Bad Nauheim – Cycle-Trial on 25 May 1974

18 events in Bad Nauheim from 1974 to 1988

Of the eighteen bike trials that I conducted between 1974 and 1988 at four different locations in and around Bad Nauheim (see table), I will present the most important ones. Below on this page, I will start with the first bike trial on 25 May 1974.

1.  Fahrrad-Trial  25.05.1974     Frauenwald – Kirchner Hütte                      5×5 Sektionen      30 riders
2.  Fahrrad-Trial  28.09.1974     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                5×5 Sektionen      25 riders
3. Fahrrad-Trial   24.05.1975     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                5×5 Sektionen      over 50 riders
4. Fahrrad-Trial   27.09.1975     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                5×5 Sektionen      over 20 riders
5. Fahrrad-Trial   22.05.1976     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                5×5 Sektionen      53 riders
6. Fahrrad-Trial   07.08.1976     Ober Mörlen- Aitzenbach                             5×5 Sektionen      24 riders
7. Fahrrad-Trial   25.09.1976     Frauenwald  – Kirchner Hütte
8. Fahrrad-Trial   02.07.1977     Ober Mörlen- Aitzenbach                             4×7 Sektionen      25 riders
9. Fahrrad-Trial   22.04.1978     Frauenwald – Eichberg Hütte                      4×7 Sektionen      15 riders
10. Fahrrad-Trial   11.11.1978     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                                                23 riders
11. Fahrrad-Trial   29.09.1979     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                4×7 Sektionen       over 50 riders
12. Fahrrad-Trial   28.09.1980     Johannisberg – Weber Hütte                       4×8 Sektionen       over 50 riders
13. Fahrrad-Trial   20.09.1981     Frauenwald – Eichberg Hütte                      4×6 Sektionen       73 riders
14. Fahrrad-Trial   26.09.1982     Frauenwald – Kirchner Hütte                      4×8 Sektionen       46 riders
15. Fahrrad-Trial   11.11,1984     Frauenwald – Kirchner Hütte                      4×7 Sektionen       40 riders
16. Fahrrad-Trial   28.09.1985     Ober Mörlen- Aitzenbach                             4×10 Sektionen     33 riders
17. Fahrrad-Trial   18.10.1986     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                4×7 Sektionen       16 riders
18. Fahrrad-Trial   24.09.1988     Frauenwald – Frauenwaldschule                                                10 riders

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1. Fahrrad-Trial on 25th May 1974

The first cycle trial in Bad Nauheim on 25 May 1974 was not the oldest bike trial. I have listed some earlier cycle trials on this website, which I gradually discovered during my research. In 2018, I made a sensational discovery at the British Library in London when I discovered the Windlesham Wheelers Trial, which took place as early as 1947 and was most likely the first bike trial ever – in England, as befits the motherland of observed trials. However, all of these earlier precursors faded away without leaving any lasting impact and were known only to a few people locally, if at all, and had been almost completely forgotten. – Point 3 covers all the early events that are known to date.

The bike trial in Bad Nauheim did not fall into oblivion again. From the very beginning, I promoted bike trials as a sport, first in FAHRERLAGER and then in TRIALSPORT, founded by Felix Krahnstöver in 1976. On the page ‘The beginnings in Germany’, I described how the spark first jumped to Fürstenhagen, from where the development in Germany got rolling with the Velo-Trial Cup. German bicycle trials, in turn, would soon have an important influence on developments in Catalonia, where ‘Bici-Trial’ had also emerged at around the same time (see ‘The Beginnings in Catalonia’). Felix Krahnstöver had long been aware of bike trials from my reports in TRIALSPORT, but it was only after seeing the boys in Fürstenhagen with his own eyes that he became convinced and enthusiastic about bike trials and told Pere Pi (then still Pedro Pi) about it in Barcelona in 1979 (see ‘Felix Krahnstöver and Pere Pi’).

