In a year peppered with the... challenges of certain pandemic, there are inevitably a few small surprises that crop up. One of those classics was a day riding in Engelberg, in the the German-speaking Swiss Alps.

Where is it?

Engelberg is a small mountain town in central Switzerland, in the Swiss-German part of the country. It's a 90 minute drive from Zurich, in the canton of Obwalden. It's not somewhere which is famed for its road riding, but for a number of reasons a few of us ended up here and made the best of it.

What's the riding like?

The town itself is at the end of a valley, and as a result there is really only one way you can go... up! The road is a beautiful climb up through the valley, with virtually no vehicles on the road. We're looking at around 700M of vert (depending on where you finish), with varying degrees of gradient. You'll hit the lift station at around 70% of the way in, and you can follow the road around and head up even higher. Honestly, the roads are excellent. It's almost perfect tarmac the entire way up. What's not to love?

Keen? Here's some details.

• As it's a mountain road, you can only ride in the warmer months. Usually June-early November, depending on snow.
• GPS co-ordinates for the top of the hill (for a roadie, if you're full gravel - you've got more to go!) are 46.84231925989505, 8.426001363575805.
• There isn't that much riding around here, but it's still worth a day trip. And, if you're keen for a weekend away... stay at Ski Lodge Engelberg. Bike friendly, tremendous breakfast and great people.