Marktoberdorf - pride, enthusiasm and satisfaction on all sides.
In the second year, too, the “Stadtradeln” campaign succeeded in inspiring an increasing number of people from Marktoberdorf.
For three weeks in June, the bicycle had been the focus of public interest nationwide as a CO2-neutral and health-promoting means of transport.
In Marktoberdorf alone, more than 2000 residents decided to take part in city cycling in 2021.
That is around 400 more than the year before, when the action took place for the first time.
Divided into 83 different teams, the Marktoberdorfers covered 414,000 kilometers this time in three weeks.
That is a significant increase compared to the previous year.
In the size class of cities with up to 50,000 inhabitants, the city placed third nationwide and was even able to take the lead in Bavaria.
But that's not all.
Even in comparison with much larger municipalities with up to 100,000 inhabitants, Marktoberdorf is the undisputed first place. In view of these results, it is not surprising that everyone involved at the recent award ceremony was visibly proud.
More participants, more teams
In his welcoming address, Mayor Dr. Wolfgang Hell the repeated excellent performances. Johannes Auburger from the “Sustainable Marktoberdorf” alliance was particularly pleased that this time the Ostallgäu district could also be won over to the campaign: “That was 4400 cyclists! And Marktoberdorf lit the fire in the end. ”Martin Vogler from the city administration, who had actively participated in city cycling for both years and supported the campaigns on the city's side, said he was more than satisfied with the numbers. According to Vogler, the number of teams has increased significantly from 75 to 83. "We are indeed a diverse mix: clubs, private companies, and the city administration is even represented by an authority."
The largest team among the clubs this year was the TSV Leuterschach, with the employers the "Fendt Varioflitzer" formed the largest group, followed by the Marktoberdorfer district office and the early support team in Marktoberdorf. TSV Bertoldshofen had 580 kilometers per team in terms of team performance Team member had the lead, followed by the “Café Vogler” team with 551 kilometers and the “Berglern” with 509 kilometers per team member.
Successful school cyclists
There were big surprises among the schools' teams: no less than 900 people ran for their respective schools, reported Martin Vogler.
Not only pupils and teachers, but also a team from parts of the parenting group were included.
School cyclists made up 45 percent of all participants in Marktoberdorf.
In the competition among themselves, class 7bM of the middle school won the bronze medal.
The team had covered a total of 2189 kilometers.
Compared with an average CO2 consumption, this would be a saving of around 322 kilograms of CO2.
Second place went to class 6b of the Realschule with almost 2,370 kilometers.
That corresponds to around 348 kilograms of CO2.
With around 4922 kilometers and around 724 kilograms of CO2, class 9a of the Marktoberdorf grammar school made it to first place.
Gymnasium in 1st place
The grammar school also took first place in the ranking of the number of participants, followed by the Thalhofen elementary school and the middle school.
The school teams were honored by Michael Dittrich and Michael Kölbel from the Marktoberdorf High School.
The prizes were not only certificates for the school teams, but also numerous shopping vouchers and high-quality bicycle accessories.
Of course, excellent individual performances were also honored at the award ceremony: The strongest individual cyclists this year were Sabrina Zwick with 1244 kilometers for women, and Stefan Angerer won first prize for men with 2755 kilometers.
Compared to his victory in the previous year, Angerer was able to improve again by more than 150 kilometers.
The city cycling stars
Christian Engstler made it into second place with more than 1880 kilometers, followed by Kurt Lang, who had covered a respectable 1715 kilometers with his 7-speed bicycle without electric drive. The honors were given by Michael Korn from the “Sustainable Marktoberdorf” alliance. Korn himself competed as a city cycling star for the district and cycled more than 1700 kilometers.
The so-called "everyday cyclists" also landed on the winners' podium. For Miriam Plantelt and her colleagues from the “Sustainable Marktoberdorf” alliance, it was particularly important when cycling in the city to focus on the bicycle as a means of transport for everyday life. Therefore, ten people were drawn from all participants and presented with shopping vouchers from the Marktoberdorf action group, including Simone Jörg, Markus Stark and Amelie Schön. The remaining winners will receive their presents in the next few days. The two oldest participants, each over 80 years old Christiane Pfeifer and Helmut Schütt, were specially honored.
The three city cycling stars were also given special attention: Daniela Epple, Sonja Vogler and Marco Gellrich.
During the three weeks they left their cars completely parked and made all trips by bike without exception.
They then reported on their everyday experiences in their internet blogs.