In Conversation With Francis Cade

Cyclist riding road bike in mountain
Francis is a full-time YouTuber (Credit: Sven Jonker/ Team Astana)

Published: June 2020

At Pedalsure, we are incredibly proud to support some of the UK’s most exciting cyclists with their goals for this year. We recently sat down with Pedalsure ambassador and full-time YouTuber Francis Cade for a virtual coffee and to catch up on all things cycling.


Tell us a little about you?

I used to race at Elite level, eventually got interested in making films and combined the two to start a YouTube channel which is now my full-time thing.

When and why did you start cycling?

I started riding just to get around...I quickly realised how fun it was after racing a friend from college home and caught the bug. I’ve never looked back!

You used to race a fair bit. Why did you stop?

It became essentially a job that I didn't enjoy very much. Racing bikes at any level is a huge commitment and there's much more to life that I felt like I was missing out on.

What would be one of your favourite cycling routes?

Box Hill Surrey
Surrey is on Francis' doorstep

I've been lucky to ride in some pretty cool places over the last few years, but having the Surrey Hills on my doorstep is one of the best things about living where I do. You can do almost endless loops and figures of 8 once you get there and end up never doing the same ride twice.

We love coffee and after-cycling activities, do you have any places or cafes you love to visit?

G!ro cafe
G!ro is a popular cycling cafe in London

G!RO cafe in Esher is the best, not that I'm biased.

You've seen so much of the world. Where would be your dream place to cycle and why?

Top of my list is Death Valley. I rode through there in the middle of summer and want to go back. Nothing has compared since in terms of scale and beauty. I wouldn't recommend riding it in the middle of summer though, that was quite a challenge in 50C+ heat.

What is your favourite climb and why?

Col de la Bonnette
Col de la Bonnette is a great addition to any cycling bucket list

Col de la Bonnette in France, longest climb I've ever done and so much variety as you ascend. It's one of the highest through roads in Europe - go there, put some music on and zone out for the couple of hours it takes to ascend... And hey there's some great pizza at the bottom.

How do you find balancing YouTube and life?

Two cyclists talking
Francis covers plenty of cycling related topics on his YouTube channel (Credit: Francis Cade) 

I've been doing it a while now and it's got easier as time has gone on. My editing is now quicker and I'm much more efficient at filming too. I've found a good balance.

What's been the most memorable experience?

Two cyclists riding in Vietnam
Francis riding through Vietnam (Credit: Francis Cade and @bikefitjames)

Getting lost in a jungle in Vietnam. We went there for an adventure and an adventure we got. We took a small gravel path on the way to one of the cities which got smaller and smaller as we got further. Eventually we were on a hiking trail which hadn't been used in a long time. We had to keep moving in case of spiders and other nasties, but we made it out eventually after a few hours of hike a bike.

Could you recommend 2 Instagram accounts of cyclists who inspire you?

Woman on Wilier road bike
Francis has a lot of praise for @daisytron3000 (Credit: @@daisytron3000)

@daisytron3000 my girlfriend, she's recently got in to cycling and is doing so well! @shuhena6 too. She’s keen to start her own vlog. Shuhena is also quite new to the sport but breaking PR's all the time.

We are all living in lockdown at the moment. How is COVID-19 affecting your area?

The measures have been relaxed so we can now ride with one other person which is fantastic news for cyclists.

How are you training and keeping fit given the current climate?

Zwift has been handy, I've done a few big rides including a double Everest... although I think the mountain of pizza I ate afterwards negated any fitness benefits.

Favourite Grand Tour and why?

The Tour de Friends
The Tour de Friends is organised by Rad Race (Credit: Rad Race)

The Tour de Friends, obviously!

Favourite one day race and why?

Crystal Palace Tuesday nights, hardest crit in the UK.

Do you have one tip to any new cyclist?

No rules, just ride.


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