Hello America! | Part #4 – Stromberg Trails, Germany
On two continents, 6,600 kilometers away from their home countries – we found two guys who literally swapped their lives: one in America, the other in Germany. How does biking feel in each of their new worlds? Who finds the best trails? Who drinks the best beer? Hear their stories and follow their adventures as they hit the trails in their new worlds.
Pop!! The cap from my beer hit me in the face and fell to the ground. Warm foamy suds flowed from the neck of the bottle all over my lap and the seat of my car. The three guys sitting in the Fiat a couple meters from me started laughing, but I could tell that really they were jealous. I looked across three lanes of stopped traffic to my wife who was making friends while my kids played on the guardrail and I yelled, “honey, you are gonna have to drive the rest of the way home!”
We were stuck for two hours on the autobahn because someone about a kilometer in front of us had crashed. Frustrating, yes, but my day was surely better than the drivers who wrecked their cars ahead of us. Plus I had beer. The beer was warm, but it was still beer and there was also cold pizza in the car. I was reminded of my time in university. I should have known the it would spill all over the place, but it has been a while since I opened a warm beer.
I encountered the traffic jam while returning from a family weekend of exploring castles along the Rhine river west of Frankfurt, Germany. I usually bring bikes with me whenever we travel because it is a great way to wear out my kids and there is always a chance that I can get out alone and explore. This was maybe the luckiest I have ever been when it comes to bike surprises. I really had no idea where we were going or what would be there, but I like to be prepared and I struggled to choose a bike from the quiver. I love my Independent Fabrication steel hard tail because it is just a great bike to pedal around but I knew that there would be some hills in the area and I didn’t want to get stuck pushing a bike up all the hills. I ended up bringing my Specialized Enduro because it tends to work pretty well in every environment. Four bikes, two kids, my wife, and a dog were packed into the van and heading to celebrate the German holiday long weekend known as “Jesus drives to Heaven.” I didn’t know that Jesus drove anywhere, but we were driving to Resort Stromberg.
There is a part of America in the northeast and midwest that is called the “rust belt” because it suffers from urban decay of the formerly prosperous industrial age. The states of Pennsyvania and Ohio are beautiful with moderate sized mountains laced with winding rivers. There are great mountain biking trails all over the rust belt and the climate is well suited for riding year round. As I drove west from Frankfurt I couldn’t help feel as though I was travelling through the rust belt except that these factories were flourishing. This region may look like Allentown or Reading, Pennsylvania but I can assure you that there would be no castles anywhere near those cities.
We arrived at Resort Strombrg and checked into our weekend Ferienwohnung which was similar to what we usually call a condo. It was one of many two bedroom apartments with a little back yard and the resort is mostly wooded and fairly quiet. There was a family near us who rented several adjoined units and were celebrating a birthday in the front yard. They were partying pretty loud so I knew that my kids would not get into trouble when they inevitably sarted getting crazy and running around the complex. After carrying several loads of luggage and bikes from the car, I was finally able to sit down, crack open a beer, and relax. I opened up the brochure for the resort and BOOM!!! The first page of the brochure was an advertisement for “Flowtrail Stormberg.”
WTF is flowtrail Stromberg? Actually, even though it was advertised in the brochure, the photo was blurry, so I couldn’t tell what or where it was. Thank you internet!! My data connection was slow but I was able to get to a web page that showed that I was sitting within a few hundred meters of a dedicated mountain biking trail. There was a flowtrail, a pump track, and a DH jump line. I felt like I had been punched in the head. This didn’t make sense. Was I dreaming? Was this a joke? Was this an early birthday surprise from my wife?
I woke the following morning and headed out for a quick reconnaissance mission while my wife made breakfast for the kids. A short climb up a forest road led me past the pump track and skills area to an intersection of trails. I turned left and knew immediately that I had found the German unicorn … the mythical beast … singletrack. Singletrack is everywhere in my hometown in America but it is a luxury that I miss since moving to Germany. Baden-Württemberg, my “State” in Germany, has a law that states that you can no have no trail less that two meters wide without tireless and extensive authorization. I’ll get into the process some other time, but just understand that it means that most singletrack is illegal. Stromberg is in Rheinland-Pfalz and therefore has different laws. They apparently allow singletrack and it is pretty amazing how much I’ve missed it. This was good singletrack that snaked across the hillside around roots, rocks, and trees. I rolled over logs and ducked under tree limbs as I pedaled through the forest. I have trails like this in my back yard in America, but it has been a long time since I’d ridden this type of trail.
The next section of trail was the “Wild Hog“ trail which was all downhill and full of berms and jumps. Each mid-sized feature had a secondary line around it which was equally fun. I can honestly say that I giggled down the entire trail. The trail was well marked and an absolute blast. It led back to a traditional xc singltrack into the woods and began to climb back up the hill. The trail popped out onto the forest road for a bit and I saw some pretty big jumps in the woods. This was the „No Jokes“ trail. Wow … this trail is well named. This trail was full of big doubles and drops. I was climbing along side it but wasn’t able to ride it since I was only on a scouting run. I knew I’d be back. My first loop of the trails took me about an hour and I didn’t ride all of it but I was sure that it was worth a second look. But now it was time for some castles with my family.
The Stormberg trails are very close to the Rhein and several picturesque medieval towns. The family, dog included, spent the rest of the day wandering around towns and castles that date back to the 13th century and beyond. If you are looking for a way to entertain your family, this is the place to be. We took rides on the river, we climbed stairs, we ate meals in castles … it was awesome. But I wanted to hit those big jumps.
I really like pump tracks for the kids because they are relatively safe and really help with fundamental bike skills. I asked the boys if they want to watch daddy hit some jumps and they got excited. Understand that my kids are used to watching my friends ride and those guys are much better than me. My kids have no problem telling me when I suck. We rode the singletrack down the hill until we came to the No Jokes trail and took a walk to check it out. We only spent time in the first section of the trail, but it was awesome. The jumps were well built and the right size for the speed of the trail. The biggest jump on the line was not huge but it had some pop to it so I was a little nervous. It would have been nice to have a DH bike or maybe a full face helmet, but I didn’t, so like the song says, you “love the one you’re with.” Also, I’m old and don’t usually have to guinea pig too many jumps because I am almost always riding with some 20 year shredder old who is willing to just huck himself without a fear. It was my lucky day since I managed to ride the section without crashing in front of my wife and kids and I had a blast. I could session that trail all day but that isn’t really how these types of family trips go. If I can squeeze in a couple short rides between sight seeing and bath time, then it is an absolute success. This was a HUGE success.
The resounding triumph of course came to a halt when the car came to a complete stop on the autobahn. When you are moving slowly in traffic it is easy to be anxious and mad, but when it comes to a complete stop, you just have to give up. We gave up. I turned off the motor but left the music playing with the doors open. And then I remembered the case of Kolsch in the back of the van. It was warm beer, but it was German and any warm German beer beats most cold American brews. So I sat there with warm foamy beer all over my pants and a grin on my face because my “Jesus drive’s to Heaven” holiday turned into a really fun weekend.
Enjoyed this story? Take a trip to the rest of the series: Introduction | Freiburg | Goodbye Germany
Words & Photos: Evan Phillips