"I am delighted that so many people took part in the campaign again this year and would like to thank them for this great achievement," emphasized Mayor Friedrich Marx. At the award ceremony, he honored special achievements in the context of CITY CYCLING and presented the winners with, among other things, tickets for sights and cultural events as well as city marketing vouchers.
Since 2020, the city of Idar-Oberstein has been taking part in CITY CYCLING, the competition initiated by Climate Alliance to promote cycling, climate protection and quality of life. "At first, I wasn't that enthusiastic about the campaign," admits the city's climate protection manager Julia Besand, who organizes CITY CYCLING in Idar-Oberstein. But that has since changed, "because I've realized that it's a great incentive to leave the car behind and take the bike." She then presented some key data on this year's campaign. She also presented some points of criticism that were reported by participants during the campaign, along with a request to political decision-makers to do more to promote cycling in the city.
The 202 participants were spread across 20 teams, with team sizes ranging from 2 to 46 cyclists. One of the teams of two, the 'Hahn-Bau-Gruppe', completed the highest average distance per head with 1,062 kilometers. The largest team, 'BioNTech IMFS Riders', with 46 cyclists, covered an impressive 10,934 kilometers. In addition to the team achievements, there were also some remarkable individual performances, which were honored with non-cash prizes. For example, Rabea Kluge from the 'BioNTech IMFS Riders' covered the longest distance overall on her racing bike with 2,002.5 kilometers, while Stefan Hartmann from the 'RSC Blitz IO' "only" covered 1,364.3 kilometers, but with almost 450 kilometers from Idar-Oberstein to Middelburg in the Netherlands, he covered the longest distance in one go. Matthias Dingert from the 'BioNTech MFS Riders' covered the most kilometers on a gravel bike, while Stefan Fröhlich from the 'Fritsch Cycling Team' covered the most kilometers on a non-electric bike. The participants ranged in age from under 10 to over 80, with Mina Sophie Becker from the 'Pfarracker Radler' team being the youngest and Dieter Meyer from the 'Offenes Team IO' the oldest cyclist. The participation of council members in CITY CYCLING can still be improved. Two councillors, Moritz Forster and Meike Fuchs, took part, for which they were each rewarded with a 'parliamentarian surprise package' by Mayor Marx.
Overall, however, Julia Besand draws a positive conclusion from this year's CITY CYCLING: "The kilometers covered saved a total of around 8 tons of CO2 and Idar-Oberstein is in 1,329th place in the overall ranking of the 3,002 municipalities participating nationwide and thus in a good midfield position." Idar-Oberstein has therefore already registered for next year's CITY CYCLING event, which will take place from June 15 to July 5, 2026.