( See here for more on flying with bikes). Ours were neatly wrapped and whole in the CTC bags and came to us on a buggy of their own, having been treated with greatest of care by man in suit and tie and white kid gloves – well almost. A buggy delivered a stack of boxes to the arrivals hall - with the soft shell beneath a couple of hard shells. Their bikes were all neatly stowed in hard boxes but for one who'd used a soft shell bag. Will it come out on the carousel entangled with a pram or will it arrive in style? There were several cyclists from the UK, who were popping over for some training. Waiting for a bike to reach the baggage retrieval area in one piece is always a barrel of laughs. If you don’t fancy Ventoux itself, you can just head over to western Provence. The roadage is quite steep and spectacular as the ride takes you up the Tarn gorge further on, the cols will also test.

The route up the Tarn, through Lozere and down to the Rhone climaxes at the top of Mont Ventoux before skedaddling down to Marseilles. Stevenson accidentally invents the sleeping bag, one of many of his great but unheralded inventions, including curtains, the broom, nails and underpants. This route was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels With A Donkey ( UK, US) a rustic thriller in which the hero and his pet make for the bleak harshness of the Cevennes in southern France. Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s 'Travels With A Donkey', Patrick Perring cycles from the Tarn to Marseille via the Cevennes and Ventoux.

Rl stevenson cevennes