Guido Anderwert is delighted that there are projects worthy of support in Germany, especially in regions where bikers have to fight for space in the forest: "We received a large number of promising applications from a wide variety of clubs from the 'two-meter state' of Baden-Württemberg of all places. This encourages us in our underlying plan to use clubs to improve the trail infrastructure as a whole, even beyond this federal state.

The projects that Trek Trail Advocacy supports in Germany show how every meter of trail has to be fought for, but that with skilful lobbying a lot is possible. Three of the four German award winners are clearing trails in Baden-Württemberg, while a fourth is doing so in the Bavarian Allgäu region.

Liberating single trails in two-meter land

The MTB Club Konstanz is proud of 11 kilometers of single trails that are about to be legalized. "We are currently clarifying the final details with the city, the target date for the start of the contract for the transfer of use is January 1, 2024," CEO Jens Weimer told Ride. The money will be used for tools and signaling, those responsible write in their reaction to the Trek award. An interesting detail: the MTB Club Konstanz carries out its weekly rides in Switzerland. This is for insurance reasons, explains Weimer.

Shape and Ride is the name of the organization that tries to live up to its name in the Rems-Murr district. The region borders Stuttgart to the east. There are heaps of mountain bikers, great hills and forests, but also the two-meter rule. This makes it all the more pleasing that the association has already cleared 35 kilometers of trails in four municipalities. Its members maintain them and anyone and everyone can ride them. The people from Shape and Ride are working towards this goal in other villages. It seems almost a little over-motivated that they want to make certain trail tools themselves from steel and wood. This is one of the things they are using Trek's money for.

The Hochrhein region stands for the section of the Rhine from Constance to Lörrach, the neighboring town of Basel. The people from the Hochrhein Trails association describe the closure of a trail that had been tolerated for 18 years as the starting signal for their initiative. They are now repairing the Eggberg Trail, which was made unbelievable in 2018, with a permit. The aim of the association is to preserve, maintain and expand the existing range of trails. They are using the prize money from Trek to cover the extremely high approval costs. "As cities and municipalities do not usually provide any funding, we are delighted to receive support directly from the bike industry, such as the Trek Trail Advocacy Program," they say. They are already applying for further financial support from a local brewery.

The third award winner from Baden-Württemberg is Bikeländ, which Ride recently reported on in detail. There, too, it has been possible to legalize 12 existing trails, some of which have been ridden for decades.

Advanced trail lobbying in the Allgäu

And so to the fourth initiative supported by Trek: Mountainbike Allgäu is committed to the legalization and maintenance of single trails and trail parks in the Bavarian part of the Allgäu. The activities are already somewhat advanced, the active club members are just as busy with new trails as they are with the maintenance and expansion of existing trails. They plan to spend the prize money on two e-bikes with trailers, among other things, so that they can ride to the various construction sites.

Trek's selection of projects shows that both initiatives in the early stages and those that are already semi-professional can benefit from the trail money. Once the initial euphoria in an established project has faded, such a boost can be just as valuable.