"Back then it was shit too" - as it says in the coal-mining cult film "Radio Heimat", and this quote applies to nothing better than biking. The bikes back then? Badass bone breakers! Single trails? Neither in the vocabulary nor on the ground! And a little motor on a mountain bike? Pure fantasy! Mountain biking in the Ruhr region was for freaks who "made something out of nothing".
Fast forward to the brightly coloured present: bike pro Holger Meyer opens the tailgate of his van and a bike dream come true rolls into the car park on oversized shoes. We are at the foot of the enormous Hoheward spoil tip, the largest man-made low mountain range in Europe and the number one mountain bike hotspot in the Ruhr metropolis. The slag heap trails are calling, it's going to be a hell of a ride! Holger lets out an enthusiastic "Boa ey!" at so many superlatives. We switch on the drives and roll uphill from the historic Ewald colliery to get a feel for the trails. There are already the first signposts, and a crossed-out pedestrian symbol promises a free ride. In other words: pure trail riding, with no annoying wrong turns and no nasty looks.
Zack, another signpost sends us steeply up to the left, and the trail fun begins. The narrow path climbs slowly uphill and then winds its way along the slag heap. Ideal terrain for electric mountain bikes. Holger is clear: "Experts were at work during the planning. It rides really well."
Poisonous climbs alternate dramatically with flowing single trails. The bikes with the low centre of gravity, the fantastic brakes and the extra electric kick are in their element. The higher we cycle on the slag heap, the fewer bushes and trees grow. The upper third of the Hoheward mountain landscape is deliberately kept free of trees and shrubs in order to maintain a certain Alpine pasture feeling.
The Bosch motor howls again briefly, then we are overcome with happiness at the summit: an incredible 151 metres above sea level. We are lucky with the weather and have full visibility. The Ruhr area is bubbling below us. Just a few generations ago, the coal-mining region was nothing more than flatland with a few farming communities, fever swamps and a handful of towns. An industrial explosion followed, fuelled by coal and steel, and the Ruhr area boomed. Today, more than five million people live here in a densely populated area. Our gaze wanders far and wide. We see the stadium of FC Schalke 04, the skyline of Essen, birds of prey using the updrafts, endless seas of houses, lots of greenery, endless spoil tips and industrial areas. From up here, the Ruhr metropolis develops a rugged charm, and there is much to discover. There is a slight aroma of coffee in the air; a large discount grocery store has its beans roasted near the slag heaps. The fun park character of the slag heap makes it easy to forget that these mountains were torn from the earth by decades of hard labour by armies of miners underground.
During our "pause" with a panoramic view of the Pott, a delegation from the successful Edelhelfer bike team comes whizzing round the bend: Kathrin Tesmer, Kim Große and downhill crack Fabian Seiffert. We get chatting. Kim, Kathrin and Fabian are on their way to recharge their batteries on an e-mountainbike. The two ladies are among the German racing elite and ride high-end hardtails. They have a Transalp race under their belts and are fully aware of all the training tricks: "Especially when you're training for long-distance races, the motor bikes are now almost indispensable," says Kathrin Tesmer. Sounds paradoxical, but it's true. Basic training in mountain biking is a problem. In constantly changing terrain, it is difficult to keep the intensity constant. "But with e-mountain bikes, we can keep our heart rate in the green zone on the slag heap while cycling uphill. And, of course, it's really fun to kick it into high gear from time to time!" The e-bike also has an advantage for downhill crack Fabian Seiffert: "You can really hone your downhill technique with these things. I can speed up the mountain 15 times. Without a motor and a heavy downhill bike, you're flat after two or three times."
We've stood around long enough in the cold November wind, time to ride on. We "chug" down a trail that winds its way down the Halden-Alm as if it were painted, before slowly winding down into the valley in a series of berms with different flavours. "That's great cinema!" says Holger. And it's not just on the signposted mountain bike trails. There are micro-trails and connecting trails at every nook and cranny of the slag heap, which together on the Hoheward slag heap and the neighbouring Hoppenbruch mountain easily add up to 20 kilometres of enjoyment without remorse. Holger is absolutely delighted. "The quality of the trails here is enormous. And these landscapes! You ride a few metres and you're in a different film. From Tuscany to the land of smoking chimneys in three minutes." The trail signs speak a clear language, so there are no unpleasant encounters, insults or conflicts of interest. In other words: everything is in perfect order and fully legal.
