In the video of Patrick von Känel's first attempts at flying his bike, he flies over a section that is too steep for him, the occasional biker. Even back then, in 2020, he revealed to Ride that he would like to use the paraglider to gain altitude. Soaring, climbing with the thermals, is central to paragliding. For the man from the Bernese Oberland, it was clear that he wanted to fly up to the trailhead with a paraglider one day.

Now he has done it, in a clip for his head sponsor, who loves to advertise with wings. As René Wildhaber also advertises the energy fizzy drink and is also a paraglider pilot himself, it made sense for the two to combine their passions. The two meet at the Blüemlisalphütte. The man from Flumserberg has pedaled up and climbed, the local has flown up. At the top, he packs his umbrella into his rucksack and sets off down the single trail towards Lake Oeschinen. "The trail from the hut is brilliant. Unfortunately, the landlord and the whole mountain crew aren't bike fans," René admits. Halfway down, they come across the ominous prohibition sign, whereupon von Känel unpacks his umbrella again.If you've ever done a tandem paragliding flight, you'll know that taking off in pairs is not straightforward, at least if you have to run to get pressure into the glider. Not so with the von Känel - Wildhaber duo: "With his experience, a good launch site and a perfect updraft, it worked straight away on the tandem biplace glider," describes René, who has been paragliding himself since he was 16 years old, "but only once or twice a year".

Then the two of them fly their bikes over Lake Oeschinen down into the Kandertal valley. "That's good, two bikers less on the hiking trail," one or two Bernese Oberlanders may think to themselves. Nevertheless, this form of transportation will almost certainly never catch on.

Ride tour suggestion Blüemlisalp