Albania: pedaling back in time
Tobias Gessler was not a mountain biker when he arrived in Albania eight years ago. Today, he annually guides around a hundred mountain bikers through the high peaks of the country.
This article first appeared in the excellent Vélo Mag, April 2022 edition.
“I was a social worker in Zurich, and a bike courier once a week for 10 years,” Tobias Gessler tells me during a short mountain bike ride in the hills surrounding Tirana. At 30, the Swiss returned to studies in cooperative development and obtained an internship in Albania.
Introduced to suspension by Albanian mountain bikers, he discovered the tremendous tourist potential in this still relatively underdeveloped country, nearly three quarters of whose territory is mountainous.
“I tell my clients that if they want perfect slopes, they better stay in Europe. Here, I suggest they go back 100 years in time! Many Albanian villages are accessible only by narrow roads and paths and are often even completely isolated in winter.
Over years of solo exploration, Tobias Gessler has developed itineraries to suit different levels of expertise (see all his services on the Ride Albania website). “My tour of central Albania is intermediate, while the one through Kosovo is more demanding. His description of this country in the northeast of Albania makes me particularly dream: 50% of trails single-track used by mules and their shepherds, an altitude sometimes exceeding 2000 m, and nights alternating between hotels and tiny family inns.
In all the scenarios, "the roads are varied, the landscapes always fabulous, and we contribute positively to rural development, through the economy and the promotion of the environment", assures me Tobias Gessler. Hard to find a better combination.
“We specialize in gravel bikes, bikepacking and tailor-made,” the co-owner of Loose Cycles tells me. It was enough for me to spend more than two hours in this small shop in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital.