peaks lies a plethora of valleys overlooked by perched villages built in pastel colours, each one offering the obligatory boulangerie, brasserie and free fountain water to top up your bidons.

Layers of folded earth crust, laced with french road engineering that surely justifies some of the taxes paid by the French citizens.

Choose to stay in the compact folds of the collines, or venture further north where the valleys are deeper because the peaks are higher. The Roya valley, the Bevera valley, the Veusbie valley and the Tinée valley. Take the last one to end up at the foot of Europe’s proclaimed highest road*.

The beach bums don't have to be forgotten; you can nearly see them on a clear day from 2,000m above sea level if you venture round the Boucle de l'Authion - the 14km loop above the 24km climb to Col de Turini. That's nearly 50km of climbing if you start from Nice. Up, ever up.

And after the snow line is reached or when the sun is on its descent over the western peaks of L'Esterel national park, all that is left is to turn around and freewheel back to Nissa la Bella.

The roads are waiting. The roads are calling. The roads are empty.

For more information on the routes and climbs of the Côte d'Azur, check out WHERE WE RIDE