The newsletter that makes you love bike travel
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Hello Caroline! Could you introduce yourself and tell me about Poco Loco?
My name is Caroline, I was born and raised in Paris. I worked for 10 years in sustainable development consulting. Alongside my work, I practiced endurance sports, especially triathlon. The further I progressed, the more I increased the distances. I ended up becoming completely addicted to ultracycling, which is a specialty involving very long-distance events. Along the way, I wanted to combine this passion with my job in an entrepreneurial project that would also have strong feminist commitments. I met Harald, who had the same desire as me. Together, we created Poco Loco, an ultracycling event that suited us, with strong sustainable commitments, a goal of gender parity, and a mission: to help women dare to embark on adventures. The first edition took place on October 9, 2022. 150 participants set off from Montpellier to Barcelona, 35% of whom were women.
Could you explain this concept of carbon footprint to me?
Our mission is to encourage low-carbon, responsible, and inclusive travel. We decided that the first step was to take stock of our carbon footprint, knowing that the outdoor sector is not at all a driving force, even though our playground is the outdoors...Today, there is no active, shared, transparent approach. We wanted to give our competitors a kick. So, we calculate our carbon footprint after each event and share our results publicly. This is a first step towards a global carbon strategy, knowing that we also carefully choose the departure and arrival locations so that everyone can arrive and depart easily by train at Pricing .
Poco Loco organizes several cycling tours in France and abroad every year. Can you explain the concept to me?
Poco Loco is somewhere between a travel agency and a race, between UCPA and Ironman. In concrete terms, we organize adventures by providing beautiful routes on specific itineraries, such as Montpellier-Barcelona, Dijon-Stuttgart, and Aix-en-Provence-Milan, for which we plan the following each time: welcome and arrival of cyclists, a stopover, equipment check, permanent assistance, and communication. There are three options. The classics are 700 km ultracycling races with a checkpoint. Then there's the Bikepacking experience, which is more of a social event, because you get together with the other participants in the evening. And then there are the weekends where you set off to discover a region or a theme: these are 300 km routes in Brittany, the Lot or Normandy, where you pass through the most beautiful villages, canyons, waterfalls and iconic places in the region. With wine tasting, local leather saddles, and a visit to their production workshop. People can camp or stay in a hotel. It's really a format that allows you to go on a journey of self-discovery; it's an incredible lesson in independence. But unlike races, which often promote "no talking," we are very keen to combine independence with conviviality.
Why is this feminist commitment important to you?
In trail running and triathlon, 5% of participants are women. Why is there such inequality? It was important for us to address this by structuring our offering around our commitment to social responsibility and our desire for inclusion. For example, rather than an ultracycling race, we present ourselves as an adventure. Because racing is about competition and performance, it conveys masculine or virile values. Just look at the names of the races: "gravelman," "bikingman." Everything is "man man man," soldier, machine, supermen... That's not what I'm looking for. In this post-COVID world, it's not performance that's interesting, it's managing the unexpected. You have to be resilient, see what the world has to offer and be happy. The aim of the Poco Loco challenges is to re-enchant local travel by showing that adventure is not just for athletes, but above all a way of being and thinking. You don't need to be a seasoned cyclist to cover 700 km. If you have the time, you can do it at your own pace!
Where does this outdoor craze come from?
My parents took me on lots of trips and I lived in New Zealand, Colombia, and Montreal for my studies. In each of these places, I sought out outdoor activities. When I returned to France 10 years ago, I needed to reconnect with that. But while it was easy in Montreal and New Zealand because I was sure that there were people who shared my interests, in Paris I found myself with a group of friends from school who had never been camping, and I didn't know how to get out of the city. So I went to Vieux Campeur, asked for maps, and created my own micro-adventure. Very quickly, with my triathlon club, I realized that by traveling 60 km, I could get out of Paris and easily enjoy little weekend getaways. I met people who, like me, wanted to get up at 6 a.m. to go kayaking and spend the afternoon cycling. I found a group of outdoor enthusiasts, and that's exactly what I wanted to replicate with Poco Loco: to help adventure lovers feel less alone and make outdoor activities more accessible.
What are your strongest memories involving cycling?
When I was in Montreal, I took up triathlon. I couldn't swim, and I bought a road bike that weighed three tons. For two months, every evening, I would ride 40 km on this bike on a car racing circuit. I was looking for outlets, like boxing or rugby, but I didn't want to compete. I had this fear of failure that held me back a lot. What I love about triathlon or endurance sports is that you also have a starting line, but there isn't just a winner and a loser. The philosophy is to do your best and, above all, enjoy the moment. This sport has given me inner balance and opened me up to the world. That's what I want to share: a taste for adventure, for the land, and for inner discovery. I believe these three elements are essential for making an ecological shift. When you realize the importance of the land, you are ready to consume and think about the world differently.
