During one of my bicycle rides in the Vienna Woods a sign reading “trail” pointed to a narrow path leading downhill. Curious where it would take me, I followed it. After a while the path split into two parts, one saying “fun”, the other one “easy”.
I asked two young guys who stood there, what “fun” was all about. “Jumps and so on” they said. So I, of course, opted for the “easy“ way.
Too lazy to return where I had come from, I cautiously started the “easy” trail, as I did not have a clue what to expect.
In hindsight it went surprisingly well for a novice like me, at least for quite a while.
At one point though I did not make it through a turn and crashed.
I was lucky, I escaped the accident without any injuries
Following this incident I made up my mind:
I decided to look for a coach, who would teach me the necessary technical skills to ride a trail safely.
I was lucky to quickly find a good female coach: experienced in teaching mountain biking and with some racing background as well.
Eva Rümmele
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Aged 67, 2 years after my retirement from the University of Vienna, I was ready for the adventurous journey to learn mountain biking.