The news of German bike trials (see there) had two significant effects on the further development of bike trials as a whole: on the one hand, Pere Pi now recognized the potential of bike trials, so that he devoted himself to this still young sport (see Pere Pi makes bike trials HIS business). On the other hand, at that time – when no events older than Bad Nauheim 1974 were known – he was tempted to present himself as the inventor of bike trials. This led to his attempt to claim the origins of bike trials entirely for Spain (or Catalonia) and rename it “Trialsin” (see “I got to know Pere Pi”). Today, Pere Pi wants nothing more to do with any of this, but given his important role in the development of bike trials, the fact that Pere Pi fooled the entire trials scene and distorted the historical image of bike trials for decades is just as much a part of the history of bike trials as his contributions to the sport.

After more than fifty years, the 1974 bike trial in Bad Nauheim has proven to be the oldest event that has a direct link to today's bike trials. The significance of this event also stems from the fact that it was deliberately organized to launch and promote bike trials. Finally, it also forms the backdrop to the developments outlined above. This first cycle trial in Bad Nauheim on May 25, 1974, is now presented in detail here.

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When driving past Bad Nauheim on the busy north-south A 5 motorway (Frankfurt-Kassel), you can get a rough impression of the location of this 1974 event at a glance. You can see the apple tree meadow with the Frauenwald forest in the background, which is why I have included the following photo.

The photo was taken from a concrete farm road that crosses the A5 about 800 m north of exit 14/Ober Mörlen (this is the former Bad Nauheim exit, whose name was later assigned to the current exit 13) in a southerly direction. The Ober Mörlen exit is clearly visible thanks to the red car driving up it. When driving past Bad Nauheim on the highway, there are several opportunities to catch a glimpse of the large apple orchard with the Frauenwald forest in the background between the aforementioned farm road bridge over the highway and the “Wetterau” rest stop, which is located on the other side of the valley at the top of the hill (at the top right of the photo, outside the frame).

I have marked the event site on the left side of the photo. Sections 1-4 were relatively close together on the left side of the Frauenwald forest, although sections 1-3 – and also the Kirchner Hut – are already outside the edge of the picture. That is why I have only marked section 4 at the edge of the forest with a small dot, as well as section 5 at the right end of the oval, which was a little further away from the other sections near the Eichberg Hut. The edge of the forest and the adjacent apple tree meadow are a very idyllic place with a wide view – you will recognize the apple orchard in the photos below. It also appears in Desmond Lee's video “Leaps & Bounds – The Story of Bike Trial,” because he too was captivated by the atmosphere of this exceptionally beautiful spot when I was there with him in 2004 (it's been that long already ...!).

(I described the background to the first bike trial on the previous page.) After I got the green light from the Bad Nauheim City Youth Council, the bike trial had to take place as soon as possible. Of course, it had to be organized first. I thought five weeks would be enough, even though my parents thought it might be a bit tight in case something came up. I chose May 25 as the date—it was a Saturday because I was concerned that some children or young people might not get permission from their parents to take part in the event on a Sunday.

It was clear that the things that required some lead time had to be taken care of first – first and foremost, the approval of the forestry office. The city youth council was already on board; otherwise: no fires, no smoking, no littering, liability for damage caused by the event. This was assured and signed, and with that, the approval was settled and worked out to the satisfaction of both parties. I ordered the barrier tape from MSC Fränkische Schweiz, which I had read about in FAHRERLAGER in March ¹ – actually a stroke of luck. It should not be forgotten that neither hardware stores nor plastic tape were widely available at that time. ² So the taping problem was solved. The Johanniter-Unfallhilfe also agreed and noted down the details – one of the two paramedics can be seen in my original photo No. 8 from 1974 below. The carpenter cut ten wooden panels out of plywood for me, and then I painted the A and E signs with oil paint. They were yellow with black lettering – because that's how I had seen them at the German championship-round in Mauer.

