The Penzbergers have set a new record for city cycling.
And in several ways: There have never been so many cyclists and teams.
They all covered 90,254 kilometers, almost a third more than in the previous record year.
The two best individual cyclists could only be stopped by an accident and a flat tire.
Penzberg - A year ago, Wally Karl was still at the top of the podium.
At that time, the 75-year-old from Penzberg even outperformed the cyclist and Paralympics winner from Beijing, Wolfgang Sacher, in the individual classification with 1424 kilometers.
This year she saddled another 500 kilometers in the three city cycling weeks.
In the end it was 1919 kilometers.
Actually a subscription to the first place, had Wolfgang Sacher not cycled 100 kilometers more.
Penzberger Stadtradeln: One braked a flat tire, the other was stopped by an accident
Nevertheless, the senior could be happy about the second place in her second participation. “I just really like cycling,” she says. Because of health and environmental protection. In addition: The area here is so beautiful and varied that you don't need to travel far. Actually, Wally Karl had planned this year to cover 2000 kilometers. That would have been successful. But on the penultimate day of the city cycling campaign, her bike had a flat tire.
Individual rating winner Wolfgang Sacher, who is training for the Paralympics in Paris in 2024, was also stopped early. However, very roughly in an accident. A car was in the way in the last few meters, reported Mayor Stefan Korpan about the bad luck of Sacher, who could not be present at the award ceremony. Sacher was injured and had to be hospitalized for a short time, the racing bike was totaled. His goal of reaching the 2100 kilometer mark did not come to fruition. With 2028 kilometers, the 54-year-old - he is well again - won the Penzberg city cycling victory.
Third place went to the 15-year-old high school student Katharina Rath with 1748.8 kilometers.
How did she get this value?
She always cycled to school, but also went on extra tours, says the student.
She enjoys cycling and enjoys doing sports.
Katharina Rath was in good company.
The Penzberger Gymnasium had the largest team this year with 236 cyclists.
City cycling in 2021: four records in Penzberg
In total, the Penzbergers set four records: 460 cyclists drove 90 254 kilometers, thus avoiding the equivalent of 13.3 tons of CO2 emissions (compared to car traffic).
They easily surpassed the record year 2019 with 317 cyclists, 66,333 kilometers and nine tons of CO2.
The fourth record: There have never been so many teams at the start, namely 30.
“Team Glücklich”, a duet between Wolfgang Sacher and his partner Manuela Schäffer, who achieved 1,192.5 kilometers per capita, took first place in the team classification.
Behind them landed the "Se (h) eradler" with Wally Karl, her husband Gottfried Karl and Irene Berchtold (868.9 kilometers per capita).
What does the strange team name mean?
The destination of the bike tours was often lakes, says the lake leader Irene Berchtold.
In addition, one did not rush along, but wanted to see something.
Third in the team classification was the "datamints" with 432.4 kilometers per cyclist.
Mayor Korpan cycled for the first time
Mayor Korpan spoke of astonishing numbers at the award ceremony. You can get more and more people to use the bike, which is important in terms of CO2 emissions and climate change. "You can see that you can do without a car - it just takes a nudge." Next year, probably in July, there will be a new edition, according to organizer and climate protection manager Carl-Christian Zimmermann. He then hopes for even more participants. Mayor Korpan himself cycled for the first time this year. His goal, he says, was 186.0 kilometers - an allusion to his favorite club. In the end it was 118.0 kilometers.
