Mud and miles — the Gravel of Legend race

The ‘Gravel of Legend’ is a semi-autonomous 300-kilometre (186 mi) gravel bike race that starts in Arromanches, one of the beaches of the 1944 landings, and finishes in Angers, at ‘Nature is Bike’, a festival that puts gravel riding in the spotlight.

More than 320 of us lined up on the beach on 25 June at 6.31am. In tribute to the soldiers who liberated France, the race begins after a minute's silence. The peloton stretches quickly because of a small hill, and the first trails head between the wheat fields.

The course has almost 2,000 metres (6,560 ft) of elevation gain, but almost all the change in altitude is concentrated in the first 150 kilometres (93 mi). It rained a lot in the region in the days leading up to the race, so the terrain was still wet in places. It was slippery, splashing our bikes and quickly turning our bright clothes to beige.

The route took us through Normandy and Calvados at first, then we passed through Mayenne, where the rain started to fall. It was with us until the end of the race. Despite this, the landscapes were superb and I rode at my own pace.

I entered Angers in the middle of the night, a little after 1 am. The ‘Nature is Bike’ sign in sight, I rode the last few kilometres to the finish. A few people were still there to applaud us. I was rinsed (in every sense of the word!) and happy to have finished the adventure in time. Finally, it was time to meet up with my friends, who were waiting for me to drink the victory beer!

Photos of me, Fabien Boukla and Fabien from the Touraine Gravel Challenge.