Now it was time to make the advertising poster for the trial. The Bad Nauheim city youth council had single-color background posters in green, red, yellow, and purple, onto which the DIN A4-size event posters were then glued. The background poster was probably DIN C3 format, i.e., 324×458 mm—at least that would fit in terms of size. In the 1970s, Letraset rub-on letters were popular. The bike on the poster was created with two “o”s and a “v,” the rider's body could have been part of a (rotated) question mark, and the handlebars consist of quotation marks. This is what gave the poster its somewhat strange appearance.

 

The late start time was due to the fact that school was still in session on Saturdays at that time, and the children needed enough time to ride home after school, have lunch, and then get to Frauenwald on their bikes. I also needed enough time to set up, because I always marked out the sections on the day of the event. In return, I got the Saturday off from school! However, setting up was much quicker than it is today because there were only two classes, whose tracks were still very manageable. In my head, the sections had long since been finalized. Under these circumstances, 2:30 p.m. was definitely a suitable start time.

The age restrictions reflect a certain degree of inexperience and uncertainty during the first trial. On the one hand, younger children should not be overwhelmed and cause potential issues – hence the minimum age of 12 (see also “Memories” below). The maximum age of 18 was intended to prevent adults from dominating the event and spoiling the fun for children and young people. At the second trial in September 1974, the maximum age for participants was initially dropped, and at the third trial in May 1975, the minimum age was also dropped.

The emphasis on the “fitness trail” (Trimm-Pfad) reflects the 1970s, when fitness trails were new and very popular. Today, the Kirchner Hut would be mentioned first, with the fitness trail mentioned only in passing, if at all.

I always copied a hundred posters, which were then stuck onto the large, colorful background posters, giving them much greater prominence. I found a photo showing a purple background poster at the 11th bicycle trial in November 1978, which is hanging here at the start and finish in front of my old VW bus. At the first bicycle trial, the background color of the poster had been green. The SJR emblem is in the upper left corner, Stadtjugendring is in the upper right corner, and Bad Nauheim is below it. Putting up posters in Bad Nauheim, Nieder Mörlen, Ober Mörlen, Steinfurth, Wisselsheim, Rödgen, and Schwalheim—in schools, shops, on lampposts, fences, and trees—was always a lot of work, which I started about two to one and a half weeks before the event. Over time, I got to know my lampposts and other places where posters were clearly visible and stayed up, or were torn down, as well as the shops where posters were welcome or unwelcome on their front doors.

It became routine—and given the ancient posters that often got in the way when putting up new ones, I always made it my mission to take down all the posters from my bike trials after the event. Once, I happened to meet Harry Golemba (1936–2009), a character I had read about in MOTORRAD magazine. “Poster Harry” traveled all over Hesse on his moped with a trailer, putting up posters for motocross and track racing events.

I got a valuable tip from the Stadtjugendring (City Youth Council): in Bad Nauheim, there was a tire company called Vergölst, from which the Stadtjugendring received large yellow advertising banners for events, as well as arrows for signage. The large banners are among the things I unfortunately never photographed—I just never had the time on the day of the event. Of course, I had to return the banners to the Vergölst factory after the trial (I was allowed to keep the arrows). The banners measured about 60 x 200 cm and immediately created a “racing atmosphere” – as did the yellow Vergölst caps, which the participants enjoyed wearing and which also added to the atmosphere. They can be seen in all the photos. The large banners were not usually hung at the sections, but served as eye-catchers at the meeting point mentioned on the posters, from where the actual terrain was signposted. At the first trial in 1974, these Vergölst banners hung near the Kirchner Hut between trees at the entrance to the small path (there are many paths leading in all directions from the Kirchner Hut) that led to the trial grounds. Today, after tree felling and the resulting increase in sunlight, this slightly curved path has completely disappeared under blackberry bushes – I have marked it with a dotted line on the following map of the event site, even though it is practically no longer there.

