ISZL Autumn Break Mountain Bike Camp

Day 1 (Monday, 19th October, 2009):

In the morning we left our school with lots of excitement. First we travelled to Lauterbrunen on the school bus and then we took the train up to Wengen where our accommodation is. Then we settled down in our rooms and had lunch together. After our lunch we got ready for our first ride and took a steep path down to Lauterbrunen. When we got to the bottom we rode to the end of the valley where we found a beautiful waterfall. On the way back when we passed a farm suddenly a goat came out from the farm and joined us down the road. We carried on all the way back to the train station where we caught the next train up to Wengen and took our last ride back to the challet.

At 6 pm ate really good dinner with dessert. After we went for a walk and found a little restaurant where we had tea and hot chocolate. On the way back we stopped by a field covered by snow and played with the snow. What a great day! We are looking forward to day 2.
(From the Camp Diary of Frans, David  and the Banditos...)

Day 2 (Tuesday, 20th October, 2009):

It's Tuesday. Joseph arrived today at 10.00 so we had some time after breakfast and we went for a run. Wow, that was cold...  After we went down to Lauterbrunen on the same path that we did yesterday. This is a very steep and technical trail. We have learned a lot about how to control the bike in the turns. Then we went to the other side of the valley and started heading a 500 meter climb. On the way we passed a wonderful waterfall. When we got to the top of the hill we found a nice spot to eat our lunch. After lunch we carried on and rode through the Isenfluh tunnel. This is a 1.5 Km road inside the mountain. After we crossed a river and took the path along the river back to Lauterbrunen train station. The 16.30 train brought us back to Wengen. By 18.00 everybody was ready for dinner. At the evening we played games and laughed much.
From the instructors: We were impressed with the improvement of downhill and climbing technique and with the endurance throughout the whole day.

We are a great team. LET'S GO EAGLES!
(From the Camp Diary of Frans, David  and the Banditos...) 

Day 3 (Wednesday, 21st October, 2009):

On the third morning we left early, the mountains were waiting for us. We cycled on Mountain Bike Route # 1 up to Wengeralp which is 1880m high. This was the biggest challenge of the week. During the way up we stopped a couple of times, for snack, for walking through the steep bit, for changing layers, for lunch or just because it was so beautiful and we had to take a picture. When we reached the top we were all amazed by the view of Eiger - Monch - Jungfrau. Everyone was so happy and proud. On the way down we found a rough and rocky path where we had a technical training. By 16.00 we got back to our base full of mud, so our next activity was to clean the bikes. At the evening we ate our dinner and went to the town to get hot chocolate to celebrate our day. Today we worked super hard. Well done guys.
(From the Camp Diary of Frans, David  and the Banditos...)

 

Day 4 (Thursday, 22nd October, 2009):

Thursday morning, we look out the windows with some doubts. Is it raining? Is it cloudy? We were expecting wet weather and were ready for indoor activities. No way, the ISZL Mountain Bike Team is a lucky one, we have got sunshine. Everyone got dressed quickly and were ready for action. First we took our favorite downhill path to Lauterbrunnen and from there we went along the river Weisse Lutschine until we found a nice spot where we had snack. After our break we turned back and cycled on different paths. When we reached a little burn next to the river we thought it's a perfect place for our technical training. "Rear break only, now both, stand and weight above your seat, now pedal, now turn..." one instruction after another.
At 14.00 we were back in our challet for lunch. After lunch we got our swim suit and left for the swimming pool in Grindelwald. We had such a fun time with the water slide and the diving board. The day was not over yet. Tonight we had our show time: Wengen has got talents. It certainly does, the performances were brilliant and entertaining. Now we can go to bed.
See you tomorrow. (From the Camp Diary of Frans, David  and the Banditos...)

Day 5 (Friday, 23rd October, 2009):

The rain came......, Today we all were a bit disappointed because we could not do the run-bike-run orienteering race. It rained so hard that it was impossible to set out the course and Mr. Fischer and Mr. Frans cancelled the program. Instead of doing an outdoor activity we had plenty of time to clean our rooms, finish our Camp Diary and burn all the pictures on a CD.
After breakfast we thanked Louise for all the work she had done for us, it was great. We made a ‘thank you’ poster with pictures from our mountain bike rides. We also bought her a wooden cow on which all our names were written.
After this Mr. Frans and Mr. Fischer gave us big compliments and they told us that we did something to be proud off... We learned a lot these days, we pushed our limits, did a lot of technique training, had fun on our daily downhill (you still can see all our skidding traces; skidding snake marks and even double snakes!!) and we worked together as a TEAM. We had so much fun at this camp that we can not wait to sign up again. We also got a little cow as a present and as a thank you from mr. Frans and Mr. Fischer. This was a nice surprise...
Mr. Frans and Mr. Fischer told us that there will be an other mountain bike camp in the summer holidays.....we can not wait to sign up for this camp, because it is fun and you learn a lot.

Mr. Fischer and Mr. Frans : we like to thank our mountain bike heroes Manuela, Mark, Fabio, A.J., Jack, Joey, Ben, Timon and Nils. YOU ALL DID A GREAT JOB, we are so proud of you!! There was improvement every single day and it was a pleasure guiding you through and over all those super (technical) mountain trails. THANK YOU GIRL and BOYS. Hope to see you back in the summer!
We will organize another Mountain Bike Camp in the summer holidays.....