Hello America! | Part #6 – My First European Bike Trip

On two continents, 6,600 kilometers away from their home countries – we found two guys who literally swapped their lives: one in America, the other in Germany. How does biking feel in each of their new worlds? Who finds the best trails? Who drinks the best beer? Hear their stories and follow their adventures as they hit the trails in their new worlds.

Have you seen the movie National Lampoon’s Vacation? Do you remember the end of the movie when Clark Griswold finally pulls into the parking lot at Wally World only to find it closed? If you haven’t seen the movie then you should, but more importantly, Clark goes absolutely mental. This is how Alec and I felt as we stood alone in the empty parking lot at Lac Blanc Bike Park in France.

Everyone knows what the last 15 minutes of a road trip are like ­ the music gets louder, the windows get rolled down, you drive way above the speed limit, and you are PUMPED!! That was how we rolled in. Speeding down a narrow winding road, blasting Jay­Z through the crappy speakers in my hatchback rental car, we were greeted with nothing but an empty car park. And why was the bike park closed? Well, it was a Tuesday of course! Apparently not all European bike parks are open seven days a week. I really can’t even begin to understand why they would not be open every day, but it is a reality that I learned quickly. I guess none of my DH friends in Stuttgart had ever been to the bike park on a weekday, so they had no idea that it would be closed either …or to tell me to check. I’m not sure how I would have figured it out anyway since I speak neitherFrench nor German.

So Alec and I stood next to the car which had our bikes wedged in the back seat and considered our options. We really didn’t have many options. My mobile phone only had data service in Germany so we couldn’t use the internet. There were no nearby businesses or homes with wifi I could steal to do some searches. My mother had flown in from America for a visit and had agreed to stay at home with my wife and kids for four days so that Alec and I could go ride. There was NO F­ING WAY we were going back home. All we had was the portable GPS unit in the car and I can tell you that “bike park” is not yet a popular enough destination to be pre­programmed. We found that it did however, have a list of ski resorts. Alec had recently read an story about Verbier Bike Park and, lucky for us, Verbier was in the GPS. Unlucky for us though because Verbier is in Switzerland and yet another 350 kilometers of driving to get there.

We climbed back into the car, started blasting Big Pimpin’, peeled out of the gravel parking lot, and pointed the car south. After the unfortunate detour into France and a couple stops for fuel and bathroom breaks, we arrived in Verbier about 9 hours after our trip began. This time we pulled into town a little less pumped and not so sure of ourselves. Alec had been backpacking around Europe before he showed up at my house and would have probably been perfectly happy sleeping under a bridge, but I’m just too old for that. We found a little hotel and a case of beer in really small bottles and began to unwind next to the river. A big meal and a good nigh’t sleep led to a perfect morning for some shredding.

Verbier was our introduction to riding in the Alps. We were totally blown away. The trails are fun, the views are gorgeous, and the lifts were empty. Halfway down the first run I had to pull over to check my bike because of some noises I was hearing. I pulled aside and the noises continued. I looked to my right and about 20 meters away were six cows chewing on grass and ringing massive bells hanging from their necks. This was definitely not America. I’m usually too busy riding to look around much, but the Alps are spectacular and deserve the attention.

The next morning we decided to make the short drive to Chatel Bike Park which is just across the border in France. As we approached Chatel, we were shocked to see mountain bikers everywhere.

We had arrived during the Pass’portes Du Soleil MTB Festival which is simply incredible. During one weekend a year, the region opens up 15 chairlifts to create an 80 km circuit which is essentially downhill. One run in the bike park and we decided to stick to the bike park with our DH bikes. The 80 km circuit looked awesome, but after our crazy trip, we just wanted to ride the perfectly prepared, early season DH trails. I really can’t say enough good things about Chatel Bike Park. It is fast and flowy and massive. The jumps are built perfectly and the berms are huge! We spent two days riding there and they were two of the best days of park riding I’ve ever had.

I believe it was Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia who said, “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Our adventure was not quite so dramatic or ominous, but it certainly didn’t go as planned. It actually ended up being way better than we had planned.

Enjoyed this story? Take a trip to the rest of the series: Introduction | Freiburg | Goodbye Germany | Stromberg | What a Small World it is

Words & Photos: Evan Phillips