From the Calanques of Marseille to the plains of Kyrgyzstan, you risk coming across Cédric Tassan and a mountain bike. Modern-day adventurer, he uses the bike to discover new landscapes and different cultures. Expeditions that Cédric shares while making films.
Cédric Tassan needs to answer “the call of nature”. He who grew up in the Grenoble mountains, follows his parents who move to Salon-de-Provence, at the age of 13 years. No more snowshoeing, and alpine hikes. Mountain biking then presents itself as the right tool to continue this discovery of nature.. A special relationship develops with the little queen. A passionate love that still follows him today, at 46 years. Married and father of two children, he wants to show that age or family situation are not a barrier to surpassing oneself.
Everything Cédric Tassan does in sport is out of passion. Leaving the performance aspect to others, the mountain biker is here to have fun. Travels in Central Asia, he has achieved four over the last two years, but unable to quote the number of kilometers traveled. It's clear: " numbers, I don’t watch them”.
Cedric, short, graying beard, seems to be a fighter, a little crazy you might think, who needs to go to the other side of the world to have fun. Far from there. Although his arrival in the world of cycling was the result of chance, it is a man sure of himself that we have in front of us. A man lucid about the risks he may encounter, and who knows how to be careful. In his expeditions, “things must be calculated”. Calculations that he did not make before arriving in the bicycle sphere.
The transmission of a passion
Recent graduate from an engineering school, Cédric Tassan moves to the Marseille region to look for work. But interview after interview, it's blank. Pire, a recruiter tells him: « M. Tassan, you are not made for this job”. A sentence that Cédric will take several years to understand. On the spot, it is especially the ego that is affected. He then became a substitute math teacher at college.. “It has always been a joy” to transmit. In parallel, our teacher does not forget his passion for nature.
Climbing enthusiast, he comes to exchange with Jean-Louis Fenouil, author of climbing guides in the creeks. From one thing to another, the latter suggested that he write a book on mountain biking. In October 2004, Cédric Tassan leavesMountain biking in Provence, “a big book, expensive and heavy” which sells well. Successful experience for Marseillais, who extends this work to other regions. With its topoguides, it transmits mountain biking but also the call of nature. Two factors that “increase emotions and sensations”.
But it all comes to an abrupt end when the publishing house closes, after Cédric Tassan spent “hours and hours in the saddle”. Then the first calculation is necessary. Not having a diploma to continue teaching maths, he decides to set up a publishing house. “Cycling became my job at that moment”. We are in 2005. The adventure Vtopo begins. To talk to everyone, accustomed but also new to mountain biking, it declines for the same territory, three guides of different levels. This transmission through the book, continues today, but the video was added. The one who presents himself as “cycling explorer and filmmaker” on Instagram, followed by 44,000 people, has been making films of his expeditions for two years.
© Cédric Tassan
Transmit through images
In August 2021, Cédric Tassan, and his bike, flies to Kyrgyzstan. He who always traveled in groups, now finds himself alone on the plane: no one wanted to accompany him. He begins “solitary exploration”, not without apprehension. “I have always been into adventure, but not adventure like that”, explains the former teacher. But why Central Asia? Above all for geography: “It’s not very far at the same time, but also very exotic ». Cédric needs to feel freedom, using open landscapes, in order to “see far, very far ", and if possible mountainous. With images filmed in Kyrgyzstan, he directs his first film: Sary-Mogol. A film in which he places humans at the heart of the images: “These meetings are the essence of my trip”. Broadcast at festivals, it is a success. Good feedback that makes the mountain biker want to continue producing content.
Three more trips to neighboring countries follow: Kazakhstan in spring 2022, Uzbekistan in April 2023 and Tajikistan in August 2023. In an environment he doesn't know, Cédric travels for two to three weeks alone – he shoots most of the images alone. Through the mountain or the desert, he does not set any geographical constraints. On his bike, nothing can resist him. Beyond the difficulties, he decides to document all his activities on his Instagram account and produce films. A need to share which is natural to him. “I would have a hard time not bringing back testimonies”. A testimony about a different nature, a different way of life, that he wishes to share in France.
“I do this because I like sharing, I am in the simplicity of things”. What Cédric wants, it makes you travel but also makes you want to cycle. The bike is a meeting tool, facilitating exchanges. To have been able to compare, Cédric Tassan realized that people are less suspicious when he is on a bike than on foot. He also explains that his films are a source of inspiration for many. He regularly receives thanks and comments along these lines from spectators.. Echoes that always make him want to share more.
This evening, you will find Cédric Tassan as the subject of the Grand Format de Stade 2, at 8:05 p.m. on France 3.
Here is the Zarmas trailer, film by Cédric Tassan which retraces his adventure in Uzbekistan. The film is released today, you will find the sessions on his Instagram account.
