User awards by Norrøna
Less driving and flying because of better information?
Peter Seidl, 10. July 2019The bike season is in full swing. After the first warm up runs on the home trails, soon the question comes up where to go for this years bike holiday? Which weekend trips could be good? Do you want to sit in the car for hours, even take the plane, or are there maybe also good spots nearby?
To be honest, I lost interest in driving many hours, long time ago. The classic trip to Finale Ligure costs a lot of time and nerves. Traffic jams at the Gotthard tunnel, or around Milano, forced stops in little Italian garages to get the car fixed. And then there is the bad conscience. Not a single day goes by, without reading something about the climate change, about the necessary change in behaviour of everyone of us. Do I really want to drive hundreds of kilometers, multiple times a year, just to do a sport that is very close to nature?
I live in Freiburg, Germany, in the Black Forest, for a few years now, known for its great trails, the dedicated biking scene, and for the engagement of the local mountain bike club. I really can’t complain about the lack of trails. And the great thing with biking is, that it can be so uncomplicated. Just grab your bike, and start riding from home.
Nevertheless, I always ride here, it is nothing special anymore, and suddenly my thoughts go to the destinations far away. The Alps, of course, the Italian coast, yes, Spanish and Portuguese islands, very much! But isn’t there anything nearby?
Between Freiburg and the bike spots further away, a gray veil lays on my inner map. But I am sure there have to be many beautiful trails I don’t know yet. The Vosges mountains of the Alsace in France are in sight, to the south the Black Forest rises up to the Swiss border, in the north I have heard of nice trails in villages like Sasbachwalden or Baiersbronn.
The MTB Freiburg club and locals shared more than 40 trails around Freiburg. Europe wide there are more than 3.000 trails on Trailguide. Many more possibilities come up when everyone shares the local trails, and the whole bike community works together on a trail map. The long, nerve-racking, and environmental impacting trip suddenly becomes less interesting. Many kilometers are not driven, the local tourism supported.
More possibilities also relieve the trails, and enable a more sustainable usage. Instead of many bikers, that use a few well known trails, the traffic and the impact spreads to many trails.
Again, Trailguide is going to award the users who contribute to the public trail-map. Partner of the awards is Norrøna who provide the winners with a bike jacket and a backpack. Everyone who uploads a trail to trailguide.net until the 15th of August participates in the drawing.
On top of that Norrøna gives you additional Cash Points on your next purchase on norrona.com when you use our promo code - Trailguide -
With everyone contributing a little bit, Trailguide gets better and better everyday. We are looking forward for your tracks, and with a bit of luck, you will have a nice backpack and jacket from Norrøna on your next ride!