My Dad (aged 66) is a retired GP who got into mountain biking 30 years ago. Now, he works tirelessly to promote mountain biking in our home province Burgenland, Austria.
Growing up, we spent family holidays riding trails on many continents (still missing Africa though…), and with the knowledge we picked up along the way, we've now started a project and concept to create a trail network in our home province.
Located in the East of Austria, bordering Hungary, we lack elevation in comparison to Western Austria. But we make up for it with beautiful arboreous hills that make for some sweet riding.
Unlucky for us, riding your bike in the forest is prohibited by law and only allowed on designated mountain bike tracks. Even more unfortunate, these tracks were designed to be ridden with bikes from the 90s. That means the legal stuff mostly comprises of forest/fire roads and hardly any singletrack. Most of the good trails are illegal to ride on. So, we set about changing that.
Together with our Dad, we (me and my brothers) drafted a plan several years ago, but until now we were turned down and sometimes laughed at.
Fast forward to the winter of 2020, when COVID held the world in its vicious grip. The popularity of mountain biking allowed us to present the plan to our local governor. Our bold plan revolves around flowy natural singletrack on a low mountain range in the centre of the Burgenland region. The trails are intended to connect all the communities around the mountain range and even connect to existing trails in Hungary. The majority of the trails are planned to be accessible for all riders (blue trails) with the expert (red and black trails) running in parallel. The plan incorporates regional development and tourist aspects, not just a couple of trails in the middle of nowhere.
The first phase consists of around 40km of trails, when completed we hope to have around 150km of trails. The huge advantage of the mountain range is the moderate climate, compared to the rest of the Austrian alps. The Pannonian climate together with the recent mild winters (thanks climate change) allow riding for almost 365 days of the year. After the presentation, the governor granted us support and tasked us to put together a team to get the project in kicked off.
The first trails will lead from the watchtower (at the summit) to either the village in the north (Lockenhaus) or the village in the south (Rechnitz). Both of the trails will be around 15km long. Also constructed during the first phase will be an uphill trail from Rechnitz. The village of Lockenhaus is located next to a small river and a beautiful medieval castle, and where the trail is supposed to end.
The trails in Rechnitz should finish next to a camping area and reservoir, which is open to the public for swimming in summer. There's also a plan to build pumptracks in Lockenhaus and Rechnitz.
After a year of planning, negotiating and long zoom video calls, we were able to sign the first contracts with landowners, and are currently in the process of finishing trail corridors for the environmental and construction submission.
The beginning of the works are scheduled for December of 2021. If all further steps go well, we should be able to ride the first trails by late spring/early summer 2022.
To sum it up, these are really fascinating times for me and my HB130!
(31).jpg)
Words: Lukas Nehrer