When I looked out the window this morning, the fog was sitting high and I could see the Jura mountain ridges. Temperatures were pretty mild at around zero degrees. A perfect day for a bike ride. I wasn’t planning on staying out as long as last weekend, but I wanted to get some good climbing in. I rushed out of town and headed westwards. The ground was frozen and there wasn’t any snow left. As such, my Mountain Kings were transferring every pedal push into forward motion without any losses. After lots of snow rides, I appreciated moving with more speed and less effort. I rode my secret trail, and lots of single track to reach the Twannberg. As I got beyond a thousand meters above sea level, the landscape started to be covered under a small blanket of snow. The higher I got, the thicker this blanket got. The Spitzberg is an elongated mountain with two peaks and as I reached the plateau up there, I was thrown into an incredible winter scenery. Fir trees were white and frozen. The snow was a couple of feet thick at places. Wind and changing temperatures had created some of the most awesome snow surfaces. There were areas with fine crystals and wider areas where the snow looked like large white wood chips. I took a whole bunch of photos and enjoyed the icy landscape. I was alone except for three horseback riders passing by. There’s a sweet technical downhill on the north side, but under snow it’s pretty much impassable. Instead, I hit the ski slopes and unlike a few weeks ago, I had them to myself. The snow layer was no longer deep enough to permit skiing. The slopes weren’t fast but they were a hell of a lot of fun. To return to Biel, I turned off to the right at the entrance to the Spaghetti Trail. The trail was covered in a heavy mix of snow and leaves and was surprisingly easy to ride - great feeling to bounce down a technical trail when conditions require some extra skills. Another climb up to Evilard and I was back in town to spend the remaining afternoon house cleaning.
★ collideous