Now that the WC schedule is out I have been thinking about planning a trip to Europe with the goal of biking/riding trains between races. My goal is to watch DH and enduro while over there so I am thinking about starting with Val DI Sole, heading to Crans Montana to watch the XC and see the area. Then heading to Haute Savoie with a pit stop in Chamonix to finish with DH, enduro, and XC. At that point it seems Geneva would be the place to fly out of.
I’m considering a few bike options.
1. fly my enduro bike/ gear over there and be able to ride trails at each location, but have to jump the big bike down the roads.
2. Don’t bring mtb, rent a road bike for traveling between locations, rent mtb at locations to ride trails for the day.
3. Rent road bike do no mtb (not ideal but efficient and cost effective)
I’m curious to hear anyone’s experience, suggestions, thoughts on how to make this happen. Is anyone else planning a similar trip? Where to stay? What to be aware of? Any other recommendations?
PS don’t speak any other the languages and have never been to Europe so this is a bit of a huck.
Thanks
taking trains/busses works in switzerland, not so much in italy. bigger hassle with research involved.
When I read the title I thought UCI had introduced a new World Cup discipline.
1. This is probably the trip of a lifetime, I will be frustrated to not have my own enduro bike and not experience some of the best MTB singletrails in the Alps. With an enduro I would focus on Wallis area (Crans Montana / Sierre / Sion) + Chamonix + Portes du Soleil (Chatel / Les Gets / Morzine). Val di sole is located on a remote valley and sounds a bit out of reach with an enduro bike, or you will have to commit to long train transfers.
2. Keep in mind that Switzerland is an expensive country, average price for renting a bike will be minimum 90CHF per day. And you won't be so flexible (need to bring back the bike at the pick up point).
3. Going to Val di Sole with a road bike could be also a cool experience with the climb of famous passes (Furka, Gothard, ...).You might need to be fit with high elevations and long distances to cover.
Moving through Switzerland with trains is no problem. Chamonix valley is well deserved with trains. Haute-Savoie is not dealing really good with buses, finding bus shuttles could be tricky even for local peoples. Once you will be based in one of the Portes du soleil resort (I will recommend Morzine, as it is an English spoken city), you will be able to reach other resorts by lifts. I have been to Val di Sole by car, it is really far from the 2 previous locations.
A few tips concerning transport (trains/buses/gondolas) in Switzerland :
More or less every single transport (except bikeparks) are handled by SBB-CFF company. The yellow post buses are also included with SBB-CFF passes. A lot of natural singletrails are accessible with these yellow buses.
During high season it's recommended to book your bike spot on bus on : https://www.resabike.ch/
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/travelcards/half-fare-travelcard.h… (190CHF and then you pay only half price for your tickets)
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/travelcards/ga-travelcard/ga-1-mon… (440CHF for unlimited access to trains in Switzerland for one month).
For sure Geneva airport will be the most practical one.
theres also a 240chf year pass for bikes on trains/busses, else its a childs ticket one way if less than 14.50chf, for longer or multiple trips per day there is a 14.50chf day pass for the bike. in vallais there are quite a few gondolas that are also usable with a sbb ticket, as they are part of the local public transport. you can shuttle all day there with a day pass.
Thanks for the information it is very helpful. It does seem like Switzerland has a vast transit system, I work in transit so I am definitely interested in riding the trains. Bringing my bike sounds like the best way to make sure I have the best experience. Crans and the surrounding area seems like the ideal place, my only issue is the Crans Montana stop is only XC. If I am going to fly all the way there I would want to attend an enduro/DH race ideally both. Looking and Finale it seems pretty accessible by train and the area looks amazing. I might end up going there to watch enduro and ride the area.
thanks
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