Away from the wide hiking trails, the Nuremberg Reichswald resembles an obstacle course. In many places between the trees and on narrow paths there are ski jumps up to two meters high, some of them secured with boards and tree trunks.
The mountain bike scene has been digging and descending slopes for years on the slopes of the Schmausenbuck near the Tiergarten. However, during the Corona period, local residents were increasingly able to observe young people moving into the forest with pickaxes and shovels. That is why the demolition excavators are now rolling.
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“These are conditions that we can no longer watch,” says forest manager Johannes Wurm. Because of the damage to the forest and nature. And because of the accidents that the rescue service and mountain rescue service regularly report. The increased zeal for building in the Corona period is also noticeable elsewhere.
According to the Bavarian State Forests, there are now complaints in many places about illegally established mountain bike routes.
Conflicts are increasing in mountainous regions in Germany, especially near the metropolitan areas. Many are drawn to nature there: joggers, dog owners, cyclists – and during the so-called lockdown, there were even more.
“The corona pandemic is like an incubator,” says Nicolas Gareis from the mountain bike division of the German Alpine Club (DAV) in Munich. Because where many people meet, anger is inevitable.
Nail traps and nudges
A mountain biker injured himself in the Kitzingen district in spring when he fell over a branch studded with nails.
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Near Burscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia, unknown people set up nail traps on mountain bike trails that fortunately, according to the police, did not injure anyone. In the Rotwand region in the Alps, a mountain biker recently slapped and pushed a conservation officer when he drew his attention to a cycling ban.
Flattening is not a solution
The state forests in Nuremberg know that simply flattening out cannot be the solution. Together with the mountain bike scene and the city, Johannes Wurm is looking for compromises.
“We’re on the right track,” he says. A bike park is to be built on the Schmausenbuck, which cyclists can help plan. “The big leaps in the forest show that the need is definitely there,” says Nora Beyer from the DIMB in Nuremberg. In addition, many of the existing runs should be preserved – but only with natural obstacles. dpa
