REVIEW: Francesca Cucina
215 Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE
(Corner Melcombe Street, one block south of Clarence Gate, Regent's Park)

Apologies to non-UK readers, for whom this review may nonetheless resonate.

Rapha, the cycle clothing gurus of North London, San Francisco and Osaka, has for a couple of years now gathered a group of cyclists loosely calling themselves the Regent's Park Cycling Club - they meet at 08.30 on Fridays at Gloucester Gate, Regent's Park, and there's a strict Rapha-only dress code. They (I've only been once so saying 'we' might seem presumptuous at this point) ride for about an hour and then shoot off to work or coffee.

It's with them and the thousands of other cyclists of Regent's Park in mind, that I thought I'd write about Francesca Cucina, a new pasta kitchen situated less than a minute to the south on Baker Street, corner Melcombe Street.

Francesca Cucina is styled a slice of Italy, yet the main business is French, reflecting the Italian-French partnership of founder-couple Francesca Albanese and Bertrand Aborgast. It's unapologetically a chain with 118 restaurants worldwide, since inception fifteen years ago, and just this one so far in the UK, open now since 2012 (I love it that us Londoners get to try everything first).

The concept is wonderful bowls of pasta served al dente, but fast, at a very acceptable price, and it works. I kicked off with the pictured bowl of farfalle bolognese, but you can choose fusilli or spaghetti if you want - and several other sauces including vegan options such as spinacci. The pasta was cooked just correctly and the sauce was delicious. I would deduct a couple of points for no whole wheat option on the pasta front, but balance this by saying that I've eaten worse pasta in Italy (and when did you ever see whole wheat pasta offered there?). The boss of the UK fledgling business, Paresh Pandya (pictured), says they are looking to expand the menu and wholewheat pasta is an idea they are considering. Meanwhile, the underlying ethos of the whole company is a transparent supply chain rooted in Italy and healthy, real food. Another nail in the coffin for McDonalds et al.

I can't think of a nicer way to end a ride than to lock up at one of the racks on the corner (just in Melcombe Street) and have an early bowl of warm pasta. Scroll the news and emails on my iPhone, perhaps meet someone for business or mix it all up as we do, cycling and networking.

Paresh reminds me that the place is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner too until 10pm, so it's one of those reliable second homes. There are salads and paninis and the obligatory San Pellegrino beverages, but equally you can request tap water without eliciting obloquy - which is very welcome and unthinkable in Italy. If you go for the small bowl of pasta you can be all done for £5. Arguably this is better value than the equivalent sandwich + cookie from Pret, across the street, but I think Pret wins if you only want a non-carb superfood salad or whatnot, but then if you want carb-free food you're not a cyclist.

Cycling Mont Ventoux, top five dos and don'ts

View from Gorges. Provence is great cycling country

Mont Ventoux, top five dos and don'ts. JUNE 2013

1. Don't leave behind the knee warmers
This wasn't my first ascent of the 'Giant of Provence,' summit 1,912 metres (6,273 feet). I did it in the 2009 Etape du Tour, beginning at Bedoin after 155kms, in blazing heat and no wind. By comparison, this time I arrived in Bedoin to be greeted by the usual mistral winds, gusting violently to over 100kms at the top, and battering all the foreslopes in ways that were unusual by local standards, at least for June. This and the unseasonal snow that had re-opened one of Provence's ski resorts just the previous weekend. The snow had gone except at the summit, but it remained cool. Pulling in at one of the Bedoin bike shops to buy knee warmers, I was advised that it was only safe to go up if I was willing to walk the last 7kms from Chalet Reynard. So we waited two days and then climbed it early on a Sunday morning, in bright sun shine. Steph clocked 1 hr 47 and I came in around ten minutes faster (but from St Columbe, the next village up, so add +/- 20 minutes from Bedoin). The winds at the top were still fierce and the temperature cool. So that's the first piece of advice: carry a 'light winter clothing' system which extends to a jacket (preferably waterproof and wind proof), full finger gloves and knee and arm warmers. A lot of riders find they have to do a wardrobe adjustment halfway up. Temperatures can be 10 degrees different at the base and peak.

2. Keep your bike in the hotel room even if told not to
I'm based in Hackney, East London. We think of Provence as a much more secure sort of place, where you might happily leave bikes in locked cars and that sort of thing. We came close to being robbed. It might be an isolated incident or it might represent a crime wave that no one is owning up to, but what happened to our neighbours at Hotel La Garance should be taken as a warning. Here's what happened. Le Mistral was blowing. There were lots of battering and blowing noises. Just after midnight, right outside our ground floor room, an experienced thief neatly punctured a hole beneath the lock of a Belgian registered Mercedes Sprinter Van, gained entry and took the first bike of several, a three thousand euro Wilier, not six months old. He was obviously on his own. He rode away on it and left the rest. Nobody heard a thing including us, and despite the pea gravel. The bike was not insured (of course it wasn't, have you tried to get an insurance company to cover a bike unsecured inside a van? They won't - this is why). The hotel we recommend - it's run by a real hotelier, Dutchwoman Johanna Beaumont, and it's situated right on the Bedoin climb, so you ride right off the doorstep and not get lost. But she still puts up signs saying 'No bikes in rooms'. We were very lucky the thieves didn't get to my LOOK or Steph's Specialized, locked in the back of our rental car. Very lucky. The bikes came inside the next night.

3. Pace yourself
If you are only doing the Ventoux you can treat it like a 50 mile time trial - it's two hours at that sort of effort to clock what is considered to be a very respectable club rider time. The record was set by Iban Mayo in the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré. He did it in 55′ 51″.

4. It's not the Etape
By which I mean the roads aren't closed. It's laughably man-land and all the tribes are out: bikers, drivers, cyclists. There was a club of Renault 5 Turbo nuts (visible in the distance of the photo below); there were a lot of bikers coming down as I was going up, at high speeds, and sometimes coming right over onto my side of the road. That's OK but it doesn't allow for wobbling around. So get your gearing sorted. You'd think people would realise this but they don't. You need a 34 tooth inner chainring, a compact. Either that or you're going to be a top rider smashing it on a 39x25.

5. Don't forget the descent.
The classic ascent is from Bedoin. That allows you to descend to Malucene or back down to Chalet Reynard and on to Sault. The Malucene descent is the most fun because it goes on and on, the surfaces are excellent, and the sight lines are the best. The Sault road is bumpier, while going straight back to Bedoin is fine (I did this), but you really have to be careful because of the steep gradient. It's definitely the moment that you begin to respect the Pros and to start thinking about where precisely your limits lie in bike handling. Don't forget a gilet. You'll need it even if the weather is fine.

Mont Ventoux, June 2, 2013. Alps visible on horizon.