Flying down a hill through the chestnut groves of the Castagniccia, I glanced up to see a herd of pigs truffling about in the middle of the road.

The lead sow lifted her sullen black head, and stopped chewing. It was hard to say who was more surprised, her or me.

It was too late to brake, so I picked a line through the hogs. They scrambled out of my path, squealing into ditches or tossing themselves headlong over the edge of the road into a crevasse.

As the yelps faded behind me, so did the pang of guilt. These were not the famous Corsican wild boar — you’d be lucky to spot one in daylight — but rather a handful of the 45,000 feral pigs that graze the interior forests and eventually end up as the island's charcuterie, making guest appearances in lonzu (a smoked pork fillet), prisuttu (cured ham) and panzetta (like streaky bacon). They’re certainly much safer on the plate.

Cycling in the French Alps

Many Alpine ski resorts now open in summer, offering spectacular routes for mountain-bikers

A week of cycling in Provence

Jonathan Leake's pedal-powered journey around some of Provence’s most beautiful countryside was better suited to lovers than mates

A cycling tour of Mallorca

Mallorca is the perfect island for a two-wheeled adventure. You don’t even need to wear Lycra

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• A week of cycling in Provence

Such is the unexpected charm of Corsica. A beautifully rugged destination for road cycling, it guarantees a surprise round every corner. Usually that’s a splash of wild flowers or a coastal panorama, but it can just as easily be a local delicacy staring you down or, worst of all, a scattering of foot-deep potholes on a fast descent. And that really is scary.

Corsica isn’t an obvious destination for road cyclists, who are more likely to prefer the classic cols of the French mainland. But more than two-thirds of the island is mountainous (20 peaks over 2,000 metres) and it has some of the most drop-dead beautiful coastal routes in Europe.

I guess this is the nearest you can get to a glimpse of what coastal Provence was like before the second world war: empty, largely undeveloped and lush.

It certainly fills the senses. The spring surge is so powerful, wild flowers burst through cracks in the tarmac; and the maquis, the dense undergrowth, is thick with rosemary that sprouts everywhere, erupting with scent whenever you grasp a handful. No wonder Napoleon said he could smell it even in exile.

The island has always been popular with the French and Italians in peak season, and elderly British hikers in spring. But with EasyJet operating direct flights from the UK (only a few years ago a Paris transfer wasobligatory), it’s opening up to the lazier end of the market.

I spent a week touring the island with Saddle Skedaddle, a cycle-holiday specialist. The organisers grade each trip from easy (beginners covering 60km a day on rolling roads) through to moderate (70km-90km with a climb or two most days) and ­demanding (80km-120km a day on mountainous terrain).

The Corsica trip — five days of exploring the northern region, with bags delivered to the hotel each night by support van — was described as moderate and well within the capabilities of any reasonably fit weekend cyclist.

My group of a dozen or so, aged 30-50, included a Scottish postman, a facial surgeon, the owner of a soft-drinks firm and a forensic accountant on a year out. As soon as I arrived, I tossed our tour leader, David, a curve ball — a tiny grub screw had fallen out of my rear brake, rendering the bike unrideable.

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