We continue on the trails of the small Hoppenbruch spoil tip. This is conveniently connected to the Hoheward slag heap. This is the territory of the Herten freeride club. The guys have done a great job. The trails are peppered with jumps, gaps, drops, tables and doubles, much to the delight of trail master Meyer. But our batteries are running low. We treat ourselves to one last black run and it's time to pack up and recharge.
Back to Ewald colliery, where the van is waiting dutifully for us. Under a disused winding tower, we meet e-mountain biker Andreas Kleine on his 29-inch bike, fully equipped with headlights and pannier rack system for daily use as a commuter vehicle. At first, he has very little in mind with the romance of spoil tips. "I have to ride 25 kilometres to work in Essen every day. It's easy to get stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway for an hour and waste valuable time," philosophises the IT specialist. He uses his e-mountainbike to escape the traffic chaos in the Ruhr region, have fun and do something for his fitness. He enjoys a pleasant side effect of the spoil tips on his way to work: In order to transport the coal by rail, colliery railway lines were built throughout the Ruhr area, which have now been converted into wonderful cycle paths. Often far away from the main roads and usually in idyllic locations. The bike highways are extremely popular with cyclists in the Ruhr region, as you can practically fly along five metres above the ground and look up into the treetops or catch a glimpse of brown bears near the Ruhr Zoo in Gelsenkirchen or listen to the sea lions being fed. When the weather is fine, thousands of cyclists criss-cross the Ruhr region. The well-signposted Emscher Park cycle path, for example, connects around 20 spoil tips over a length of 230 kilometres in the most pedelec-friendly way.
In the listed colliery housing estate at the foot of the Hoheward slag heap, we treat ourselves to a cold hop drink straight from the bottle in the "Zum Ruhrpott" pub - yes, it really is called that. Then we set off in search of stylish food: in other words, currywurst with chips. Not so easy to find, because the Ruhr region has been flooded with kebabs. We find what we are looking for in an unadorned shack. For 56 years, "Döveling" in Recklinghausen-Süd has been serving chips, currywurst, half chickens and shashlik without any modern frills in historically correct top quality. We pounce on the delicacies and realise: "Not everything was shit back then!"
SECRET TIPS
The bike hotspots
During the coal and steel boom, more than a hundred spoil tips were created in the Ruhr region. Most of the slag heaps consist of overburden, i.e. surplus material from coal mining. Of course, you can bike on almost every spoil tip in the Ruhr region, but nowhere as flawlessly as on the trails of the Hoheward and Hoppenbruch spoil tips. Hoheward is 151 metres high and both slag heaps cover a total area of around 240 hectares. The trails are signposted and pedestrians are not allowed (see picture above), so nothing stands in the way of pure riding pleasure. Right next to the spoil tip is the bike and skate park on the site of the former Recklinghausen II colliery with a dirt bike track built by bike park guru Diddi Schneider. Directions: Set the satnav to "Werner-Heisenberg-Str. 14" or "Ewaldstr. 261" and you will arrive directly at the car park of the Ewald Colliery Visitor Centre. www.landschaftspark-hoheward.de
Food and drink
In the Ruhr region, there are of course thousands of restaurants of all classes, kebab stands and hamburger shops. But it only gets really cosy with currywurst and chips. To get to the pure source of this delicacy, it's worth taking a look at the French fries guide. www.pommesfuehrer.de
Overnight stay
There is everything here, from camper van sites to holiday flats and grand hotels. But here's the super-cool insider tip: spend the night in converted sewer pipes at the Parkhotel Bernepark Bottrop. There is a double bed, electricity and light in the sewer pipes and you pay as you wish. www.dasparkhotel.net
Even more accommodation information: www.ruhr-tourismus.de
Cycle paths
All information, GPS data and maps: www.radroutenplaner.nrw.de
