For four days, I was able to really let off steam at the Snow Bike Festival. Pedaling on my bike until my lungs burned and my legs ached, whizzing down ski and sledge runs that were closed to us mountain bikers and enjoying the mountains and sunshine of the beautiful Bernese Oberland. Cycling makes you happy, as proven once again.

Emotional roller coasters

Stage races, whether in the heat of South Africa or in the cold of the Swiss winter, have one thing in common: the emotions you share with friends and strangers for several days. Stage races are emotional rollercoasters. New stories are written every day. One day you are one of the beaming winners and the next day you are one of those who hang their heads. Or the other way around. You suffer for yourself, but also with those whose stories you experience first-hand.

Joy reigns supreme. You can also be happy with your opponents.

In addition to a thousand beautiful and intense moments and many life lessons, the sport has also given me many great friendships. Although we are all opponents and fight each other to the utmost in competition, I have come to appreciate many of my opponents and I often go out with the biker girls in my private life too.

Team Friendship

At the Snow Bike Festival, this is particularly worth mentioning because I spent the whole week riding with Hielke Elferink, the marathon specialist from Holland and Tracy Moseley, the three-time Enduro World Series winner and 2010 Downhill World Champion from England. We managed the week together as a threesome. We organized everything together, supported each other from A to Z and then rode a hard-fought race against each other. Teamwork makes the dream work - as they say. For once, not in our racing teams, but in our team of friendship.

Perfect accommodation for a beauty sleep

Our accommodation at the Gässlihof farm in Feutersoey was a real oasis of peace and I can highly recommend it. In addition to the great breakfast and an uncomplicated laundry service, we were particularly impressed by the great ambience on the organic farm. It just fits perfectly in the mountains.

Excursion into the deep snow

On the last stage today I really worked up a sweat again. Despite a small unintentional detour into the deep snow, I was able to defend my fourth place in the overall standings. In addition to many great memories, I'm also taking home a great result. Snow Bike Festival I'll be back!

About our guest blogger

Nathalie Schneitter started her international mountain bike career in 2004 by winning the junior cross-country world title. Since then, she has been racing full throttle on the world's circuits. In 2008, she qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing and in 2010 she took home victory at the Cross-Country World Cup in Champéry.
Since autumn 2016, she has been part of the organizational team for the Bike Days in Solothurn and the Urban Bike Festival in Zurich.
Nathalie also goes full throttle off the race track: she laughs a lot, is a bit crazy (in Nathalie's own words) and dances in every possible situation. She has been racing for the "Rose Vaujany fueled by UltraSports" team since 2015.