Sunday, October 03, 2010

Good wine & great singletrack

We mountain bikers are known to enjoy our post ride ales. In certain circles quality beer at the end of the ride is just as important as the singletrack ridden and it seems that everyone I meet is a burgeoning beer sommelier. I like beer too, but can a mountain biker drink wine and still be cool? Our Swiss all-mountain Cloudraker and downhill Alpenrock DH trips take place in the canton of Valais, which happens to be one of Switzerland's main wine producers. It's a spectacular region with sweeping vineyards that go from the shores of Lake Geneva up the mountainsides, and from the Rhone Valley up the steep slopes of the Alps. I can't think of another place in the world where you can descend 6000 feet of blissfull singletrack or ride 50 kms of unreal all-mountain trails that end in vineyards.
Last summer on a private trip, after a day of downhilling at the Crans Montana bike park we rolled down the long last descent of the day and stopped off at wine producers' "cave" for a tour of their production and a wine tasting, and then continued the last bit of riding down to Sierre and our hotel in the setting sun. What a great way to wrap up a day of riding. Ah, the good life...
Want to drink wine and ride your mountain bike in the Swiss Alps too? Get in touch with us and we'll make it happen.
Hmmmm, wine.
Descending down to the Rhone Valley post wine tasting. Eyes on the trail. Focus...

Photos: Taylor Holland. Thanks to the Holland family for a great trip!

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