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Riding big wheels in Switzerland Frankly, because bigger is better

Looking for a longer loop to the Chasseral with a nice amount of climbing? Look no further! Today’s loop across the Twannberg adds a couple more miles to yesterday’s loop while requiring about the same 6600 feet of climbing. I left a little late this morning because the needed attention. On yesterday’s loop in creaked badly. No surprise there. The Niner BB’s famous for that. I took it apart, cleaned it and then reassembled it before heading out. It creaked at the beginning, then went silent for the first climb only to start creaking again for the remainder of the ride. I think if you own a Niner with an EBB you just have to try to live with it. It’s not great, but there’s no proven fix. I tuned it out and had a good ride. On my way back, I passed two groups of bikers. When I passed the second, someone greeted me saying: “The forum is out on the trails”. Nice that folks know the forum and recognize you out on the trail. I need to apologize though, I didn’t stay with the group for long as I was on a mission to get home.

Distance:65.6 km (40.8 miles)
Elevation:2’017 m (6’617 feet)
Time:04:57:37
Speed (avg/max):13.2/53.2 kph (8.2/33.0 mph)
★

This morning I jumped onto the train to meet friends at the in Solothurn. When I arrived the sky was grey but unlike Biel, the streets were still dry. Well, that changed not much later in the morning as we walked through the expo area. It started with a light rain and ended in a pretty hefty downpour, that fortunately didn’t last all that long. While 29ers were still a rare sight last year, they were everywhere this year. Every manufacturer brought them to Solothurn, whether aluminum hardtails, full-suspension or high-end carbon. Everything in the spotlight was a 29er. While there are still a lot of 26ers, the excitement definitely is exclusively on 29ers. Ask about 650B and vendors don’t want to reveal what they’ve got in the pipeline. I had someone say that the 26 inch wheel was a dying breed, speculating that 650B would take over many MTB segments with 29ers ruling the hardtail market. I think so, too. Time will tell. While I personally don’t follow the racing scene very much, the men’s race in the morning was predominantly ridden on big wheels. Last year, it was the total opposite with only the odd rider or two cruising around the race course on big wheels. 2012 big wheels arrived in Solothurn and they’re here to stay - yay!

★

Once in a while you ride a new trail and you come home saying you won’t need to do that one again. Today I picked two such trails. I started with heading up the Rondchâtel climb, then popped into a downhill I often passed by. It looked interesting on the map. It killed a lot of altitude, had a few switchbacks, but turned out to be a rather boring narrow hiking trail. Neither technical nor fast. A trail not worth bothering. The trail dropped me into La Heutte, where I crossed the main street to climb up the other side. I wanted to reach the Métairie de Werdt and knew that I’d be hiking the upper part of the way. To my surprise, I had to push the bike quite a bit to reach Le Van in the lower section of the ascent. The middle and longest section was an easy, gradual fire-road. Once the fire-road ended, a yellow sign pointed to the left, straight uphill. I put the bike on my shoulder and started climbing. Somewhere in the forest I lost sight of the trail and just went uphill the best I could. The bike often catching branches in that steep terrain, this was no easy adventure. At some point, I found the hiking trail again and made it to the Métairie. My initial plan was to head east to reach the Pré Richard from where I would have crossed over to the Stierenberg, but the large amount of snow still up there forced me to abandon that plan halfway. I rode by the Pré Ménori and then recognized the trail to the Pré la Patte. I hit the shortest way into Péry, then followed the hiking trail back to Frinvillier. A last climb to the Lysserbrunne took me back into town. While the Van and the Montoz are quite scenic places, I have yet to find a climb that is both rideable and fun to do. The ascent through the Van isn’t. Taking the hiking trail, it might be an interesting descent, though. 44 kilometers, 2200 climbing meters, sun and a bunch of spring flowers made it worthwhile despite the so-so trails.

Distance:44.3 km (27.5 mi)
Elevation:2’191 m (7’188 ft)
Time:04:00:17
Speed (avg/max):11.1/50.5 kph (6.9/31.4 mph)
★

Exactly a month ago, I posted my last ride report. I have been ninerless since as I’m waiting for a replacement for my second Air 9 Carbon frame. So, I missed out mountain biking one of the warmest and sunniest September months in recent history. But that wasn’t a bad thing, actually. Being without a big-wheeled bike got me to ride my Neilpryde Alize road bike more, making September a record month as far as total mileage ridden. I was able to collect a whopping 560 kilometers and climb an impressive yet inaccurate 20’000 meters. All in all, I spent over 25 hours biking during a September without the Niner.

