Last week I finished a week-long tour in the Massif Central, a giant area of France that has 5 times the number of cows as people. Until 20 years ago it didn’t even have a highway, but still today it’s easily one of the least populated and visited areas of France and has a surprising number of things cyclists love. First, the occasional great hotel, an example of which you can see above. This was our first day, in an area we know well – Les Cévennes (technically part of the Massif Central.

But on Day Two we were immediately out of familiar territory and up in the highlands that make up most of the Massif Central. I was a little concerned that this tour wouldn’t have enough variety in terrain to make it interesting for a week, but I was totally off there. We went from wild, treeless Aubrac to the high volcanic mountains of Puy de Dome and the Cantal. It was all very green, but nobody seemed to mind that ‘monotony’.

And of course, it’s France, so we had a couple of Tour de France climbs. We actually rode for a couple of days on much of the route they’ll be using this year on July 14th, France’s National Day. Puy Mary is a very pretty climb with views in all directions.

Did we mention the cows? Cyclists love cows. I also tried to choose historic villages to stay in, so we had lovely Besse and even lovelier Salers (“Sailors”, as it now known in the Central Valley of California).

And with all those cows and the extreme lack of people, you get quiet roads. Somehow these roads are amazingly well-kept, too. Probably the best tarmac we’ve ever had on a 7-day tour.

Taking names for 2027 now.