GTMC gravel: 1,430 km solo from Avallon to the Mediterranean

It all starts with a line on a map. It leaves Avallon, in Burgundy, runs south through the uplands of central France and ends at the tip of Cap d'Agde, where the land meets the Mediterranean. In between lie 1,430 kilometres of tracks, trails and loose stone, and 25,000 metres of climbing.

Riders usually allow three weeks to follow it. Pierre Bour, a Stajvelo ambassador, gave himself ten days, riding solo and fully self-supported on his Stajvelo Rocchetta.

The Grande Traversée du Massif Central, France in relief

The GTMC, short for Grande Traversée du Massif Central, began life as a pure mountain bike route. A few years ago, a gravel version was traced to avoid the most technical sections. The route became more rideable, not easier. Pierre is clear that it remains “quite committing in places and very demanding without suspension”.

To reach the sea, the route crosses the Morvan, then the Bourbonnais, Auvergne, the Margeride, the Cévennes and finally the Larzac. Forests, vineyards, high plateaus and limestone causses: the scenery changes character with every massif. Along the way, it passes over landmark summits such as Mont Lozère and Mont Aigoual.

The ground changes with the landscape. Pierre went “from wide tracks to small singletrack, and even to scree you can barely find your way through”. Singletrack means trails just wide enough for one wheel; scree is loose stone where every line has to be chosen. In a single day, you ride fast on an open track, then slow down and read every metre of ground.

Ten days alone on the trails

Riding in ten days what usually takes three weeks means accepting long days in the saddle, one after another. Alone, there is no one to share the work, and no one to read the terrain for you.

On a route like this, what wears you down is not only the effort. It is the attention it demands, all the time. “You always have to stay focused throughout the day, because in the end there is very little time to rest,” Pierre says. A fast track lets you breathe a little; a stony singletrack or a cluttered descent allows no lapse at all. The pattern repeats from morning to evening, ten days in a row.

A real bed every night

Pierre travelled fully self-supported, with no support vehicle. Yet he made a clear choice for his nights: no bivouac, but a room every evening. The first reason was recovery: “sleeping in a real bed rather than a tent really makes a difference”.

It also simplified logistics at a time of year when the days get noticeably shorter. And it took the mountain weather into account. On Mont Lozère or Mont Aigoual, you never know what you will find up there.

Only the essentials in the bags

Without a tent or sleeping kit, the luggage came down to the essentials:

• a summer outfit
• a winter and rain outfit
• an outfit for the evening
• a little mechanical and electronic kit
• a small first-aid kit

On a gravel bikepacking trip of this length, that is a real advantage. “Weight can quickly hold you back with the climbing every day,” Pierre explains. Over 25,000 metres of ascent, every kilo counts.

The Rocchetta over 1,430 kilometres

Pierre did not discover his bike at the start in Avallon. He has been riding the Stajvelo Rocchetta for more than a year in gravel racing, including The Traka and several World Cup events. The GTMC took it somewhere else: long-distance travel.

“You might think it is too stiff for long-distance travel, but it is a bike that is good everywhere.”

Pierre Bour

On the faster sections, he describes the efficiency as “truly excellent”. On the roughest ground, the bike “absorbed every impact incredibly well”. His best measure is how he felt at the end of each day: “I was never worn out by the bike”.

For this crossing, Pierre rode his own setup: Shimano GRX electronic shifting with a double chainring, and Vision SC45 wheels. Two chainrings give a wider spread of gears, useful when a long climb gives way to a fast track. On a route that changes from one day to the next, he says the combination “ticks a lot of boxes”. The Rocchetta is also available in other builds.

Over the whole route, he had no punctures and no mechanical problems. “Everything was perfect,” he sums up, with one small exception.

130 kilometres in a single gear

That exception fits in a few millimetres. On electronic groupsets, the shifters run on small coin batteries, and Pierre's ran flat along the way. The bike was not at fault: a check before leaving was all that was missing.

The result: no gear changes for an entire day. Pierre covered 130 kilometres stuck in the same gear, on the climbs as on the flat. He laughs about it now, and passes on some advice to those who follow: “change the batteries in your shifters before you leave”.

Reaching the Mediterranean

On the tenth day, the route leaves the uplands behind and meets the sea at the tip of Cap d'Agde. For Pierre, the long days took nothing away from the adventure. They added a little more challenge, and made reaching the sea all the more rewarding.

Behind him lie the forests of the Morvan, the vineyards of the Bourbonnais, the plateaus of the Margeride, the Cévennes and the Larzac, and 1,430 kilometres of trails that were rarely the same twice. Pierre sees it as a way of travelling we often forget: “It was a great way to see the country, and to show how quickly you can feel far from home while staying in France.”

Frequently asked questions

Story based on the account of Pierre Bour, Stajvelo ambassador. Photography: Pierre Bour.