Words by Kona Ambassador Clara Cendoya Ibáñez. Photos by Fernando Calle Prieto. 

It is Summertime! I love the summer!! I’m a teacher and I look forward to the days at the end of the school year. It’shappiness when the days get hotter and longer but also the classes are shorter. We’ve got more energy and more time to enjoy and hang out until the end of the day.

For me, it’s like living a dream when it’s the end of the workday, being on my bike and the time I’ll have to ride it till the end of the day with my friends. I can also sense around me that the solstice is near and the bike parks are opening—probably the most expected thing of the year.

I’ll spend the whole summer enjoying several bike parks such as La Pinilla in Spain, Vallnord in Andorra, and my favorite, Serfaus – Fiss – Ladis, in Tirol, Austria. For me, it is paradise.

Serfaus Fiss Ladis

It’s the disconnection of stress, the clock, the daily things, and all the routines.

Instead, it’s the connection with the mountain and the environment in magical places, and the most beautiful views that I can imagine, and enjoying those beautiful places.

What’s better than being able to visit so many places that are only reachable by bicycle? Thanks to the chair lifts and all of those really awesome downhills, single tracks, and trails all of this is possible on longest days.

Now, you are at 2400m high atop the mountain and within 20 minutes you’ll be at the bottom. You can travel to a different part of the mountain with another view and a different downhill but no less beauty. It’s just as good as the last one. And you can do this over and over.

I can’t and never will get tired of doing it.

It fuels me up, my energy, my happiness.

What’s a better ending than a firelight sunset in between the mountains, drinking, reminiscing about the ride on a warm never-ending summer day?

The longest days, the most magical days.