Riding London to Paris on gravel: the ultimate off-road adventure with Hotchillee

‘We aren’t lost, we’re just taking an alternative route’ shouts Ride Captain Nibs as we pick our way through the labyrinthine forest trails on the outskirts of Paris. We’re on the final day of the Hotchillee London to Paris Gravel ride; two days ago we set out from Hampton Court with the French capital our target, between us and Paris lay over 350km of gravel trails, farm tracks and cycleways. Oh and a ferry.

Hotchillee were among the first to offer a fully supported London to Paris road ride, complete with motorbike escorts and rolling road closures and the road ride attracts upwards of 150 riders each year but the gravel edition is only in its infancy with the first edition held in 2022. Just 35 intrepid souls lined up to take on the challenge but with the event being fully supported we could focus on the riding. A mechanic and physio team were on hand to keep bikes and bodies in top form and our luggage was ferried from hotel to hotel in an impressive logistical feat that Royal Mail would struggle to match.

The road version of the event sees riders split into three groups depending on their average speed and every effort is made to keep the groups together meaning there can be quite a spread of abilities, with some hanging off the back and others pushing on at the front. There was no such pressure on gravel however, every rider had the GPS file on their head unit so there was no pressure to hang with faster riders for fear of getting lost, everyone could enjoy the scenery and ride at their own pace. Three ride captains are spread among the groups too to assist with any mechanicals, provide navigation and generally bring some questionable banter.

A 4am alarm on Thursday morning might not have been the ideal preparation for what was to come but the short roll from my accommodation to the start line soon cleared the head. With the final bike checks made, luggage put in the back of the correct vans all that was left to do was enjoy a quick breakfast before rolling out. The pumping music and sound of a hoard of roadies could be heard from across the way as their ride departed, but things were much more serene in the gravel camp. Talk of tyre pressure filled the air as coffee was sipped and nerves settled.

This would be the only day with any real time pressure as we had to cover the 120km to reach the ferry in Newhaven. Rolling out at 6am on the dot, it was a matter of minutes before we were onto the gravel, weaving down alleyways and scaling flights of steps to reach the River Thames tow path which would accompany us for the first stint of the morning. There was apprehension in the air as riders sized each other up, seeing who would be leading the charge and who would be taking things at a more sedate pace. Much of the riding for the first 40km was singletrack along towpaths, requiring more concentration than was available given the time we woke up.

Having spent the last two hours staring at the rider in fronts rear wheel and doing our best not to end up in the drink, the welcome sight of the first feed stop loomed into view. Taking time to refill bottles, fuel up and tend to any mechanical niggles, riders chatted away until Ride Captain Tinks suggested we should probably get a move on given there were still 80km left to ride.

From the feed stop we left the river towpaths behind and joined the Downs Link trail, a route that would take us to the coast along two disused railway lines that have formed a haven for wildlife amongst the forests that surround the route. The whole trail is surfaced so the speed soon picked up and the group made good time, eating away the kilometres. Lunch came and went and the days ride culminated in a short jaunt along the coast for Brighton to Newhaven under cloudless skies in time to make our ferry.

Day 2 was billed as the Queen Stage, packing 1400m of climbing into 140km. There was some relief however, the fabled ‘Gulley of Certain Death’ from the 2022 edition had been replaced with the ‘Gulley of Potential Death’ which surely meant odds of survival had increased?

Regardless of the impending doom, we rolled out from Dieppe and within minutes were slogging up the first climb of the day which would be a recurring theme throughout the day.

Technical ascents littered with rocks, roots and branches kept everyone on their toes but a few times the terrain got the better of everyone and we had to resort to walking. It’s not a gravel ride unless there’s some hike-a-bike involved somewhere! The descents offered little respite either, the same technical terrain but with added gravity meaning good bike handling skills were essential otherwise you’d rapidly end up in a heap.

Much of the morning was spent heaving up steep gradients and then clinging on for dear life down the other side but everyone had a smile on their face and was loving just riding their bike through some stunning scenery.

Those smiles were temporarily wiped and replaced with apprehension as we approached the ‘Gulley of Potential Death’ on the outskirts of Rouen; a steep sided shute with razor sharp flint hiding under a loose and incredibly slippery layer of dust to make sure you were paying attention. Near the top of the trail, the gulley claimed a victim; throwing a rider off balance and landing on the aforementioned flint causing a deep and nasty gash to his knee. Heeding the warning, the rest of us tiptoed down the rest of the descent thankful it wasn’t us. The excellent medical team took care of the rider and he’ll live to fight another day.

A slight navigational mishap and some closed roads meant it took a bit longer than planned to reach the lunch stop, but it was very much worth it.

In true Hotchillee fashion, today’s lunch stop was far more than a warm and slightly soft energy bar that had been festering in our back pocket all morning, it was a something much better.

Fresh stone baked pizza was certainly one way to recompose after a tough morning, battered bikes were tended to by the excellent roving mechanic and tired muscles massaged back to life by the physio team.

The final 50km of the day was along the banks of the Seine so conversation flowed as we followed the river towards the hotel.

Day three saw the final push to Paris and an early start had us riding through beautiful golden light to pick up the trail along the Seine once again. Today’s route was a special one, not only would we finish under the Eiffel Tower, but the route was designed by Sofiane Seheli; an ultra-endurance athlete whose palmares make for impressive reading. A winner of the Silk Mountain race, Tour Divide and Inca Divide to name a few, this man knows how to ride a bike a long way very quickly. He’s also a resident Parisian and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of anything worth riding so our route would get us to the centre of Paris with our tyres touching tarmac as little as possible.

That was all to come though, we still had some 130km to tackle but riding through the village of the French artist Monet, it could have been double that and most wouldn’t have cared. Today was already shaping up to be a great day on the bike.

As the kilometres ticked by, the empty countryside started to become more urban; more cars and one might think less gravel but far from it, darting through underpasses and using cycle lanes to string together as much off road riding as possible. One singletrack section saw us barrelling along the banks of the Seine again but with the foliage much closer in, making it a real challenge to maintain speed yet not end up with a face full of shrub.

A similar pattern was repeated for the next few hours until we emerged from a forest section right into the heart of Paris, with the Eiffel Tower visible on the horizon. The final few kilometres were a dash through Paris on protected cycle lanes with the iconic landmark getting closer and closer.

Three days of riding had come to an end in a flash, but for some luckily folk it wasn’t over yet. The Tour de France was arriving in Paris the next evening and with it one of the most iconic stretches of road in the world was closed off to cars and some were luckily enough to be able to ride a lap of the Champs Elysée under a motorbike escort with excited crowds at the side of the road wating for the main race.

Having ridden the course, it was time to watch the pros to see how it was really done. Hotchillee offer a grandstand seating package which had us positioned at the 250m board mere metres from the road to get the best views of the action. Watching Vingegaard, Pogacar and Yates scream over the cobbles was an unforgettable experience, as was walking back up the road after the race had finished and seeing scores of the best riders in the world riding back the other way. It’s the equivalent of walking on the pitch minutes after the world cup final has finished with the players still on the pitch.

It's an unforgettable couple of days both riding and spectating and one that Hotchillee are in a prime position to deliver with a wealth of experience running cycling events anywhere from Cape Town to the Swiss Alps and it really shows, logistics were slick, routes were exceptional and most of all the people made it a very special event.

Bookings are open for next year for the road event, with gravel entries launching in September. More information can be found at www.hotchillee.com