Vintage Bikes, Wine and Heatwaves: A French Retro Bike Event

Every summer, the town of Saumur in the Loire France transforms into a living time capsule as thousands of cyclists roll out on vintage bikes, dressed in retro gear, to ride through vineyards, villages, and castles for the Anjou Vélo Vintage. (@AnjouVeloVintageSaumur )

In this video, my daughter and I join the 35KM route — on two restored French bikes — winding our way through the hot Loire Valley, sampling local wine, enjoying live music, and soaking up the joy of cycling in true French style.

From Saumur Castle to sunflower fields, vintage costumes to rusty chainguards, this is more than just a ride — it’s a celebration of the French cycling lifestyle.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and check out our vintage bike builds here:

1930s Rebuild : https://youtu.be/mJmjmC-s-bg
1960s Rebuild : https://youtu.be/1uDstrxVxDk

0:00 Intro
1:25 Anjou Velo Vintage at the start line in Saumur
5:30 Lunchtime at 17KM
10:54 We made it Saumur Chateau

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Did you iron your shirt?
No Grandma did. The anticipation is immense. Ella’s got a bit of a 
problem. Back wheels come out. Get off and push.
I had to get push up the hill. How you feeling, Ella?
Tired. Hot. Ready for a shower. Yeah. Shame we haven’t got a shower, isn’t it? How did you get off the train? On route. [ __ ] isn’t it? Pause on the video. We’ll 
be back for the next shot. Did you iron your shirt?
No Grandma did Voila.
Full look. We are at the start line. It’s already very 
hot. We’ve refueled with Petite Dejeuner for €9 and we’re about to start in about 15 
minutes. So, we’re heading for the start line. How you feeling, Ella? Are you ready? I’m ready.
Ready. Ready.
What’s the temperature like? Very hot.
Very hot. We’re in the line to start. We have 4 minutes 
before we leave. The anticipation is immense. Ella’s got a bit of a 
problem. Back wheels come out. Get off and push. I had to get off and push up the hill. I 
notes that you managed to get to the top. Uh we have done the first 8 kilometers. Yeah.
And it’s our first stop for wine and water and bread
and bread. Sandwich. Sandwich. Bon appetite Ever wondered what it takes to ride 
a century old French bike again? Mine was a 1930s relic. No gears, rusted solid, 
and barely holding together. But piece by piece, thread by thread, I brought it back to 
life for one last ride through Anjou All
right, we are starting a climb up through the vineyard. Are you ready, Ella, for the climb?
I’m ready. Good.
Are you? No, I’m not worried about the climb. 
I’m more worried about the descent. The brakes. The brakes. or lack of brakes. I don’t 
seem to be alone. Seems to be a common problem. A common problem with amongst these old bikes. 
Oh, I didn’t tighten your bike up yet. Thank you. We are at
Cave Robert et Marcel at 10.5 km from 12:00 until 1:15. We gone for coke this time.
Not for Cremont de Loire Blanc Brut we just cycled through the cave
Yeah, which was absolutely amazing. So cool. Couldn’t see a thing. supposed to see a 
thing. Um, but the temperature was perfect. Yeah. And then you come back out into the sunshine.
31°. 31°. Lovely. Anyway, we’re going to drink 
our Coke and then we are going on to Labushier. La Bouchardiere. La Bouchardiere.at 17 km. So, 
we’ve got an epic 7 km to do now. Yeah. And next stop, we have two wine and lunch. And lunch. Awesome. What could possibly go 
wrong? Absolutely nothing. Hello. Hello. Wait. How you feeling?
Feeling good. Feeling good.
Hot. Hot. Probably got another 5k left.
Yeah. For dinner.
Lunch. Perfect. Aghhh. I thought it would 
be on a nice smooth path. Lunch time. Lunch time.
Lunch time. One of the first to arrive.
Well, first group to arrive. First group to arrive. Putting 
an epic pace. Nice and shaded. What would you say this is? Gratin ? Baguette ! Wow. It’s awesome.
We just had lunch and wine. And we’ve still got one a second wine left. And then it’s 30 – 3 km 
to the next one. Only 3 km. Yeah. Oh, wow. Okay. No. 3.5 km to the next one
where we’ll be getting some strawberries. Yeah.
And some red wine. Hat hair. Beautiful hat hair. Want to see how far a little rust 
and determination can go? Her 1960s automoto started as two broken 
bikes, a cracked frame, seized bolts, and a lot of late nights. But in the end, 
we built something beautiful and ridable. Right, we have eaten. My mustache is 
looking epic. We drank wine, coke, water, water. We sat in the shade for an hour. Now we 
are going to the next stop, which is a mammoth 3k away.
3.5k. 3.5k away, where there is
more wine, more wine, and strawberries.
And strawberries. Okay. Okay, we are off the bike again 
because we are at the next stop. 20k 20k. 20.5
20.5k. And we have got more wine probably. Yeah. And we got And strawberries.
And strawberries. Yes. I remember now. And some epic music. Ready? Yeah. 
Yeah. Yeah. I should look my way. Stayed off the alcohol this time. 
Ella’s still on it. Super hot. [French Singing] Right. The heat and the “VIN” is taking its toll. Oh, my hat’s a bit crooked as well. There we go.
Rose Rose Nice and fresh.
Fresh with some uh melon. Fresh. Hey. Hey. We’re sat under the tree in the shade. 
Music and entertainment over there. And we’ve done 25k.
Yeah. It’s harder than it looked
Yeah. Well, that was the hill that wasn’t 
meant to be a hill. 9K to go. 9K to go. 9K to go.
Sweaty mess. Sweaty mess. But I’m reasured 
that everyone else is too. Yeah, we can see lots more walking than 
from the start, including us. How you feeling, Ella?
Tired, hot, ready for a shower. Yeah. A shame we haven’t got a shower, isn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. But we have got the Loire
Woohoo! Dad We made it.
Woohoo! We made it.
We made it. We have made it to the last 
stop. We have cake and uh iced tea.
Iced tea. Yeah. No wine. No wine. had far too much wine. We have done it. 
35k. Probably the most epic 35k we’ve ever done. Longest 35k.
The bikes have kind of held out all right. Bodies have held out. All 
right. Time to go and have a dip in the Lioire Wow, this was amazing. Really enjoyed it.
It was good, wasn’t it? Wait, Bravo Bravo Incroyable Incroyable Yes. Yes By the way, if you love discovering 
France by bike, from gravel and bike packing to coastal escapes, epic 
road climbs, and hidden villages, hit subscribe. There’s plenty more 
French cycling adventures coming your way