German Mountain Bike Initiative
| German Mountain Bike Initiative (DIMB) |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| legal form | Registered association |
| founding | 2nd July 1991 |
| Seat | Haar (near Munich) |
| purpose | Protection and promotion of the interests of mountain biking |
| Chair | Karsten Neumann |
| Managing directors | Florian Weishäupl |
| Members | 81,000 (2019) |
| Website | www.dimb.de |
aims
The primary goal of the association is to promote mountain bike sports . This includes direct lobbying as well as work in committees and associations to represent the interests of bikers in legal regulations. The slogan Open Trails! stands for the efforts of DIMB to make all paths and paths usable for bikers, as far as this is compatible with nature conservation and socially acceptable. Above all, initiatives are supported to create a legal basis for road and trail networks suitable for mountain bikes.
In areas such as “Legalize Freeride, Downhill & Dirt”, hundreds of legal track builders have already been given assistance in setting up a legal track with Legalize guidelines and the advisory team. Since 2010, the construction of so-called “FlowTrails” for touring riders and freeriders has been particularly encouraged. From 2013, such "flow trails" and also circular routes in the "Tour" and "Trail Tour" categories will be certified as "Premium Bike Trails". Criteria catalogs developed over several years guarantee bikers optimal bike fun on these award-winning trails with good infrastructure.
Since 2004, DIMB has been training around 400 licensed MTB guides and trail scouts as well as NatureRide instructors every year in cooperation with the Association of German Cyclists . With "NatureRide", DIMB operates the most comprehensive German mountain bike program for children and young people. The aim is to lure children away from the PC or Playstation with fun and games and to bring them out into nature by bike. Image campaigns such as the series of advertisements "We are mountain bikers" convey to non-biking newspaper and magazine readers that bikers are not cycling “rambos”. The DIMB program has expanded significantly and, as a professional association, it no longer only focuses on the right of access , but on all fields that advance MTB sport in Germany.
Lobbying (example)
In 2012, DIMB was able to prevent the strictest German bike ban through strong media pressure. According to a draft law by the Hessian state government, cyclists in Hesse would only have been allowed to drive on paths that could have been used all year round with a non-off-road car. Over 53,000 signatures were collected against the draft. At the “Round Table Hesse”, all interest groups, under the leadership of Minister Puttrich, came up with a common formulation proposal according to which all roads are passable for cyclists, on which users can meet without risk. This expressly under "mutual consideration". These formulations were incorporated into the new Hessian Forest Act, which was passed on June 27, 2013 by the Hessian state parliament. In addition, a joint agreement was signed by the associations in which all user groups undertake to treat each other and nature with consideration. The DIMB is also designing a flyer in which the legal situation is presented and the fair treatment of all forest users with one another is advertised.
As of September 2013, DIMB began to take action against what is currently the strictest biking ban in Germany. The 2-meter rule in Baden-Württemberg forests is to be changed against a rational and practicable regulation like in Hesse. Over 58,000 supporters have signed the petition. But on October 16, 2014, the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg voted to keep the 2-meter rule. Nevertheless, the DIMB will continue to work on the topic, since from their point of view a decision was made without any serious appreciation of all the arguments put forward by DIMB and the other participating cycling associations. Clarification of the issue and discussion will continue on the level of so-called “round table” talks.
organization
The DIMB consists of a federal association with over 82,000 members (as of October 2019) and “local interest groups”. The federal chairman of the association is Karsten Neumann.
Memberships
- Full member of the Board of Trustees for Sport and Nature , the association of nature sports associations in Germany
- The DIMB is the German representation and the world's second largest national organization of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), the world association based in the USA. In 2012, IMBA Europe was founded together with other European associations.
- The DIMB department IBC DIMB Racing Team is a member of the Association of German Cyclists (BDR)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ history. German Mountain Bike Initiative, accessed on October 24, 2019 .
- ↑ Board of Directors. German Mountain Bike Initiative, accessed on October 24, 2019 .