When you think of the average commute a high school teacher takes every day, it might not quite as perfect as Mary Moncorge’s.
A large part of enjoying a job is making it work for you, and in that sense, Mary Moncorge definitely has it dialled.
What better way to prepare yourself for a working day that a blast over a mountain?
Photos by Matt Wragg.
I am lucky to live in an amazing place for riding year-round: Sospel is a little village one valley off the French Riviera, a stone thrown from the Italian border. The slight downside is the commute to my job. It’s a 40 minutes’ drive each way with the car to the high school where I teach.
There is always the road bike option to sneak in a little spin. The problems, during the winter days, are ice and silly drivers who want to beat Ogier’s time down the mountain.
Then there is the e-bike that allows me to get to school in less than two hours, be alone in the mountains and get some decent riding before the bell rings. It may take me longer to get to and back from school than with the car but it is massively over-shadowed by the amount of trail time and the smile it puts on my face.
Being able to enjoy the sunrise from 1200m high and catching a glimpse of Corsica from across the Mediterranean Sea is well worth the extra commuting time, plus bombing down the trails before breakfast is amazing.
The ride home, with at least 700 meters of ascent by the lowest col would be a drag at the end of the day if I didn’t have the e-bike to zip up the mountain, it also allows me to catch one last singletrack descent at the end of the day.
