Rottach-Egern / Spitzingsee - The Valepp has everything you need for a bike tour: The winding road is in top condition and offers a challenging route in a unique landscape - a paradise for everyone who likes touring bikes, e-bikes or racing bikes on the way.
But the route is dangerous.
Especially when cyclists ride downhill too fast and forget that they are not alone there.
Because they have to share the road with alpine farmers, forest workers and the bus.
When their vehicles arrive, it gets very crowded very quickly.
Jörg Meyer, head of the Schliersee forestry company of the Bavarian State Forests, can still remember the incident that triggered action.
“Our district manager was driving from the Waitzinger Alm towards Spitzingsee,” reports Meyer.
At an invisible bend, he was approached by a cyclist "at extremely high speed".
The employee steered the car as far to the right as possible against the rock face - the cyclist just passed the car.
"Maybe 20 centimeters were missing from the collision," says Meyer.
Near-miss shows: something has to happen
For the foresters it was clear: Something has to happen. “It wasn't the only dicey situation there,” he says, especially with a view to last summer. For this reason, the forestry company contacted the municipal company Alpenregion Tegernsee Schliersee (ATS) with the request to make cyclists aware of oncoming motorized traffic. The result is a new traffic sign that uses pictograms to show the collision of a downhill bike with a car. The warning: watch out for oncoming traffic.
For Tim Coldewey, wheel product developer at ATS, it was an assignment that fits well into the tourism company's awareness-raising area.
“We tried not to warn with a raised index finger, but with a wink.” In doing so, they were guided by common pictograms and the typical colors of green on white for cycling.
Barrier suggests security
Coldewey can understand that the problem has worsened, especially in the past summer: "Corona is causing us to experience a cycling boom - also with road racing bikes." People who are not familiar with the particularities and dangers of this area are drawn to the Valepp.
“The barrier also suggests that no car is driving here.
But they are still on the move. ”And the buses are also running again.
Because of the legally prescribed distance of two meters outside of town, although smaller models are in use (we reported), the gap for cyclists remains narrow.
Further areas of application in sight
Meyer can imagine that the new warning sign would also serve well on other roads - for example on Rotwandstrasse.
According to Coldewey, three more signs have already been passed on: You are now on the Panoramaweg on Wallberg.
And there are also inquiries at the Rotwand.
ddy
