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Retirement Well Deserved

   

A hand still recovering, a lousy weather forecast for the next couple of days and an email from my bike shop that the new frame and fork were coming were reason enough to build my already four year old Niner One 9 for retirement. Retirement, what? Once in a while, I own a great bike that I think is worth keeping. Such a bike gets carefully restored and finds its way out of the dark basement into the house. The Niner One 9 is only bike #2 that doesn’t end up as a trade-in or an item sold. I spent Friday night in the basement until 1:30AM taking it apart a bolt at a time, clean and re-lube everything as well as adding a couple of new bits to get it back to mint condition. The bike covered lots of miles out in the sun, in the mud and during the winter in the deep snow. It doesn’t show it. Niner One 9, four years and still as great as on day one.

Destination Rusty Antenna

It was another gorgeous day in good old Switzerland. The sun was out and the Bise was keeping the air cool and clean. In other words a good day to pay the tall rusty antenna a visit. I grabbed a water bottle, my honey flask and took of to climb to Magglingen from where I headed over to the Twannberg. Knowing that I wouldn’t find running water in Lamboing, I stopped at the Twannberg Restaurant for a refill at their water fountain on the terrace. I was polite and walked across the terrace. It’s a restaurant after all. My route to the rusty antenna now followed the same path as on Saturday. I shot one trail pic (second above) and slowly made my way to the peak of the Chasseral. It’s amazing how slow you actually move with a bike in that sort of terrain. At 9 kph you’re moving, quite often you’re way under. Towards the top, almost at the last “carry-your-bike” section, I ran into an older couple on bikes. They had never done this trail and obviously wanted to know what was going to come. I replied with my standard answer: “Oh, it’s all rideable from here!” Now, that’s not a lie. I ride it, many other people ride it. How do I know if they can ride it? Once at the peak, I sat in the grass for a while and enjoyed the view across the three lakes. My way home followed the Chasseral crest eastwards until I reached the CAS cabin where I dropped into Les Prés d’Orvin. Spaghetti Trail, Jorat, Evilard and back I was in Biel just in time to watch the Tour de France finish.

Distance:

52km (32 miles)

Shorts, Jersey and Fog - July Like I Love It!

           

Hurray - a little break from the heat! When I peeked out the window this morning, I was greeted by a cloudy sky and temperatures that were just calling to take the bike out on a longer ride. I studied my ancient hiking map from 1985 and decided to attack the Chasseral by the front side. A quick Müesli topped with yogurt and blackberries for breakfast and off I went the usual route from Biel through Gaicht and up to the Twannberg to reach Lamboing. I wanted to fill my water bottle at the village fountain in Lamboing, but they must have turned it off to save water. That meant half a bottle to take me to the Chasseral and back home. I didn’t carry any cash on me either. I climbed around the west side of the Spitzberg and was going to find a way towards the small mountain village of Nods. I passed the shooting range above Diesse and then rode on unknown territory. I ran into mountain bike Route 44, which I followed for a short bit, then turned off left towards Nods to get to my planned ascent to Les Colisses du Haut. This climb has got to be the easiest way to reach the crest trail. It climbs from 970m to 1340m without ever getting steep. I was able to stay in the saddle all the time. The crest trail to the Chasseral antenna that followed was a lot slower with tons of bumpy stuff and a bunch of climbs where pushing the bike was the only option to move forward. With every meter gained the fog that was blowing across the crest got denser and denser. When I reached the antenna, I had a visibility of only about 20 meters and water was heavily dripping off the steel construction. I took a bunch of pictures and quickly got back on the bike to return the way I had come from. While I had managed the technical stuff going up really well, it didn’t flow on the way down. I almost went over the handlebars twice. Luckily, I saved it both times. The Goatback suddenly didn’t seem like such a good idea. I went anyway. The Chemin du Haut des Roches was closed due to lumbering and I had to detour to Les Coperies to get to the Goatback (Geissrücken). The upper Goatback is a fun trail only requiring to walk where it intersects with the Chemin du Haut des Roches. On the lower Goatback I got off the bike a number of times. A full suspension bike with lowered saddle is really more suited for such a trail. The trail’s fun on my One9 nonetheless. Once in Frinvilier, I took the shortest trail back into Biel. Somewhere along there, my front tire made friends with an old, rusty nail. The tube held its air, so I left the nail alone and rode on. As soon as I reached town a heavy downpour hit. Glad I only had a couple of minutes to get home.

