2010
07.16
Our August 19th Challenge tour is a month away and we’d like to have a full group with us.
BMC is helping us to make that happen. Get on board now and we’ll give you a BMC Alpen Challenge 02 for FREE !
That’s right: any couple signing up for the tour before August 1st will receive a brand new BMC Alpen Challenge in the size of their choice. It’ll be all boxed up and ready for the plane or train, (two people = one free bike).
Bike Switzerland has been using the Alpen Challenge for over 5 years now, and we’re big fans. But you won’t find this bike outside of Switzerland: 99% of the Alpen Challenge are sold in Switzerland and to the Swiss. So, don’t bring home a boring watch or box of chocolate ! Cross Switzerland on a BMC and then take it home with you .
See the bike and full specs by clicking here.
Offer ends once the tour is full or on August 1st.
Tour date: August 19 to August 29th.
See tour details by clicking here.
Tags: free bmc Category Everything else |
2010
05.02
Sunday, May 2nd 10:45
I’m still working both jobs and so every waking hour is taken up by long to-do lists. Business is up already 25% last year and we’re currently working out our schedule for guides and drivers. I hope to bike a few days with every tour, but otherwise I plan to be at HQ managing day-to-day activities.
My old and dear friend Tim Anderson will be helping out with some Lite Route guiding and a bit of van driving this summer. Tim’s from North Dakota and has lived here in Switzerland for 25 years…ever since coming over during college break to work backstage at the Montreux Jazz festival. He was actually the personal “minder” for Claude Nobs (the Montreux founder and organizer) for a few years, and so has some good stories to tell. He’s also biked all around Europe and last year went exploring in Slovenia by himself with his bike and a tarp tent !
Tim was also had his own company for a number of years: Best Bikes and was Switzerland’s sole supplier of Litespeed. For the moment, however he is training teachers and has a few complex projects, (one of them being the development of a new international currency…no joke).
He’ll be guiding at least one Lite Tour and be driving the van a few times.
Tim serving up lunch on Bike Switzerland
Tags: Litespeed, North Dakota Category Everything else |
2010
04.21
April 21st at 13:30
Every year we invite local cyclists living in Switzerland to join our group of international riders. In this way, our riders get to meet locals and learn more about Switzerland. We’d therefore like to issue an invitation to all riders living in Switzerland to join us for a day of riding. There is no charge and you’re welcome to join us for lunch.
If you’d like to join us for the whole tour, then we can work out a special price for you depending upon your needs, (bicycle, no need for certain hotel accomodations, etc). We love having locals with us, so we’ll do our best to make it work.
Barbecue at your place ?
One of our famous barbecues...don't worry vegetarians, (fish and salads galore)
Do you live in or near one of the following locations: Geneva, Chexbres, Gstaad, Wengen, Rapperswil, Morges, Yverdon, Solothurn or Zofingen ?
If so, perhaps you’d like to host a barbecue or outdoor picnic for one of our cycling tours ? If you host one of our evening meals, we will cover all of your expenses and also give you a 500 Chf gift certificate at our store: www.bikeshopswitzerland.com. We’re also looking for places to stop in the afternoon for a break, so contact us if you live on Routes 5 or 9 and we’ll stop by.
You can find out exactly when and we’re we’ll be by downloading a PDF of our tour schedule at this link
Interested ? Comment by clicking on the “comments” bubble above or send me an email: john@bikeswitzerland.com
Tags: Cycling, Gstaad, Morges, Rapperswil, Solothurn, sport, Switzerland, Zofingen Category Wine and dine |
2010
04.15
April 15th, 2010
Of course I’d love you to do one of our guided tours, but it’s not always possible. Lots of reasons:
You don’t have the time.
You don’t have the money.
You don’t like groups.
You want to discover a different itinerary.
You want lots of flexibility.
Well, you can still BIKE SWITZERLAND, (and hey…buy a jersey).
Of course, we can rent you one of our own bikes with panniers and GPS at Bike Switzerland Rentals , but if you’re interested in really saving money and can deal with a heavier, clunkier bike, then keep in mind that many cities in Switzerland rent either FREE or very inexpensive bicycles. In Geneva, the cheap bike rental location is called “Geneve Roule” and is located just behind the train station. There is an equivalent city-subsidized shop in most large Swiss towns.