Yesterday, I got up to a sunny, blue sky an opted to cover a nice distance with lots of steep climbing on foot. While sipping coffee I checked the train schedule, then hiked through town to the train station to travel a short distance to La Heutte. Train fare, full price, one way - 4.20 francs. From La Heutte’s tiny train stop (I wouldn’t even call it a station), I hiked westwards to go through Hell’s Gate. Shortly after, I left the fire road and hiked a narrow trail through the valley. I was looking for a small trail to the right, that would bring me into the very steep and rocky side of the mountain. Marked only with a few rocks stacked on each other, I quickly found it.

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★

My original plan for Saturday was to head out to Friedrichshafen for Eurobike, but I could not pass up a wonderful fall ride. Had it rained, I would have gone and walked the show, but with good weather it just wasn’t worth it. I’ve pretty much seen everything there’s to see online already, so I don’t think I really missed anything. Instead I jumped on the Niner for an awesome new loop. You might wonder what the title of this post is all about. Well, I like to name my bike rides and each time I do something new, the loop will get a name. Usually, I choose a landmark or geographical location and today’s loop is no different. I took a trail called the “Traces of the Dinosaurs” and this trail happened to bring me to Hell’s Gate, or “La Porte des Enfers” how it’s called here locally. The trails were easy rolling fire-roads or groomed single-track. Nothing difficult at first, but they curved their way through some spectacular places, especially the fire-road with views across to “Le Schilt”. If hell looks like that, sign me up! The Schilt is on my list of todo hikes and after looking at those rock formations today, I’m excited to climb up that way soon. The trail from Hell’s Gate to the Métairie de Gléresse required a bit of hiking; it was too steep and too wet. From the Métairie I cut straight across to the Métairie du Bois Raiguel at which I continued on a muddy, yet incredible single-track. The remaining stretch to the top of the Chasseral was ridden on one of my usual ascents. The return to Biel followed my preferred route on top of the mountain crest and into Les Près d’Orvin. I dropped down to the Jorat, where I stopped to indulge on blackberries. At the fountain in Evilard, I gobbled down a full water bottle and hit the last descent into Biel. My GPS says (rest assured that I never reached 101 kph):

Distance:53km (33 miles)
Total Climb:1668m (5472 feet)
Time:04:07:39
Speed (avg/max):13.0/101.6 kph (8.0/63.1 mph)
GPS Track:GPSies.com
★

I left in the late morning with the idea that I’d climb up to the Chasseral if I felt okay. I opted for an easier approach of the mountain by passing through Evilard and the Jorat where I turned right to reach the Charriere Trail halfway from where I climbed to the edge of Les Pres d’Orvin. A right turn lead me into the next climb towards La Ragie. Reaching the crest, I went off to the left for the always awesome single-track to the Cabane du Jura. About two-thirds into the single-track, it started to rain a bit. The few raindrops quickly made the narrow, rocky trail a whole lot more difficult to ride. As I exited the cover of the forest the rain ceased but the sky turned threateningly dark. It was already raining in the direction of the Chasseral and it was rapidly approaching. I no longer had to decide whether to hit that mountain today. The rain had decided. As I rolled passed the area covered with wild garlic this spring, I noticed a bunch of raspberries along the trail. I stopped, took a couple of gulps from my water bottle, then emptied the whole thing to drop a bunch of raspberries into it instead. After the bottle was almost half full I continued to the Cabane du Jura and hit the grassy downhill. A few meters into the downhill, the sky all of a sudden dropped buckets on me. Within a minute all my clothes were soaking wet. No big deal. I was riding away from the rain, it was warm and I was hoping to dry up on the bike by the time I get home. I shot down the rocky trail leading to Les Pres d’Orvin. Due to the heavy rain though, I rode more carefully and with a little less speed. The Bronson tire up front didn’t disappoint. Next up was the Spaghetti Trail descent. Surprisingly, this one was bone dry and as always a fun one to ride. I stopped twice to snap a photo, then crossed the Jorat where I was navigating to my last ride destination of the day - a blackberry bush. A little surprise when I reached it and opened my water bottle - the raspberries had turned into raspberry juice making room for more blackberries. It didn’t take long and my bottle was topped of with Jura’s own blackberries. Another descent from Evilard to Biel still ahead, I didn’t want to make more juice so I stashed the water bottle into my jersey pocket. Looking forward to cereal with organic blackberries or maybe some ice cream with berries after dinner tonight. Yum!

