Is the glass half full or half empty? That’s the question mountain bikers in Baden-Württemberg are asking themselves. In its coalition agreement, the newly elected government has committed to the goal of establishing legal single-track trails throughout the state. At the same time, the CDU-Green coalition intends to uphold the “two-meter rule”—that is, the ban on riding mountain bikes on existing narrow paths. This will only be permitted where trails have been built specifically for this purpose or where paths have been explicitly approved for it.

For mountain bikers in Baden-Württemberg, the glass is clearly half empty. Their reactions to the coalition program make this clear. Nico Graaff, managing director of the Mountain Bike Forum Germany, says: “Sticking to the two-meter rule is a bitter disappointment for all cyclists in Baden-Württemberg.” He also calls it a missed opportunity to promote health, regional development, and tourism.

Janet Weick, spokesperson for the DIMB IG Rems-Murr, argues: “In my view, the two-meter rule provides no demonstrable added value for nature conservation or safety, but causes enormous bureaucratic effort, legal uncertainty, and frustration among volunteers.” She refers to the DIMB project in the Rems-Murr district and is certain that it would be virtually impossible to implement under today’s nature conservation regulations.&

The consequence, according to Weick: “Instead of pragmatically enabling legal and nature-friendly trails as was the case at the beginning, unofficial trails currently remain in many places because municipalities and volunteers can barely overcome the hurdles.” This makes it all the more disappointing that the two-meter rule was explicitly enshrined in the coalition agreement.

How realistic are widespread single-track trails?

Critics certainly acknowledge the glass being half full. Graaff comments: “The commitment to establishing single-track trails across the board is an important and worthy goal that we expressly welcome—but the responsibility for this is being shifted to the municipal level. We will judge this coalition by how it concretely supports the municipalities in this endeavor.”

Specifically, the state government is promising the municipalities unspecified assistance in organizing roundtable discussions intended to find solutions to the single-track issue. The idea that single-track trails are created at the local level rather than being mandated from Stuttgart makes sense. However, representatives of the community fear that “comprehensive single-track trails” will remain just a lofty goal and that nothing will change regarding the situation in Baden-Württemberg, the “two-meter state.”

The new Baden-Württemberg government’s single-track policy is the topic of a panel discussion at the 2026 Mountain Bike Congress from June 16 to 18 in Aalen. It is not yet clear who will represent the government there. In any case, they will have to deal with Janet Weick, who champions the cause of female trail riders.