Mountain Biking - Singletrtack in Europe

ok yeah, since i noticed a bunch of Europeans on this thread, i thought i would ask about Singletrack in Europe:

from my riding in the 10 months i've been in Germany it seems like finding basic gravel or asphalt trails for biking is super easy - they're everywhere - and rides with lots of vertical are easy too in the Alps - and i've done plenty of Moser tours and they're OK, but it seems to me that Europeans ride very little true singletrack. Most of the Moser tours are between 3% and 7% Singletrack and the rest gravel or ashphalt... in the US, i'm used to doing trails that are 80-100% singletrack which i find a lot better... i was riding with a German guy last weekend (we did 85 km in the Bavarian voralps) and he's a great rider but i found a hiking trail and took him on it and he had a blast but he said in 4+ years of MTB riding he had never really ridden singletrack. is that really so common? what's up with that? (i mean Singletrack is so way more fun than gravel trails)... everytime i've done a tour or a ride or a 'favorite' with a European it's had almost no Singletrack - if i take someone on one of MY favorite rides it will be almost 100% singletrack downhill and probably mostly singletrack uphill too...

my speculation is that most of the MTB trails in the US are built specifically for bikes, whereas in Europe the trails were either built for cars (wide, level and straight) or for hikers (narrow, but usually too steep for climbing on a bike and often even too rugged for downhill - i am the 'ride-anything' kind of guy). i usally try and get off the marked 'bikeways' and ride small hiking trails or whatever - last summer a few times i ended up walking my bike down 300m or more of vertical because the trail went doen the side of a cliff - the whole way was 3ft erosion barriers every 5 ft or so with cable hand-rails and ladders (klettersteig)...

and in Switzerland i was told the rule was you are not allowed to ride on any trail LESS than 1m wide - uh, that's 3.3ft so this means NO singletrack! even in Gardersee, known for great mountain biking, the only singletrack i found when i was there 5 days in August was on hiking trails - i would climb up 2000m on a bike trail or cobblestone road to meet a hiking trail for 2000m down of singletrack - wicked cool! but not many other people were doing it and i'm not sure if it's technically allowed (to mountain bike on the hiking trails)

not only do i miss riding Singletrack, but my technical skills are declining since i have no practice on drops, logs, rocks and all the other technical obstacles that are just not the same on a wide gravel trail as a singletrack... plus, i find it a bummer when i climb 1000m or more and then descend riding the brakes on gravel! i want some bombing singletrack! i miss my trails in Oregon and Masschusetts (wow, i said i missed something about Massachusetts - imagine that) - at least i didn't say i miss Texas (i don't)...

In England and Wales (I'm not up on Scottish Law) it's a civil offense to cycle on a footpath (hiker's trail), you're therefore limited to bridleways (basically horse paths) or specific bike trails (rare but increasing in Wales and the Scottish borders). In some parts of the country local byelaws prevent cycling on bridleways.

Richard

Richard D,

hmmm... yeah, rules like that really make me appreciate the stuff that groups like IMBA(http://www.imba.com/) do in the US.

I'm just guessing, but it seems like to me up until about 3 or 4 years ago there was a constant threat the trails would get closed to mountain bikers in the US - b/c of trail damage and conflicts with hikers - but advocacy groups like IMBA have really done a lot for the image of mountain biking as well as lots of trail work and lots of lobbying to help keep trails open.

if nothing else, in the US we should show appreciation for this and maybe do a little trail work or something with IMBA...

Nathank, I have not yet come across any restrictions to mountainbikers here yet, but it may just be because of this God-forsaken boring landscape around Berlin. In the woods, I get off the beaten track and use singletrack as much as I can, but the hills here resemble two fried eggs on an ironing board.

I would give my right knacker to be down in the elevation of Munich, as would the rest of the team, as that's where the best and most popular marathons are. At least you have the Alps, Bavaria, Austria, Italy etc. We have Poland and er.. Poland. :D

In all of the places that I have ridden and raced in Germany, mountainbikers are welcomed and nothing has been said about damage to the countryside (if any), though this might be due to the race routes staying on marked paths. You can pretty much go where you want to. What bike have you got anyway?

Weasel,

hey, thanks for the info about Germany - i hope you're right and there are no problems with riding Singletrack. i haven't encountered any problems yet either, but like i said i find it strange that i see so many riders on wide flat trails and no one on the great singletracks (like you said there are plenty, but they're not marked and hard to find and not listed in guidebooks)

i currently ride a '98 Norco hardtail with a Judy SL - my beloved SID fork blew up last fall and was pitted and not repairable and i decided to just buy a cheaper fork and save for a new bike - i'm currently looking at a '02 Specialized FSR XC Comp... gonna buy something in the next 3 months... but i'm taking my time - i have another post up 'cross country full supspension' or something if you have any suggestions...

as i said i've never had any trouble w/ Singletrack riding in Bavaria or Austria or Italy - but in Switzerland people told me it wasn't allowed on trails less than 1m --- also i was afraid in all of Europe it was like the off-piste skiing/boarding which i always do - from lots of boarding in BC and US Northwest (OR and WA) - but is technically not allowed ---- this year we (friends visited from the US) rode phat LIFT-SERVICED power in Ishgl for 3 days while everyone else skiied on 10-15m wide groomed ski trails and looked at us funny -- it was fine with me b/C we had untracked fresh power all day long!!! i think someone told us we weren't covered by the ski area insurance or something, but that's OK with me

and i haven't been able to find any rules about what's allowed -- just last week i found a bunch of stuff relating to laws about biking in the city that i didn't know - like that if you're riding the wrong way on a bike path and a car turns and hits you the judge will probably rule for the car - so now i try and ride on the correct side although EVERYONE rides the wrong way so i thought it was OK...

it's always a little 'dangerous' to assume something's OK in another country so i try and be careful --- although i want to ride a smuch Singletrack as possible.

just a side note: i follow trail-preservation riding like not riding around obstacles or water puddles and widening the trail and removing fallen logs and stuff... we did a lot of trail maintenance last week on the 4km Singletrack i found - so next time we can ride it free except for the 2 major washouts were a 1-2m bridge needs to be built (i had no tools plus i'm not sure if it would be appreciated if i really BUILT something???)

Originally posted by nathank


i currently ride a '98 Norco hardtail with a Judy SL - my beloved SID fork blew up last fall and was pitted and not repairable and i decided to just buy a cheaper fork and save for a new bike - i'm currently looking at a '02 Specialized FSR XC Comp... gonna buy something in the next 3 months... but i'm taking my time

Last year my mates SID blew up on him too, so he sent it back to RS who then told him it was knackered and not repairable. It happened as he was racing as well. Now he rides around on a steel fork. The Specialized looks stunning in black, but there is so much choice around that its hard to put your finger on something. Personally, I like Rotwilds, Votecs and Steppenwolfs but that is probably the European in me :D.

I did some trail clearance too on Sunday because we had some fairly strong winds which blew trees and brances across the paths. I was on a ride and had to stop every 100 yards or so :D , still it will be better next time.


Originally posted by nathank


if you're riding the wrong way on a bike path and a car turns and hits you the judge will probably rule for the car - so now i try and ride on the correct side although EVERYONE rides the wrong way so i thought it was OK...

Correct. I do the same but I don't move over when someone is coming towards me going the wrong way. :mad:


Originally posted by nathank

so next time we can ride it free except for the 2 major washouts were a 1-2m bridge needs to be built (i had no tools plus i'm not sure if it would be appreciated if i really BUILT something???)

I don't think anyone would mind as long as its not the Golden Gate Bridge or something :)