Last Ride Of 2010
Biel was sitting under a cold, thick layer of fog when I left town for a last ride in the year. I had checked the web cam of the ski lift in Les Près d’Orvin and knew that folks were enjoying some sun up there. It didn’t look like there was a lot of snow on the slopes but people were skiing. Having the Spitzberg in mind, I climbed out of Biel going west to come out somewhere between Magglingen and the Twannberg. As I gained altitude the fog got thicker with every meter I climbed. Only once I reached the highest point the fog opened up to let a few sun rays through.
By the time I dropped down towards the Twannberg I was back riding a snow-covered trail barely seeing farther than five meters ahead. I dropped down to Lamboing to reach the next climb up to the Spitzberg. Riding went well at first as enough snow had melted to reveal the fire road. But once my wheels had to slice through the wet, heavy snow pedaling was over. On a geared bike, I would have dropped into a small gear and made it up the climb. But on my one-gear carbon bike I quickly came to a standstill whenever the rear wheel ate itself into the snow. I was determined to get up to the top, hoping that I’d find better riding conditions higher up. With the sun out, temperatures were above zero degrees and the fire road never offered rideable conditions again.
Once I reached the top though, I headed east towards the skiing slopes and found a trail that I was able to ride most of the time. Tough at first, the snow got harder the closer I got to the slopes. The trail ended right where the skiers and snow-boarders get off the lift and the only way to get down the mountain was to join them on their slopes. It’s been a long time since I last rode a bike down these slopes. I knew it was going to be fun. The snow under my wheels was hard but not frozen and provided an awesome grip. It was fun seeing people’s faces when they turned around realizing that there was a biker coming down the hill. As I passed a group, I heard someone wonder if I had taken the ski lift. I wish I could have. It was a blast riding those slopes. I could have done it all afternoon. But it was time to head home to have enough time for a shower and get ready for a nice New Years dinner with my wife at the Restaurant des Gorges in Frinvillier.
