The light of autumn on November 15, 2020.
The light of autumn on November 15, 2020.

offtrail.guru

A small blog about offtrail riding, allroad cycling, fatbiking and singlespeeding.

Patrick

Year 2020 In Review

The snow ghosts at the Chasseral.

In 2020 I rode 135 times or 300 hours, totaling 5’195 kilometers and climbing 144’439 meters. Due to our move in 2019, which saw my riding time greatly reduced for the second part of the year, I hoped to get back to a 2018 level in 2020. But that wasn’t possible. The pandemic had little to do with it. We had a few months with short time at work, which would have given me more time to ride. However, in early 2020 one of our cats was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and her sister shows signs of it, too.

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Patrick

Global Fat-Bike Day 2020

Winter trail on the Mont Sujet.

Right in time for the Global Fat-Bike Day 2020, a low-pressure system brought lots of humidity from the south and turned our mountains into a gorgeous winter wonderland. Five, six years ago, when fat-biking saw a boom, we managed to get a half dozen people together for the occasion. I had honestly not paid attention to GFBD this year as I've not been able to devote as much time to cycling as I would have liked. It was only after instagramming my ride on Saturday that I realized that it coincided with GFBD2020. My Instagram post was tagged appropriately to mark the occasion.

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Patrick

First Fat-Bike Weekend

First snow of the winter 20/21.

While the previous weekend was spent single-speeding, last weekend was all about exploring the first snow on my fat-bike. What both weekends had in common was a short drive to get me closer to the Chasseral. From home, this favorite peak of mine is now a 7-hour loop away. While that's doable, I can currently not be away from home for such a long time. For the two single-speed rides, I started in Frinvillier on Saturday and just above Biel on Sunday. For the two fat-bike rides, my point of departure was Les Prés d'Orvin.

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Patrick

Cycling And My List Of Don'ts

Chasseral crest trail on a rigid single-speed.

With every hobby there are things we love to do, things we have to do, things we can't do and yes, there are also things we simply won't do. There are a bunch of things I don't and won't do. In cycling, there's no right or wrong; some folks prefer one bike type over another, some live to bomb downhill, others rejoice in hitting hard climbs, some love to be rattled while others want squish. Ultimately it's about doing what's fun and we all achieve that in different ways. The way I roll is simply the way I roll.

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Patrick

Small Steps To Fight Climate Change

Some rare powder on December 9, 2017.

Our climate is heating up rapidly; even more rapidly than climate scientists predicted. Droughts are causing mass starvation and displacement of millions in large parts of the world. Other parts of the world are going up in flames. In October 2017, large areas of the city I used to call home for ten years were incinerated and three more wildfires brought smoke and destruction in 2019 and 2020. Hurricanes are growing stronger and more frequent. Switzerland, which I call home again, is getting hotter year after year. It's not uncommon for February to feel like May. Summer months see more frequent and grueling heatwaves. Swiss summers used to be the best time to ride. Now, summers are the first season during which I often take a break from cycling.

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