Website: http://www.gurtenbahn.ch/ http://www.gurtenbahn.ch/img/upload/...bahnbikerE.pdf http://www.trailnet.ch/
The trail is located in Wabern near Bern, it is easily accessibly by public transport and by car. There are directions on how to get there on the websites above.
Trail type: Freeride
Physical Fitness: 1 to 2
Technical Difficulty: 3 to 4
The Gurthenbahn funicular train brings you from the carpark to the start of the trail, no tiring uphill slog for your kicks here. The day card for the train costs 9CHF but you pay separately for the bike. A bike ticket costs 40CHF for 20 runs up on the train. The upper section of the train is reserved for bikes.
Once you get up to the top with the train, the trail head is about 50m down the paved path. It follows a trail down along the side of a hedge for the first section, here there are a lot of braking bumps and you feel it quite a lot on a short travel bike. Following this there is a short drop into the woods where you find banked corners steep sections and various kinds of jumps. The jumps are all possible to ride over without your wheels leaving the ground. It takes a run or two to get used to the trail but as your confidence grows it is a really good place to boost your technical ability. You get to get a lot of runs down the trail in and it is great practice for some of the better trails that you get when you are out on a day tour in the mountains.
Take it slowly the first time down the trail and learn where the features are. If you are not confident in jumping there are usually flatter routes to the side of the bigger jumps. There is one point on the trail where the better riders take a big jump over a road gap. Just before you get to this jump there is a warning sign for a road on the right hand side of this trail. Unless you have good control of your bike slow down and make sure you take the right line to avoid the jump.
The Gurten trail is a fun day out if you are feeling lazy and just want to go and ride some trails on your bike. It is rideable on hardtails as well as full suspension bikes, but the more travel you have the faster you will probably be able to go.
Video of an over talented friend we made at Gurten.