Our Alpen Challenge rental fully loaded and on the road.
Next thing: decide on a route…easily done at “Cycling in Switzerland” website. Then pick up a map book…either on your arrival or from us at our on-line store. We’ll ship anywhere: www.bikeshopswitzerland.com
Finally, reserve yourself some cheap sleeps at one of Switzerland’s many beautiful youth hostels. www.youthhostel.ch If you’re two or more people, you can even reserve a private room, (shared showers)…but they go fast.
Again, if you’ve got the time, want company and have the means, we’d love to have you. We’re based in Geneva and running the tours from Switzerland means that we’re able to run a tight ship and manage to make your money go a long way.
Tags: Advice, budget Category Advice |
2010
04.13
April 13th, 2010
I put in my resignation a few hours ago.
I’ve been working at a good state-run language school here in Geneva for the last nine years. I’m in charge of the language laboratory and teach intensive English classes. It’s been a fine job and it’s given me little stress and so I’ve had lots of energy and vacation time and I have put it all to good use: I finished my thesis, have taken lots of long vacations and have developed Bike Switzerland and all the rest.
The job has been flexible too: I’ve been taking every summer off for the last three years. Still, it’s too much. Bike Switzerland is a 12-hour-day job and so I gave my notice this afternoon. I’m turning off the computers for the last time on May 28th.
Quit your job ? In this economy ? It’s really not a difficult choice. Business is busy and new work is coming in every day. I’ve been at Bike Switzerland for seven years and word has finally got around. Thanks everyone !
So, I’ll be there to personally ride with every guided tour this summer. Our riders always have inspiring plans and projects and I’m looking forward to hearing about them all ! Get on board.
Tags: Personal Life Category Everything else |
2010
04.11
It’s been a long time since we’ve posted anything. I won’t let that happen again. Woah, those last sentences sound like the sporadic entries that I wrote in my private journal over 20 years ago.
I just got back from a two week trip. I was in New York City and then in Iowa. I had wanted to present our tours to some bike clubs in Sioux City, Sioux Falls and Omaha, but that was an idea that came to me only a week before leaving, so in the end absolutely no face-to-face business was conducted.
My parents live on a farm in Iowa and that’s where I spent my time in Iowa. It’s the same farm that I grew up on. For those of you who have done RAGBRAI, you may know the town of “Hawarden” ? The farm is situated 10 miles from there…definately in the boonies. My parents have a very “leaky” satellite internet connection, and so I spent a lot of time at the Hawarden Library (Thanks to Val the librarian !) I was mostly managing sales of the Bike Switzerland Classic Kit. We’ve sold over 125 pieces to date, and so I think there is a good chance that we will have sold most of our jerseys.
Otherwise, Irina and I spent our time watching Season 1 and 2 of Mad Men (wow, thanks for the recommendation), fishing in the creek (nothing caught), and eating (steaks, pancakes, bacon, doritos, pot pies and all things American.
I got home on Saturday. It’s now 4:15 am Monday morning….jet lag.
Ah yes…very important. Our registrations are going well. We’re already up to an all-time record number of registrations and I hope to reach my (secret) goal this summer. In order to help that happen, I’ll be posting a special offer here in the blog tomorrow for all of those signing up for a guided tour in the next few weeks. So come back tomorrow, please.
Tags: Sioux City Category Personal |
2010
03.10
March 10th, 8:45 AM
Good news. I just got off the phone with www.cuore.ch and they are able to get us a much earlier delivery time than I had suspected. Alain has now just told me that May 19th is the projected date of delivery to Geneva. These guys are excellent. Of course, no one ever puts an gaurantee on manufacturing deadlines, so we can just hope that Swiss efficiency pays off.
I do recommend that everyone make a pre-order. We are only ordering a couple hundred of these jerseys and smaller quantities of the other items in the kit. If there are any bike stores out there that would like to carry these items, let me know asap and perhaps I can increase the order.
We will probably be accepting pre-orders on these items beginning this weekend, Saturday March 13th.
We do have a cycling cap (see below) and we’ve got the final version of the t-shirt from Cuore (see below)
Our 2010 "technical" t-shirt.