★

Yesterday was too nice of a day not to saddle up and head out into the Jura. Still battling a cold, I only left midday to hit my Rondchâtel Loop and climb to the Chasseral. I was taking it easy, never hammering, just keeping an easy pace trying to make it up every climb. When I approached the top of the “hors categorie” climb out of Rondchâtel, I reached for my sun glasses on an open stretch of fire road, only to realize that there were no glasses on my helmet. Rats, did I lose my nice pair of Specialized glasses somewhere? I had stopped to adjust my front brake and to take a picture, but I was pretty sure I would have noticed them falling out. I was about to turn around when it crossed my mind to check the photos I had taken before to see if I had those glasses with me to begin with. Well, they weren’t on the photos so there was no point to turning around. I finished the first climb, then had a few flat miles before the trail made a sharp lefthand turn and gently climbed up back to the forest-line. Right as the trail enters the forest, it gains a couple of percentage points to make you suffer on a singlespeed. When I’m at 100% it’s doable. Recovering from a cold I was riding at maybe 60% of my capacity and stayed on the bike for as long as I could, but I didn’t make it this time. I had to get off the bike and push the last 20 meters to where the trail has less of an incline. A couple of miles across pastures, a steep pitch to hike-a-bike then lots of single-track along the crest heading west followed.

Once I arrived at the Place Centrale I opted for the easy route on the wide fire road to approach the Chasseral. Mostly flat or gently climbing I turned it up a notch only to pay for it later on the paved climb across the Petit Chasseral. I was done. Running nose, heavy head and constantly popping ears I skipped the last climb to the top of the Chasseral and instead took an easier uphill shortcut back to the crest for more fun single-track. First though, I stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the incredible view of the Alps. The sky had an amazing blue and far away the Alps drew a white line across the horizon. Sadly, such views also mark the end of the summer. At the peak of the summer, it’s usually impossible to make out the snow covered mountains. In the fall and winter the optical effects of sun and air change and the Alps grow taller and closer. I single-tracked back east and dropped into my favorite downhill - the Spaghetti Trail. Now was the time to see what the Bronson could do. In only a few miles the trail offers everything from soft to hard dirt, loose rocks, roots and solid rock. The Bronson was excellent. didn’t put knobs onto this tire but teeth, teeth that bite with deadly precision. In dry conditions, this is a tire you have to worry about gripping too much. Crossing over to Evilard, I stopped once more. This time for blackberries. They were just too tempting. Much smaller than the ones I’m used to from California or the local grocery, but mighty tasty nonetheless. It would be worth heading out there just for them as they currently ripen all over the place.

Distance:47km (29 miles)
Total Climb:1600m (5240 feet)
Moving Time:a feverish 4 hours
★

After yesterday’s furnace loop had robbed me of every quantum of energy, I got up this morning with lead in my legs. I had breakfast on the balcony with my two cats and was happy that the clouds were hanging low across the Jura. My legs didn’t feel like another ride, but my mind did. On a cloudy day it’s a whole lot nicer to climb up to the Chasseral. I got out the door before 10AM and entered the trail system above the lake to reach Magglingen first. The air was warm and the forest was steaming from humidity. I wasn’t feeling hot, but I was sweating quickly nonetheless. As I rode towards the Twannberg, it started to rain. A couple of hikers were getting their rain gear out as it didn’t look like it was going to stop any time soon. I didn’t bring a rain jacket. What for? It was a warm summer rain. When I rode around the western side of the Spitzberg, the sky no longer just dropped water down on earth but roared and flashed. Hmm, maybe not such a good idea to try to reach the highest peak around. Instead I turned onto a gentle climb along the northern side of the Spitzberg and climbed to the Place Centrale. It was raining pretty hard. Water was rolling down my face mixing with sweat and leaving a nice salty taste on my lips. I enjoyed every minute of it and my legs had forgotten that they were tired a few hours ago.

