Mountain biking is a promise of freedom. Forest. Dirt. Speed. Sunspots on the trail. Unfortunately, some people think freedom also means: loudspeakers in your rucksack, handkerchiefs in the bushes and full throttle through a pair of hikers. It doesn't. So here is our little trail etiquette guide. Not as a moral sermon. But as a last hope.
1. be quiet!
My father used to say: "In the forest and in church, you speak softly." Then he would raise his finger and point upwards, as if God himself was sitting on the spruce tree.
Later in the Bundeswehr it was called "noise discipline". Silent = survival.
Today it's enough: Silent = not annoying.
Because nothing is sadder than people rumbling along the trail with a Bluetooth box attached to their rucksack. Beatboxing in the forest - the acoustic form of Crocs. If you need music while biking: headphones in. The rest of the world doesn't have to listen in.
This also applies on the boat, at the lake, on the beach ... pretty much everywhere.
2. take your rubbish with you
Yes, also the transom foil. Even the broken hose. Even the handkerchief behind the stone.
The forest is not an escape room for bicycle parts. And no: handkerchiefs don't "dissolve somehow". They are as annoying as bad tattoos, but thankfully not 4ever. It takes up to five years for them to decompose.
In short: what you have carried up, you can also carry down again.
3. do not block any drops
There are few things worse than hurtling towards a jump with flow - and on the take-off, two amateur philosophers are standing on the landing discussing tyre pressure, approach speed and trajectory.
Trail rule number one in the bike park is: keep stunts free. Always.
If you want to watch, watch out and get out of the line of fire.
If you're in the middle of a feature, you're living dangerously - and rightly so.
4. don't shout at anyone
Yes, others are sometimes annoying. People get in the way. People push in the middle of the racing line. Beginners brake down to walking speed before bends like hire car drivers on Lake Garda.
Nevertheless, nobody needs to be shouted off the trail.
If you shout, you never sound confident. They always sound like an entertainer on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
5. be friendly
Saying hello costs nothing. Neither does smiling.
This includes: keeping your distance (distance = decency). Be punctual. Take off your sunglasses when talking to someone. Pay attention to the amount of speech; don't shower with words. And don't keep anyone waiting in the car park for ten minutes because you're "just quickly" checking the damper pressure.
Rule of thumb: If you are pleasant, people will gladly take you back.
6. teach no one
"Coca-Cola is poison."
"You have to stretch your arms during the manual."
"But that wasn't a clean tabletop."
Thank you, Professor Bikeethik.
Unsolicited tips are like mosquitoes in the bedroom: small, unnecessary and surprisingly aggressive. In Bavaria, this is called "talking smart". The rest of the country calls it "smart arse".
Please refrain from both.
7. do not lead anyone to heroism
"Come on, you can easily make the jump!"
This phrase has catapulted more people over the handlebars than loose gravel bends, root loops and off-road edges. Of course you push each other. Of course you get better with friends. But between motivation and peer pressure is often just a broken collarbone.
And another thing: anyone who chooses the most brutal trail just to shine while their buddies have to push is not a trail boss. You're a narcissist with brake discs.
8. hiker? Stay cool
There will always be that one hiker who looks as if a mountain bike has personally ruined his marriage.
Do not discuss. Do not justify. Don't argue back.
Just say hello and roll on.
Bruce Lee called it: "Be like water."
I call it lowering your blood pressure.
It's the only way to keep your pulse down and your head clear.
9. scrounging does not count
Travelling without a rucksack feels great. Free. Elegant. Almost spiritual.
Unfortunately, on longer tours you will need tools, a tube, a pump or a jacket at some point. If you always set off without everything and then ask "Have you got ...?" every time you break down, you're not a minimalist. You're a freeloader.
The reverse is also true: if you see someone with a defect by the side of the road, you help. Of course you help. See rule five.
10. praise your buddy
The philosopher and freethinker Michel de Montaigne considered the desire for applause and recognition to be one of the greatest human follies. Maybe so.
Nevertheless, it feels fantastic when someone says: "Great move."
Or: "Clean driving."
Or simply: "Stylish."
Dared the drop, managed the jump, moved the rear wheel, mastered the difficult line? Tell your buddy that it was Steez.
Because mountain bikers often pretend to be laid-back outdoorsmen. In truth, we're all a bit of a Labrador. A little praise - and the tail wags.
Who was Knigge?
Adolph Freiherr von Knigge (1752-1796) was not a stiff master of ceremonies, but a versatile enlightener. With his magnum opus "On the Treatment of People", he advocated social justice and respectful interaction. Contrary to today's reputation as a mere guide to table manners, his work originally functioned as a profound social study that offered practical advice in 26 chapters for respectful dialogue between different social classes. The "etiquette" of cutlery rules and etiquette that is often ridiculed today only emerged much later - and has surprisingly little to do with the original spirit of the author.
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