Tags: bike switzerland cap, bike switzerland t-shirt, Cuore Category Everything else, Swiss Gear |
2010
03.05
March 5th, 9:30 AM
OK, so here are the rest of the items !
The Bike Switzerland Bib.
Our manufacturer (www.cuore.ch) makes thousands of bibs every year for clubs, teams and they don’t make it a complicated: one excellent pad, one material, one set of sizes. This mock-up doesn’t show it, but there will also be a small pocket on the center of the bib back. Again, this is our first bib and are not sure about how popular this item will be so will only be making around 70.
The "Cuore" pad.
We’re also going manufacturing a new jacket. I’m very happy with this and believe it to be a big improvement over last years. The design is based on the jersey, but I thought flags on the side panels was a bit “too much” for the jacket, so we’re making it simpler. There will also be back pockets, one with zipper. The material is light weight, wind AND waterproof…so also a good rain jacket. We’ll also only be making only a small number of these items.
Our new Bike Switzerland jacket.
Finally, we’ll also be having an old fashioned, techno-grouch cycling cap. No replacement for a helmet, but definately good to have in your back pocket for your helmet head when you’re sitting back on the sunny terrasse looking cool.
Our Bike Switzerland cap.
Tags: bike switzerland bib, bike switzerland jacket, bike switzerland jersey, bike switzerland kit, bmc jersey, bmc maillot, bmc trikot, maillot suisse, trickot schweiz Category Everything else, Swiss Gear |
2010
03.03
March 3rd, 15:00
It’s taken a lot of back and forth between a number of graphic artists, our “fans” and our Swiss-based manufacturer, but we’ve finally come up with our kit !
Our new Bike Switzerland "Swiss Classic" jersey. Price 79 Chf + 10 chf shipping to Europe and 15 Chf to N. America (click to enlarge)
It has a full frontal zipper as well as a discreet zippered pocket in back. The BMC logo appears on the chest and on the sleeve (no worries, we’re aware that one of the BMC logos is backwards on this mock-up). The two side panels together include all 26 canton coat of arms….sweet !
Side panels contain all 26 cantons. (Click to enlarge)
Our manufacturer (www.cuore.ch) makes jerseys in “pro-cut” and “normal-cut” ( the “pro”, being a tighter racing fit), and so we’ve ordered across the board to make sure everyone gets the size that they want (We’ve ordered the following in pro-cut XS, S, M, L and in normal cut we have ordered S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXXL). However, we have only ordered ONE HUNDRED jerseys for non-riders. This means that all of our riders will be able to get a jersey if they let us know before June 1st, but non-riders should pre-order theirs as soon as we start taking pre-orders (we’re shooting for March 15th…when our new store front comes up.
We haven’t finalized the number of orders yet, so I’d appreciate your comments so that I can gauge the demand before making the final order on monday.
We’re also putting out a bib, jacket and cap and will be posting pictures of those later this week.
Tags: bike switzerland jersey, bmc jersey, swiss jersey Category Swiss Gear |
2010
03.02
March 2nd, 15:45
Spain is still here with me…on my peeling sunburned hands and in the 2 or 3 kilos I had to have gained. Those of you who have travelled with Bike Switzerland before know the score: intense cycling = reward = cocktails = big appetite. Still, no regrets…I’m back to my dry, overpriced tuna sandwich “de midi”.
But Saturday was different. Really, very different from any other day of our tour. Yes, we got on the bikes, but just barely…we used them to ride from our hotel on the beach up to Las Palmas old town for a city bike tour. There we met Armando, a kind of local Ricardo Montalban who sheparded us from one cobble-stoned street to the next, while answering questions about the island’s sandstone, volcanic origins, goat cheese and Portugeuse influence. Yes, we were a curious and varied bunch, for sure.
Armando and the crew
We had tapas and beer for lunch in the old town and liked it so much that we did the same thing again that evening, but knowing it would be our last time, we really put on a good show, (so good that I had to make a second trip up the street to a nearby ATM).
But I won’t bore you with any more Canarian stories for awhile. This is, after all, “Bike Switzerland”. Still, we’re already getting our winter dates ready for 2011. It looks like a late January trip this time around. Think about joining us.
Tags: armando, canary tapas, city bike tour Category Wine and dine, Winter Tour |
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