A lot came together this weekend: Around 30 brand new campervans, a crazy bike park in the Alps, a campsite less than 5 minutes away from the cable car to the trails and a bunch of bike-crazy people. They were all invited by Sunlight, a manufacturer of motorhomes and campervans from the Allgäu region, to the Camp and Ride Event 2023.
The aim was to combine camping with a visit to the Bikepark Sölden on a weekend, which - let's spoil it - worked perfectly. The participants were initially very diverse. Sunlight wanted to bring (potential) customers, friends, its own employees and a few members of the press together around a campfire at this event. And because you couldn't tell from under a full-face helmet and chest armour what their connection to the Camp and Ride was, there was no shortage of topics of conversation right from the start. Everyone quickly got to know each other while setting up the wagon fort.
The Sunlight Camp and Ride programme
The programme for the weekend was as simple as it was beautiful: spend a relaxing time camping at an altitude of 1400 metres, with or without a bike.
- FridayArrival, getting to know each other and campfire with barbecue
- SaturdaySend, ride, shred or chill in the Bikepark Sölden - enjoy a barbecue and camp atmosphere in the evening
- SundayIf you want, you can let off steam for another day in the bike park - or make the more or less long journey home.
Of course, they all picked up their camper in Leutkirch, Sunlight's headquarters, on Friday. Even the journey from there to Sölden was practically part of the event. Deceleration, as in the past with underpowered camper vans, was only limited. The current models, from Fiat or Ford for example, have enough power under the bonnet to get you a speeding ticket - but we didn't risk it.
Among the guests was MTB pro Jasper Jauch, who as a self-confessed camper fan was just as much a part of the event as he was a guide and riding technique trainer. Unfortunately, his colleague and former enduro pro Oli Dorn had to cancel due to injury.
NO Glamping allowed - Camp and Ride is real
If you're imagining champagne coolers around the campfire, canapés being served and bearskins warming the sensitive bike enthusiasts - you're wrong. The Camp and Ride was deliberately designed for adventurers and real campers. This can be seen in the campervans themselves, which have no satellite dish, whirlpools or oversized beds. Instead, they have functional furnishings, a shower/WC combination on board, some with 4x4 drive or a fold-out rooftop.
Sabrina Haag is Product Manager at Sunlight and responsible for the "Sunlight Cliff" model, which was tested this weekend in Sölden. She said: "Although we have around 20 different campervan layouts on offer, we have deliberately decided against a satellite system, TV and similar equipment. Our target group tends to ask for a bike garage in the van or a bike washing facility."
The gas heating in the campervan was a nice touch, even in the summer in the heights of Sölden. In contrast to the tent, the bike clothes were dry and warm and getting changed after a shower wasn't a goosebump moment of the chilly kind. And the Bialetti coffee maker could bubble wonderfully on the small cooker.
Beginners and advanced riders - everyone had fun in the Bike Republic Sölden
A visit to the bike park can go either way. For our neighbours - employees of a bike shop and their mate - shredding is almost a way of life. So the conversations about which line to ride and how extreme it was and - after the day - what damage the bikes had sustained were a bit daunting for beginners. What's more, the guys had their own trail bikes with them, of course.
But Sunlight had also catered for those who are otherwise less involved with the subject. Trail-ready mountain bikes (e.g. Santa Cruz Megatower) were provided by the local hire shop. Sunlight employee Janik Steiner took over the group of beginners and gave a wonderful introduction to cornering and trail riding techniques in general on the "test track" in the morning. So successfully, in fact, that almost everyone took the plunge into the "big" bike park in Sölden in the afternoon - and some of them didn't want to stop.
Jasper Jauch took over the advanced skiers and took them straight to the red and - according to reports - black lines. However, everyone came back healthy enough to enjoy the evening barbecue and the fun raffle of goodies. Whoever could answer questions the quickest or whoever had suffered the worst material damage won something.
Bike, eat, sleep, repeat - according to this motto, the weekend flew by and some people were reluctant to part with their Cliff Camper on Sunday. But don't worry, there will be another Camp and Ride in 2024 - for Sunlight's 20th anniversary. Perhaps with a special programme. Or maybe we want to do exactly the same thing again!
Marc Strucken
Editor