What does adventure mean to you? What do you want to convey with Poco loco?
We want to create a network of responsible companies for adventurers. We are the generation that is learning; we may not always be the most exemplary, but together we will move forward for the better. I believe that many of us want to become actors rather than simply witnesses. That is exactly what adventure offers: you are an actor in the movement.
How do you design your adventures?
We create them together with Harald, who has a passion for maps and territories and loves to tell stories about these places, like this summer when he set off to explore the locations of Game of Thrones in Ireland and Scotland. We have only one constraint: to offer itineraries of around 700 km. Then we identify the most beautiful villages in France, regional parks, gorges, waterfalls, mountain passes, and rivers in areas that are worth discovering. We want to take people to places they don't usually go. We often try to take them across borders, because we find it incredibly exciting— it makes us feel a bit like cowboys.
What are you working on?
We work on Komoot and Google Maps. It's a huge part of our job. I had to redo one of the routes three times because gravel is very difficult to map. Sometimes you're sure you're on the right track, and then boom, you end up on private property or find yourself on a hardcore mountain bike trail. That said, there's no such thing as the perfect trail—it's a holy grail, a quest! Our only goal is to offer safe and beautiful routes that provide an escape from the world.
Cycling has been a tool for women's empowerment... Do you think it could be used again to revive tourism?
Yes, it's an incredible tool. Personally, it has taught me a lot, if only to take time for myself. Because cycling, especially long distances, takes time, both for training and during your adventure. And that time is often taken up by family or couple time. But we women have less freedom to take that time than men. Beyond time, there is also space. Cycling allows us to reclaim space, to be visible, to dare to be outside and set off on adventures.I can assure you that walking into a bar full of men, not having to answer questions about your gender, feeling like you belong, is incredibly powerful. It's a political act: I'm outside, I'm at home, in the heart of the city. And finally, I would say that there is also a third reclaiming: that of one's dreams. For example, when I was 14, my dream was to live in the mountains. But I remember waiting for my prince from Savoy. I had internalized the fact that my dreams were not mine to pursue. With cycling, I never told myself that... And I love that feeling of power.
What was your best bike trip?
Patagonia, which I did alone three years ago. For a month, I was the only one in charge. Because that's what's incredible about cycling: at some point, you're alone and you can only count on yourself, your skills, your choices, with all the hassles that come with it. You break something, you don't know how to fix it, but you learn. You don't make concessions: you want to sleep there, you only listen to yourself. It's a dizzying moment: I have to camp, damn it, I have to choose. You tame your fears, the sounds of the night, it's quite animalistic, especially when you live in the city and are used to constant stimuli. Suddenly, there's silence, and that's all you hear. Suddenly, it's an adventure, a real, pure adventure: reconnecting with your instincts. You focus on your senses and discover a parallel world, it's so beautiful.
Is the outdoors only for athletes?
I think we need to demystify the term "athletic." Poco loco is athletic, just like hiking is. But that doesn't mean you're going to collapse in the ring. Yes, it takes effort and movement. But we're all capable of movement. If you have eight days, you can cover 700 km.
What was the best feedback from a participant?
Lisa, a 62-year-old woman, arrived with space bags, ready for a cycling tour. I thought: oops, that's not the style of the event. But then I quickly got over my own preconceptions. This woman had traveled all over the world, she had cycled through Nepal... Poco Loco should, on the contrary, encourage diversity of styles. I remember that she finished her adventure in seven days and that when she arrived, we were all in a café bar after visiting the city. When she arrived, she was greeted with a hola, and we were all very moved. Everyone is part of the same adventure, both collective and autonomous, and that's what's powerful.
What will tourism look like in 50 years?
I believe in tourism events rather than travel agencies. We have exhausted ourselves. Everyone travels to 5% of the world and we exhaust all the resources in that 5%. Tourism has exhausted the very essence of travel. I believe that adventure rehabilitates it. Poco Loco is not an end in itself.Our goal is to give everyone the freedom to move around, by bike or on foot, to rediscover the world, to find themselves and meet others. That's why we travel, basically. Not to buy more or less local crafts and always follow the same pre-planned routes.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get involved in cycling?
Do it. Try it. Get started, just like when you ride a bike for the first time. Don't wait until you have the perfect product. Don't wait until you have the perfect bike!
Music for turns: “Un Monde Nouveau” by the lateChatertton
Music for downhill runs: "Young and Beautiful," Lana Del Rey
Music for climbing: “Femme Like You,” K-Maro (sorry, ha ha ha)
A podcast to chill out on your bike: La Pampa by bike
A book for adventure: The Call of the Wild, Jack London