Distance:	53km (33 miles)
Total Climb:	1690m (5550 feet)
GPS Track:	GPSies.com

Chasseral on Big Wheels

         

Today, the Chasseral was my riding destination once again. This time with my Niner One9 and the GPS mouse in my jersey pocket. It’s the beginning of June and I’ve been up there more already than by the end of summer last year. After a healthy breakfast, I left some time after 8AM on an easy climb out of Biel to reach Evilard. I dropped into Orvin to begin the tough Charrière climb towards Les Prés-D’Orvin. Before reaching the village though, I turned off to the right to begin a long, gradual climb to reach the crest and several good miles of singletrack. I enjoyed an awesome view, a cooling west wind and a sun that wasn’t burning as hot as yesterday. I pedaled my way to the Place Centrale and continued to the Métairie du Milieu de Bienne. Along the way, I caught up with another rider, who held one of the many cattle gates open for me. I returned the favor and we rode the last few miles together. He was on a very well equipped Scott Spark and very surprised to see me going up to the Chasseral on a 29er singlespeed. On the last steep pitch up to the antenna, he dropped into a small gear and I had to pick a high tempo to power up the way. At the top, our ways separated. I turned left to ride the crest trail, he turned right for the mountain-top restaurant. Happy to report that the snow is finally gone. The crest trail was as much fun as ever, even though it was quite muddy at the known spots. I dropped back down to the Place Centrale and decided to ride the entire length of the Chasseral crest trail. Some fun, technical singletrack and a fast descent on the Chemin du Haut des Roches followed. Soon after, I stood at the start of a steep, narrow and technical downhill - the Geissrücken (Goatback). I hit it and soon realized that my front disc brake pads were toast. Note to self: get some new ones on Tuesday. It didn’t deter me to have a fun descent and practice tight turns in the many switchbacks. The trail has a couple of dangerous turns and dangerously steep stairs, where I chose to get off the bike. It’s not the falling off the bike that is the danger, but the possible “free” falling down the side of the trail. I made it safely to Frinvillier. One last short, but steep climb and I was quickly back in Biel. Great ride. I’m looking forward to repeat it a couple more times this year, especially with the new Air9 carbon.

Distance:	47km (29 miles)
Total Climb:	1555m (5100 feet)
GPS Track:	GPSies • BikeMap

Un Petit Tour Jusqu’à Macolin

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It’s been the first sunny day after a couple of wet, gray days. I left the office with the plan to pick up a new saddle for my road bike and to do a short hill climb on the road right after. The saddle has not made it to my LBS yet, so after getting home, I grabbed my Niner One9 for a quick climb up to Macolin. My legs felt strong, but a bit lazy and asked for a moderate route uphill. I granted the wish and steered the bike along the backside to the End of the World. Took a few photos along the way and hit the usual downhill, which I rode a lot slower due to the slippery conditions. The GPS mouse in my jersey pocket tracked the short ride accurately and reported:

Distance:	19km (12 miles)
Total Climb:	610m (2000 feet)
GPS Track:	GPSies.com

Chasseral Loop

         

Today I took off on my good old Niner to head up to the Chasseral for the first time of the year. Well, the first time on knobby tires, I should specify. The weather was amazing - sunny blue sky and a fresh breeze - absolutely perfect for such a bike tour. My tiny GPS logger didn’t make it to my mailbox Saturday. In fact, it could very well be that Swiss mailmen don’t have to carry packages on Saturdays. If I think about it, I don’t remember ever having gotten one on a Saturday. Never mind, I’ll leave this post with a collection of nine photos from today’s singlespeed ride. A detailed route description including GPS track will follow on another occasion. The Chasseral is after all one of my frequent destinations.

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Sure enough, 29erForce posted the specs of my bike along with a recent photo.

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Snowy Climb

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