Uwe Trummer is a veteran of the Swiss mountain bike community. He started biking at the end of the 1980s, rode races in pretty much every discipline and has been a riding technique coach for around ten years. He should know whether that's still any good for me or not.

The meeting point for Switchback Friday is the parking lot on the Staffelegg Pass above Aarau. The course starts at 6 p.m., which is attractive for those who are busy elsewhere during the day. I give myself the 8 kilometers and 400 vertical meters up to the course location as a warm-up. I don't let the light rain put me off any longer, but pack some dry clothes for the train ride home. Once again, of course, I hadn't thought this through. Wonderfully hot, I arrive at the top, where the wind hurls the rain showers horizontally at us. And after just five minutes, I start to shiver.

First impression: the other Switchback students - there are no women today - are not (significantly) younger than me and are probably driven by similar motivation: Not to look too old on the trail, even if you'd have been forgiven for being so slow in terms of age. Riding hairpin bends is the topic and especially the now popular rear wheel offset.

"Fit for Trails" is the name of Uwe Trummer's bike school. You can book everything from the basics for mountain bike beginners to preparation for the most difficult trails and races. The Zurich Oberland native has been offering Switchback Friday since summer 2020, when riding technique courses were booming all over Switzerland. He has been offering Bunnyhop Friday for a year longer. There's no doubt that Trummer knows how to attract even experienced mountain bikers: by teaching them the maneuvers that separate the wheat from the chaff on the trail.

More than just a fashionable maneuver?

"So far, I've had around 30 participants, a colorful mix from 25 to 60 years old, with and without a motor," he says. Basically, experienced mountain bikers come who still lack the rear wheel offset in their repertoire." I point out that you didn't have to be able to do this for a long time and that it has only become part of the basic knowledge of trail riding since the flood of online videos. "I've needed this technique since 1990," the coach replies, "but it's certainly become more popular since it's often seen in videos and photos. It's a mixture of show maneuver and necessity, because you can do a lot of hairpin bends without lifting the rear wheel." But it looks cool and, more importantly, it demonstrates bike control and, depending on the terrain in which you're hovering your rear end, good nerves too.

Memories of ski school come flooding back as bike instructor Uwe explains step by step and exercise by exercise how to get the rear wheel in the air, put it down after a controlled swinging movement and ride on. With a few preliminary exercises such as track stand, stoppie and nose wheelie, Trummer recognizes what level his current participants are at and which inputs will help them further.

The fact that I can manage a reasonably clean rear wheel offset on asphalt, with plenty of space and all the time in the world, is nothing new. At least my attention is drawn to the mistake that makes it difficult to turn the rear wheel to the left (in the right-hand bend): the right foot, which I usually always have at the front, has to be at the back. At first, the feeling is so strange that the maneuver doesn't get any easier. But I soon realize that this is the only way I can expect to make progress. What's more, even after the seventeenth successful lap around the plastic cone, I know that it's a completely different story on slippery, sloping ground and in confined spaces (or even worse: in exposed terrain).

After a few intermediate offsets on the nearby dirt track, we roll onto a short trail section with a perfect series of hairpin bends. I had already ridden them uphill on the way there, but of course I didn't manage to complete them all. All the practising I'd done in the previous hour meant that the sequence of movements was quite present. Not like on a bike tour, where the switchback comes after three hours of riding, which can only be done by shifting, whereupon I usually mess it up in a completely cramped state.

The course replaces the uphill course.

The course is no substitute for practising

Today I am prepared and am a little surprised that only half of all attempts fail. From now on, should I heave my rear wheel back and forth every time I go cycling so that I can get the movement right when I need it? It would be worth a try. When asked how much progress can be made in two hours, Uwe replies: "Two hours of lessons are normally enough to learn the movement correctly from scratch and to be able to apply the offset in easy terrain. After that, however, you still need to keep practicing. The rear wheel offset is one of the few maneuvers that you will never perfect."

Because we have to ride back up the zigzag path for every subsequent practice run, we also practise the opposite direction; no one tries to shift the rear wheel here, but rather to make the most of the terrain sitting in the saddle. I'm glad of every opportunity to warm up my body under my long-soaked clothes. I can feel that the learning curve is now pointing downwards again. It's quite possible that on a warm summer evening I could record a few more successful attempts. Above all, practicing would be even more fun. At this point, the warm shower is more appealing than continuing to be sprayed with cold water while hurrying through the forest. Especially as the most uncomfortable part is still to come: the descent down to Aarau.

The conclusion from the participants' point of view is summed up by Johann in his mid-fifties, who I feel has learned more than I have: "I still can't do it." Uwe reminds all his flock once again: "Practice makes perfect." Switchback Friday helped to speed up progress a little in the meantime. Now it's time to find a suitable practice area at home and keep at it. For my part, I'm giving myself a private lesson next to tackle my other problem areas. But only in good weather.