Switzerland Special

Bike the Mountain

by Frank Leistner

Most people when they think of Switzerland very likely think of mountains, which is not so surprising with 55 Peaks above 4000m (12000ft). Less people might be thinking of biking. But bikes are actually very common in Switzerland and there are some unique things about bikes around here:

- In contrast to Germany and Austria they are not called "Fahrrad" in Switzerland, but "Velo".

- Mandatory liability insurance for every bike - to be shown with a sticker called the "Velo-Vignette".

- With "Züri-rollt" there is a free bike rental in Zürich every summer with 34000 rental incidents in 2009. Great for tourists - just show your ID and leave CHF20 as a deposit, one-way rental available.

But the real fun starts if you put the Mountains and the Velos together. In that case it is called "Mountain-Biking" (no translation into Swiss German). Inspired by a friend we started this interesting sport this summer. First on borrowed bikes, later on a couple we invested in.  The Mountain-bike has the advantage over hiking that you get a lot further on a day, getting deeper into woods or into higher altitudes just on a weekend day. And over a car or motorcycle it has the advantage that you can go places a bit away from any streets or busy Mountain-Passes. This doesn't mean that hiking or cruising wouldn't be fun, but the Mountain-Bike opens up new territory.  And with our friend who is very experienced and with the help of her modern GPS we did some very interesting tours so far:

- a few short tours in the smaller mountains around lake Zürich, but with up to 1000m altitude climbed not without challenge. The real fun is going downhill through the woods jumping over roots.

- a tour climbing from Airolo - the well known south-entrance of the Gotthard-Tunnel - up to almost 2000m (6000ft) - where we ended in a high-valley with porcini mushrooms growing around us.

- a New-Years bike ride through the  Maggia Valley from Locarno at the Lago Maggiore to the village of Maggia. This ride included some trails that were still covered with snow and ice. Luckily they were fairly flat but driving them turned out challenging. A great balance practice for narrow downhill trails, we hope to hit this spring.

These tours took us through areas with lots of other Mountain-bikers to those that are a bit remote. In the latter case it is a good idea to have a working phone, spare tubes and a tire pump with you. And of course, my favorite item to take on the road - a camera. So enjoy some of the pictures in this month's slide show "A view from the bike".