From the Place Centrale I hit the single-track to the Cabane du Jura from where I descended to Les Pres d’Orvin. The limestone around here gets a soapy surface when wet and no bike tire will keep its grip. The rocky downhill therefore needed to be ridden at a much lower speed. It was an interesting experience though, as I payed even more attention to the line I picked. Next challenge waiting was the Spaghetti Trail. The upper section is a combination of mud, roots and a few rocks; it was surprisingly easy despite the wet conditions. The middle section is a trail with lots of big, loose rocks. Wet or dry, it’s always about riding through the rocks without hitting any. The wet ground let the tires slip a few times, but other than that it was business as usual. Entering the lower section of trail was a whole other story. It’s rocky terrain, rideable when dry but not when wet. So I walked the most difficult spots. As I crossed the Jorat to head up to Evilard, the sky dropped even more water and a few lightnings struck nearby. Good I was close to home. At home, I turned into the backyard to hose down the bike and myself.

After a nice shower, I made myself coffee and a sandwich, then got comfortable on the couch to watch the Tour. So far this year’s sort of sucks. Too much blood and broken bones. Today’s stage was a continuation of the bad. I want to see riders battle it out on the road for the win and not see them leave the race for a trip to the hospital. The Tour de France this year is more than road cycling and it shouldn’t be that way.

Distance:40km (25 miles)
★

I haven’t been feeling all that great this weekend. I was pretty drained and dizzy yesterday. Slept all afternoon then went to a friend’s birthday party. Delicious food, lots of sparkling wine followed by a couple of glasses of red wine numbed the feeling but really didn’t help it. This morning I got up and didn’t feel all that much better. It was a gorgeous day and I wanted to enjoy it on the bike. I knew that if I’d head out on my local trails, I would cut my ride short as soon as I wouldn’t feel 100%. So, I threw all my bike gear into the back of our car and left for Môtiers in the Val de Travers. A while ago I mapped out a bike tour through the Poeta Raisse gorge to the top of the Chasseron with a return via La Côte-aux-Fées and Fleurier. I had never done this loop. I’ve only seen photos online and it looked like a fantastic place to explore. After about an hour of driving, I pulled into the small parking lot at the trailhead of the Poeta Raisse gorge.

I dropped the front wheel into the fork, tightened the skewer, put my riding gear on and stuffed all necessary gizmos into the three back pockets of my jersey. I had a Blowfish with me, but I left it in the car. Camera, phone, pocket pump, multi-tool, GPS recorder and a small flashlight for cave explorations was all I brought along. A spare tube was packed into the left-side pocket of my shorts. The right one is always reserved for the key with the bigger pocket carrying a map today. The first couple of miles to the gorge were on very rocky fire roads. They weren’t steep at first, just right to warm up. Soon enough things got steeper and narrower to the point where riding a singlespeed was unthinkable. Much of the Poeta Raisse gorge consists of steep stairs and narrow foot bridges. The stairs are a heck of a challenge to get up with a bike. Glad I have a light singlespeed for such locations. It’s easy to hold it with one hand while the other grabs the safety chain.

Originally, I had planned to turn right towards La Combaz when exiting the gorge, but seeing some single-track sweetness continuing straight towards the Chasseron, I changed my route. The trail was between 10 and 20 centimeters wide running through moist and extremely overgrown ground. Big leafed plants (don’t ask me what they were) reached up to the handlebar. The trail curved its way up and had a bunch of up and down rollers. Below La Vaux it exited the forest and climbed steeply until it dropped back into a forested area. From now it was a gentle climb. I started to feel better and enjoyed gaining altitude without having to suffer. Out of the forest, the hiking trail had been awfully abused by cattle. While it was almost flat, it was a slow, bumpy ride. Pavement followed for the short climb to La Bullatonne where I turned back onto the hiking trail leading up to the Chasseron. After arriving at the peak, I took a break to enjoy the views in every direction.

