Bike Trails Abound Because People Want Them

The rain let up today and I finally got out on the mountain bike, for my last day in Kitzbuhel.  Kurt arrived at 8:30 with two bikes and we set out from the hotel to Schwarzsee, the small lake nearby.  As we rode along the lakeside, ducks too flight, skidding with fantails into the mist-shrouded water.  I felt energized and ready to pedal hard, the trail was fine gravel and so far there were no big hills to climb.

We rode by the lake and into the woods, a sylvan trail with moss on the banks and sudden darkness from all of the trees.  Every quarter mile or so there was a bench and  a little pole-mounted trash can, and nary a piece of litter could be found anywhere. We rode out of the woods into the sun, up a hill and past cows grazing, and neat little farms with a few dozen animals, and people walking on the paths with dogs.

I thought about how well laid out these trails were, passing by private property, looping in and around farms and fields and using driveways as entry points and assuming that riders and walkers will carefully open and closed the gates to keep the cows in.  

Austria is simply more civilized than the U.S.   They’ve done a better job figuring out what the common good is and they’ve established places like these fine bike trails because the people want them.   It makes me feel good about this place, and wish that I could ride gorgeous trails like this in South Deerfield some day.