A mix of pure adrenaline and fun

He eats, breathes, sleeps and lives by bike. It's his job, his hobby, his mission, too. For Julien Rebuffet, Director of the Syndicat National des Moniteurs Cyclistes Français, cycling is already revolutionizing travel. But it's also changing its followers, through the values it conveys. But it's also changing its followers, through the values it conveys.

Hello Julien! Very happy to have you in our newsletter. I know curiosity is a bad habit, but I'll take it. Can you tell me about your "first time" on a bike?

I remember that moment very well. I lived in a small village near Grenoble. There were no flat roads... except farm tracks! It was on these small, bumpy paths that I learned to ride a bike, and it was there that my love of mountain biking was born. ****Today, I'm still fascinated by the "flow" that this activity gives me, a mixture of pure adrenalin and pleasure, when the brain is 100% focused on the task in hand. This endorphin rush, so typical of extreme sports, is something you quickly get hooked on!

When did you know you wanted to do this for a living?

Early! By middle school, I was already passionate about it, I felt at home and in harmony with it. I knew that whatever happened, this would be my guiding principle, whatever the job. I became an instructor after completing my DUT in marketing technology, because I felt a strong need to pass on my passion.

Can you tell us what MCF is and what role it plays in the cycling ecosystem?

MCF is a network of cycling professionals, founded in Grenoble in 1999. Our job is a bit of a "two-headed" one: there's the activity of guide, to supervise trips or bike rides, and that of instructor, to give bike piloting lessons, in town or in the mountains. All instructors have both profiles, some choose one or the other path, and others mix the two. Today, we have 1,400 MCFs throughout France.

"Cycling is the perfect medium for quality tourism".

What role does cycling play in your life?

It's everywhere, I think! It's my hobby, my passion, my job, my way of getting around. So much so that I'm particularly proud of the fact that it's contaminating those closest to me. A world on bikes is a more beautiful world!

What changes have you seen over the last 10 years in terms of the place of the bicycle in our society?

The age of the bicycle is coming back, and it's regaining the place and interest it should never have lost, not only in everyday life, but also as a leisure activity and on vacation. I've been working in this sector for 20 years, and I've seen a real evolution over the last ten years or so. But the real turning point came after covid, which put the bicycle back in people's minds. The government, too, is taking it much more seriously. There's a cycling plan, and more and more powerful players, like France vélo tourisme and Vélo et territoires. A whole industry has been created, including a working group on bicycle tourism, of which MCF is a member. And this subject is now taken very seriously, as the industry is now a major player in economic, climate and energy issues.

Why is bicycle tourism becoming more and more popular?

The desire to get back to nature, the need to slow down, to do things at the right speed. Just look at the growing interest in leisure and roaming experiences. As instructors and guides, we're seeing the arrival of a new generation, very different from the old-fashioned cyclotourists. This public is often more urban, they don't have all the knowledge of cycling, but they know that it's the perfect medium for quality tourism: with cycling, travel is an integral part of the journey and the experience. Speed means you can not only soak up the scenery, but also meet new people and recharge your batteries: on a bike, you can admire the landscape just as well as let your thoughts wander.

"With the bicycle, we reappropriate a forgotten form of travel".

Where do you think this need to slow down comes from?

The "always further, always faster, always stronger" mentality, we can see where it leads us... Cycling puts meaning back into our lives, without giving up on movement and travel. With cycling, it's not: "stay at home, stop moving, do nothing more, deprive yourself!" It's "come on, let's travel differently".

I've read that the bicycle, back in 1800, was a tool of emancipation for women. Could it also be used by all of us to change the face of tourism?