The Chasseron being at 1607 meters, it could only go down from now. I headed towards the Petites Roches and discovered several miles of technical single-track. Rocks and roots and a steep pitch required to really read ahead. I had to stop twice because I picked the wrong line. Near Les Praises I ran into the course of a mountain bike race - the Coupe du Chasseron. I needed to reach Le Sollier and the race was going up the trail I planned on going down. I talked to a race marshall and got the okay to ride in opposite direction of the racers coming up. A short stretch later I turned into a lot more exiting trail than the racers had to follow - a steep descent through tall grass heading towards Le Saut de l’Eau (a waterfall when there’s water). This trail included the same features as the Poeta Raisse gorge - foot-bridges and steep stairs. But it also offered some nice single-track. At the bottom of the Saut de l’Eau, I merged onto the street to bomb down to Noirvaux Dessus where I turned onto the next climb of the day to La Grotte-aux-Fées, the fairies’ cave.

It was this climb that reminded me that I wasn’t in the best shape as my legs started to fade. Well no, it was my whole body that said it was enough. I still climbed down to the entrance of the cave and then continued on to La Côte-aux-Fées. I could have called it a day and popped onto the road to Buttes, but beat myself to some more trail riding. Luckily though, the way to the Montagne de Buttes was a small paved road. When I turned off the paved road pointing my front wheel to Le Banderet I had no idea that I’d find a sweet, challenging single-track to the Chapeau de Napoleon (Napoleon’s hat). This trail only drops by 100 meters, but is sprinkled with rocks and roots to steer through. Pure fun! At Napoleon’s hat I took mine off and sat down on the terrace of the restaurant. I was thirsty and ordered a liter of Rivella, red of course. No liter bottles so I got two small ones for over 4 bucks a pop. Two bottles later, I hit the last leg back to the car. A steep, dangerous downhill to Fleurier and a few more paved miles back into Môtiers. Holy cow, is this small town busy on a late Sunday afternoon. People were everywhere and the parking lot I left my car in the morning was more than full. I pushed the Niner into the car, changed jerseys and put on sandals. Before I drove off, I drank some more then hit the road.

Distance:40km (25 miles)
Total Climb:1680m (5500 feet)
GPS Track:GPSies.com
★

After yesterday was spent tasting some of the finest wines the Bonvillars region has to offer and a fantastic dinner on the terrace of the Auberge de l’Union in Concise, I felt a little sluggish in the morning. The sky was gray and it didn’t look like that was going to improve one bit. By noon I decided that a bike ride would be the best way to sweat out the wine from the previous day. There was no need to go hard nor extremely far. I just needed to get into the woods for a bit, get my heart pumping and my sweat glands steaming. Before I was able to take off, the front wheel needed a new tube. It looked like the front Eclipse tube failed just like the rear did a few days ago. So far, I’ve not had too much luck with those. A regular tube took its place.

As I rolled the bike out of the house, I felt a few rain drops. Oh well, nothing was going to stop me now. I cruised to Rondchâtel, where the sky started to unload buckets on me. No big deal, it was super warm, which equals to 18-20C on my temperature scale, and the rain was a refreshing change making the climb the more pleasant. Next, I swung the Niner across my favorite single-track course up there. It was a heck of a lot more challenging than usual as everything was soaking wet. I managed to ride a lot, but I also had to get off the bike a lot. From all the corners in the world I have ridden bikes, the Jura is by far the toughest one when wet. Nothing I’ve ever taken under my rubber tires even comes close to it. It was fun to be challenged.

I continued across the lush pastures along the ridge to reach the Cabane du Jura enjoying an awesome scenery of dark clouds above the mountains and a few sun rays touching the Seeland. Despite the muddy trail conditions, I hit the rocky descent into Les Pres d’Orvin and navigated to the entrance of the Spaghetti Trail. And man, was this one wet. The upper section was surprisingly grippy, but down farther, I almost wiped out in the mud while slamming through a narrow turn. My left foot on the ground saved me from going down. The rocky section that followed was too wet for my front Weirwolf. And I’m just not dare-devil enough to risk such maneuvers when trail conditions are that bad. The rest of the way home was fast and as wet as everything before. I turned into our backyard, hosed down the bike, then hosed down myself. No need to bring any of the dirt sticking on me and my clothes into the house.

★

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