"Yep, we're mad as hell! The way people talk about mountain bikers and the needs of mountain bikers is unacceptable. But 'just' getting loud is not effective in our eyes. Therefore, we will not follow the call of a populist party and react with a counter-action," wrote MTB Innsbruck on July 28th. This was preceded by a communication from the deputy mayor, according to which the route had to be changed, partly because it crossed a pilgrimage route. The bikers organized under MTB Innsbruck emphasized from the beginning that the trail had been approved and stopped working on the trail for the time being. Ride has reported on this.

However, it was not the deputy mayor's idea to have the trail built differently in the short term, but rather a campaign by local councillor Gerald Depaoli. As the only member of the parliamentary group, he represents the Fair Innsbruck party and is primarily campaigning against politicians from the Green Party, who are the mayor of Innsbruck. In Facebook posts full of exclamation marks and capital letters, Depaoli calls the Greens "poisonous greens" and rails against traffic calming and the removal of parking spaces. He has apparently managed to rally the opposition to the approved trail behind him and has attracted so much attention that the ÖVP deputy mayor has also come to the conclusion that a change to the route is necessary.

Will there even be more trail meters in the end?

A good two weeks later, the magazine LINES reported that the parties had agreed on a temporary route so that the Hofwald Trail could still be completed in 2022. In fact, the trail has already been completed as planned and has been open since today, Friday. But only provisionally. The disputed section is a 150-metre stretch between a parking lot and a pilgrims' path. Here, those responsible are now observing whether conflicts actually arise or whether the separation works.

At the same time, Innsbruck's administration is clarifying whether a new line that bypasses the disputed area can be approved. So far, this has not been considered because nature and wildlife would be disturbed there, as Verena Böhm-Hennes from MTB Innsbruck explains. Apparently, the disturbance to pedestrians on the pilgrims' path is now considered so serious that the wildlife habitat has been touched instead.

The provisional existing route and the theoretical new route could ultimately both become reality. MTB Innsbruck promises to dismantle the temporary section if it does not fulfill its intended purpose. However, if it works and the alternative route is approved at the same time, the Hofwald Trail may end up with the two variants that would come together after around a third of the route.

The situation for mountain bikers in Innsbruck remains delicate, the mood is heated and the sport of biking remains popular. However, it seems that even in this situation, solutions are possible and fundamental opposition from a minority can no longer block everything. However, the fact that the trail is on public land plays an important role. Over 80 percent of the forest in Austria is privately owned and mountain bike trails have a much harder time there. But that's another story.