The forest car park in Johanniskreuz is the hub of the "Pfälzerwald Mountain Bike Park". Since the end of April, 314 kilometres of signposted bike tours have been attracting bikers here on sandy single trails, rooty descents and through deep green forest passages. And there, in the centre of the Palatinate, we meet Udo Bölts for a joint test ride.
Bike and helmet rattle on the flatbed of his VW bus. "Hello, I'm Udo!" We had expected the firm handshake, although he looks even thinner and more haggard than we know him from television. Udo suggests tour number four, the most technically demanding tour with 64 kilometres and 1160 metres of elevation gain. On the single trails, we have the best chance of beating the road specialist.
From Johanniskreuz we roll in easily and have enough time to chat. Udo Bölts is considered a Palatinate veteran. He's not one of those guys who rewards himself with sports cars or expensive watches after success and emigrates to Switzerland. Bölts still lives in his birthplace of Heltersberg, deep in the Palatinate Forest, one of Germany's green lungs. "We sell our oxygen to other federal states," he jokes.
Two years ago, Bölts gave up his career as a professional road cyclist and saddles up his bike more and more often. Now he is an ambassador for the newly opened "Pfälzerwald Mountain Bike Park", where he wants to organise training weekends and introduce bike tourists to the region.
You can find out more about Udo's hunting ground in the free PDF download.