Completely! It's a flashback to the post-industrial era, and we're reclaiming a form of travel we'd forgotten, that of the quest. In those days, we tended to go on pilgrimages. This journey told a story, it was a narrative in itself, like when you set off on the road to Santiago de Compostela. That's what's interesting about traveling: composing your own experience. The bike is just the thread that binds this itinerary together, but it's also a bit of a driving force, allowing us to take charge of our journeys once again. It's a bit like the tourist sitting in the plane, sitting in the minibus, sitting in the bus, going down to take photos and then sitting down again, in a kind of passive frenzy. Temporality is fundamental to travel, and the bike responds to this: it's neither too slow nor too fast.

What role does MCF play in the development of bicycle tourism in France?

We have a full role to play, with two main missions: firstly, we organize free or supervised cycling trips, as guides on itinerant tours. Secondly, we help people to understand and appreciate destinations, because we guarantee the best possible experience. For an informed public, which is still very much the case with mountain and rural itinerancy, we guarantee an incredible experience. We take people to the right places, on the right routes. For the less experienced, there's still a lot to know about cycling and the optimum conditions for enjoying a quality ride. We pass on a wealth of information, knowledge and tips to help make the experience an unforgettable one. In a way, MCF is a bit like a scout: it prepares us for this adventure, the blind spots of which we don't always master. In the end, we're also helping to amplify slow travel, because we're training people to become more reassured and secure, to become more informed cyclists, more autonomous in the management of their bikes.

"We are knowledge brokers".

What are you most proud of about MCF?

Seeing that people around me, even the most reluctant, ask me for advice on how to play the game of this adventure on two wheels, on the Via Rhona, along the Canal du Midi. Help them make their first experience so perfect that they want to give it a try and become bike tourists. It's a complex mechanical machine, and the fairy tale can quickly turn into a nightmare if you don't have the right information, even if the hassle is part of the trip. We're not always on cycle routes and greenways...and it's hard to feel a sense of freedom when you're not in control of your mount. I really see us as people who pass on knowledge. And I think we do a pretty good job of it, because almost every day I get thanks for our mission: a little correction on braking, position, looking far ahead to get a peripheral view and enjoy the scenery, the choice of equipment, the height of the saddle... When you master all that, you come out of the effort, you lift your head and finally, you get a kick out of it, because you're combining physical pleasure with visual pleasure!

What battles need to be fought to make this model of sustainable, eco-friendly tourism a reality?

There's still work to be done on mentalities, in particular to make the tourism ecosystem more bike-friendly. In Spain, Portugal and Italy, we're well received. That's not always the case in France. We also need to move the goalposts. Today, we have a great label, Accueil Vélo, but it should be more accessible and less constrained in its development. For example, France under-exploits its network of secondary roads, which is gigantic and incredibly rich! It should be developed, in addition to the cycle routes, greenways and major itineraries that everyone knows about. Last but not least, we need to speed up the introduction of "savoir rouler" at school. It's being rolled out all over France, and that's a good thing, but it should be complemented by two- or three-day cycling and touring experiences, starting in elementary school. This would enable all pupils to immerse themselves in the art of living and the fundamental values of cycling, which I believe are particularly humanistic: solidarity, simplicity, effort, adventure, but also an art of living that is both epicurean (we also discover our gastronomic heritage!) and sober (short circuits, healthy and organic eating).

What will tourism and travel look like in the future?

It will be more thoughtful, more reasoned, more local, less carbon-intensive. Taking selfies in all the world's must-see spots will no longer be the hottest thing. We'll be looking, I hope, for more authenticity. Of course, bicycles will have their place, whether for getting to a destination or for sightseeing, but let's be pragmatic: they won't be able to solve everything.

And what will tomorrow's bike look like?

It will remain very simple. We're heading for the age of sobriety... And a bike doesn't need anyone but its master: you don't have to give it a drink, or make it sleep, just give it a little maintenance. Bicycles from the turn of the century that haven't rotted away in cellars are still riding just fine, and will continue to do so for a long time to come. If we're a bit crazy and imagine a Mad Max scenario, we can even imagine that the bicycle will be the last surviving technology. Three bits of solder and you've got superpowers!

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