The large path that winds its way across the map above is known as the “forest tour” (until the early 1970s, horse-drawn carriages used to drive here, waiting for customers on Bad Nauheim's Kurstraße), which runs through the entire Frauenwald forest and is used by the forestry administration as a work route. All other paths marked on the map are footpaths. The forest is almost entirely deciduous, with conifers only in a few places. This is the case on the event site, where sections 1-4 were located – perhaps the stony ground – the hollows there were once a quarry – is not suitable for deciduous trees. In 1974, the entire area around the start and finish and sections 1-3 was a fir forest, which was correspondingly dark and had no disturbing undergrowth apart from the branches of the fir trees. The photo below, taken in 1974, captures the atmosphere quite well. Today, there are only a few fir trees left and everything is overgrown with dense undergrowth. The path from section 2 to section 3, which used to be completely clear, is now a jungle. The best way to find section 3 is from the path below, where it is not overgrown. A single rock – a cuboid – which I have marked on the map, is a good landmark.

On the tenth anniversary of the bike trial in 1984, the rock was included as an uphill step and was mastered clean, at least by Hansjörg Rey. The rock would also have been included in section 3 in 1974 – at that time, of course, not to be ridden over, but as a natural boundary to a track running along the slope above. However, Kurt Wagner, the vice-chairman of the Stadtjugendring (City Youth Council), who approved the sections for safety reasons, thought this was too dangerous, so I rearranged section 3 as it was then ridden. This actually improved the section and made it more appealing with its turn on the opposite slope. The turn wasn't really difficult. But the participants were all riding their very first trial on normal bikes! The first section right at the start and finish had also been criticized by the vice-chairman as too risky: he would have just about accepted the descent there, but the nearby trees were too much for him. This point was remedied by the change, but the section became even more difficult due to an exit in the modified version that was not “without”. The class without gear shifts was given a detour here.

This Section 1 reminds me that even today (2025), children and young people have discovered the hollows for themselves. There are a few harmless MTB trails on the site—one leads through what was then Section 1 and then passes Section 4 from 1974 on the right until it reaches the apple tree meadow.

Before I post eight original photos from the trial on May 25, 1974, a few preliminary remarks. The Stadtjugendring (City Youth Council) had a budget for events, so I had no expenses and participation was free of charge. At the first trials, there were prizes donated by shops in Bad Nauheim. Index cards served as scorecards, on which I had entered all five laps with the sections. After each round, the cards were of course presented at the start and finish to add up the round points and write them on the round board. This round “board” was initially a simple large cardboard box taken from the supermarket's waste paper – later I made one myself with a wooden board covered with paper and posts. The penalty points were entered on the scorecards by the observers using felt-tip pens in different colors. During the trials, my sister always took care of the start and finish – on May 25, 1974, an old wooden table and a wooden chair from the Bad Nauheim city youth center were set up in the fir forest for this purpose.

As I already mentioned, there were five rounds with five sections, i.e. 25 sections. Of course, I had to explain to the 30 participants – and also to the observers! – who were classmates and people from my neighborhood – exactly what it was all about: that time didn't matter, that only the sections were scored, that only three feet were counted, and that under no circumstances were you allowed to stop “with your foot” because that would result in five penalty points, that only the most serious mistake counted and you couldn't get more than 5 penalty points, that the riders should look at the sections beforehand, and that only one rider was allowed to ride through the section at a time. Any questions? So, break a leg – now we could finally get started! The weather for the premiere on May 25, 1974, couldn't have been better – it was sunny and pleasantly warm.

Looking back today, I have to say that the requirements for complete beginners – and on normal bikes – were incredibly high. In the first lap, there were lots of fives everywhere, and in the last laps, the remaining participants usually only had a fraction of the points they had in the first lap. The easiest section was section 2, which involved a few roots on a slight uphill and downhill stretch with turns, and the most difficult was section 4, where you had to ride down a steep embankment in a tight turn around a tree – there is a photo of the spot below. I can't say today whether this section was completed with zero points – I only remember that there was a broken fork there! – The whole thing times five, because I knew from the FAHRERLAGER that this was common practice in motorcycle trials. Today at the Hessencup, we have 3×5 sections!

Here are the original photos—photographers and experts have done their utmost to use today's technology to get the best out of the underexposed images from my Kodak Instamatic! Below, I have included the same locations in 2025—this allows for a direct comparison, which is very interesting after more than 50 years.

