The new law in North Rhine-Westphalia would mean that cyclists would only be allowed to ride in areas where cars not designed for off-road use are allowed. In effect, this would amount to a "three-and-a-half-meter rule," and mountain bikers would be barred from all trails that are not explicitly designated as mountain bike routes. North Rhine-Westphalia wants nothing less than to introduce a blanket ban on singletrack trails.

The draft law has now brought the mountain biking community into the fray. The Dimb, as the national interest group, was caught off guard by the publication. Previously, the signals sent to mountain bikers had been quite different. In the “Antritt” podcast on Detektor.fm, DIMB representative Sonja Schreiter explains how this untenable draft bill came about and what the introduction of the law would mean for mountain biking.

The full podcast is available here: detektor.fm

Detailed information is also available on the Dimb website: www.dimb.de