Finally, here is the press report from the WETTERAUER ZEITUNG a few days after the trial, written by Kurt Wagner from the Stadtjugendring (City Youth Council). Of course, it referred to it as a “trail” – which seems obvious somehow. Of course, it wasn't a ‘race’ either, and the “e” was forgotten in Harald Erbe's name. Otherwise, it was a nice article.

Memories

I was able to track down Markus Schlosser from Schwalheim (near Bad Nauheim), who won the first trial on May 25, 1974, in the class without gear shift with 70 penalty points and participated in at least two more Bad Nauheim trials in 1976, in Berlin in 2007. He then wrote to me with his memories of the trial, which took place 33 years ago:

"... During those years, thanks to my parents' good upbringing (smile, just kidding), I often took part in events organized by the Stadtjugendring (City Youth Council). That's how I found out about the trial. Since we spent a lot of time tinkering with bikes and riding them, we went there with friends, but we didn't really have any idea what was going to happen. (...) Once we got there, everything looked pretty exciting ... and I wanted to sign up, but then I found out that there was a minimum age requirement for participation (...) Since I was born on September 26, 1963, I was definitely too young. Well, so I had to lie a little, made myself a bit older and was allowed to participate ... luckily, no one noticed. (I would add: no one wanted to notice either)

I came only with a friend, as we were actually only there by chance, without any preparation. I remember that all the helpers were extremely friendly. We were given tips during the “inspection,” perhaps a few more for me, as I was the smallest, I don't know. I remember the course as challenging but fair... and quite varied. (...) I started with a reddish 24“ women's bike. It was my sister's old bike; she was two years older than me and ”passed" it on to me. (...)

Since I was clearly the youngest, I didn't think I stood a chance against the older riders (...). But somehow, my skill paid off quite well. I remember tree trunks, tight turns on hills with fairly steep slopes (...), a few zeroes, but here and there I put my foot down or got off (but not very often). (...)

The award ceremony was, of course, the best part... I was the youngest (which I didn't reveal, because I was afraid of being disqualified) (...) And then I came home and my mother was incredibly proud (not because of the cheating, but because of my success). (...)

I can't say anything about today's trials, as I've never had any contact with them. The great thing back then was that you didn't have to be a freak with a high-tech bike; you could just go there and achieve a good result with a little skill. But times are changing, I guess."

More than 50 years later

Can you remember sections for over half a century? Yes and no. As far as the organizational details are concerned, I had already written down the most important things back then. The five sections of my first trial naturally made a particular impression on me, so that I could still mark them out today if—yes, if—the conditions were still the same. But distinctive trees have disappeared, they have been sawn down or have rotted away, and you can still see the stumps of some of them – perhaps. On the other hand, trees that did not exist in 1974 or that were not noticed as small, thin sticks have now grown into large, thick trees. The topography near Section 5 has also changed: the opposite slope from which I took Photo 8 no longer exists, so this perspective from above is no longer possible today.

In section 1, I still remember the exact course of my originally planned section, but I can no longer say where exactly the difficult ascent of the modified variant (see photo 1) was located. The location of section 2 has changed so much that nothing is recognizable there anymore, even though I remember the course of the section well. In section 3, the vegetation has changed dramatically – the former fir trees have largely disappeared and the few small deciduous trees there have now grown into large, stately trees. The much lighter appearance today is therefore completely different, but the course of the section is clear here. I was also able to identify the key location in Section 4 exactly – I will discuss this in more detail below, because it is interesting to take these trips back in time and see how much everything is constantly changing. The entire Frauenwald forest is fifty years older than it used to be, and this is clearly visible if you know it from the past! The same applies to the apple tree meadow, whose continued existence seems to be a recent concern.

I am adding a few recent pictures (from March 2025 and three additional ones from April 2014). In March 2025, unlike at the end of May when the trial took place in 1974, there were no leaves on the trees yet. Also, the framing and perspective are not completely identical to the old photos in some places. But I tried my best.