The pattern that bicycle trials, modeled on motorcycle trials, emerged where motorcycle trials were new also applied to Germany. Enthusiasm for the new sport spread among trial clubs and trial events to children and young people, who, unable to ride motorcycles, simply did what they had seen on bicycles. Motorcycle trials were new in Germany around 1960 – that was the year the German Trials Championship was introduced. The same was true in the 1970s, when trials experienced a tremendous upswing and rapid expansion, leading to its rediscovery in many places. The cases of early bicycle trials in Germany up to 1974 (Ebstorf, Kiefersfelden, Moosen, Schatthausen, Röhrnbach) that are known to date and can be read about on this page date from this period. Almost always, the best and most motivated of the early bicycle trialists switched to motorcycle trials as soon as the opportunity arose. As a result, the early bicycle trial activities soon came to an end and fell into oblivion.
It was different in Bad Nauheim. The bicycle trial, which I organized for the first time on May 25, 1974, as a 15-year-old (Gernot Menke, born August 19, 1958) (see “Bad Nauheim (1974-1988)”), was not forgotten due to the circumstances described below, but became the starting point for the current development of bicycle trials in Germany. The German development, in turn, had an important influence on Catalonia/Spain, where bicycle trials had also emerged at almost the same time, and also on the development of bicycle trials worldwide – see the three chapters “Felix Krahnstöver and Pere Pi,” “The news from the German bicycle trial,” and “Pere Pi makes bicycle trials HIS business.”
The bike trial in Bad Nauheim was unusual in that there was nothing in Bad Nauheim that had anything to do with trials. The trial was inspired by a book: “Sport mit Motorrädern” (Sport with Motorcycles) by Crius, alias Christian Christophe. Canadian Desmond Lee already reported on this in his video “Leaps&Bounds – The Story of BikeTrial” (2006). I was convinced that trials with bicycles was possible and sensible, and assumed that bicycle trials had been unjustly “overlooked” because cycling was unfamiliar with trials and motorcycle trials clubs had no interest in bicycles. It annoyed me that there were skill competitions such as the ADAC's “Master on Two Wheels,” but not the much more interesting bicycle trials. That's why I organized my first bicycle trial in Bad Nauheim on May 25, 1974, as a deliberate demonstration of bicycle trials. Accordingly, I reported on it from the very beginning and promoted bicycle trials, first in the former DTSG (German Trialsport Association) newsletter FAHRERLAGER, and later in the magazine TRIALSPORT, which was founded in 1976 by German motorcycle trials champion Felix Krahnstöver (and still exists today).
As is often the case in life, however, it was personal encounters that had the greatest influence on the further development of bicycle trials. On August 21, 1976, I happened to meet Günter Schlieper (1935-2016) at a German Motorcycle Trials Championship round in Bad Sooden-Allendorf. He was introduced to me as the chairman of the German Trialsport Community (DTSG) and was also the chairman of the “Weser-Solling” motorsports club in Fürstenhagen. So, at the edge of a section, I told him that my sixth bicycle trial in Bad Nauheim two weeks earlier had once again been a complete success and that more than fifty participants had taken part in a previous trial. He listened to me in silence, and I could see that he was surprised and impressed. A few weeks later, I read in TRIALSPORT that the MSC Weser-Solling in Fürstenhagen wanted to hold a cup competition for bicycles the following year. That was the beginning of the “Velo-Trial Cup” (VTP) in Fürstenhagen in 1977.
At the Velo Trial Cup, which was a regional competition in the Fürstenhagen area in its first two years, personal contacts once again proved to be significant. Günter Schlieper was well acquainted with Felix Krahnstöver, who often came to Fürstenhagen, where rounds for the North German Trial Cup (NTP) or the German Trial Championship were regularly held. In addition, as German champion, Krahnstöver always held the trial training course of the German Trial Sports Community (DTSG) on the Fürstenhagen grounds at the end of the season. Günter Schlieper took advantage of Felix Krahnstöver's presence at the DTSG training course and held the final award ceremony for the Velo Trial Cup at the same time, so that the children and young people could receive their trophies from the German champion himself. In the fall of 1978, Felix Krahnstöver was shown a short demonstration film about bicycle trials, which the Fürstenhageners had made in order to promote bicycle trials to other clubs. He also saw a trial demonstration by the Fürstenhagen boys with their bicycles on the grounds. Felix Krahnstöver, who, like many others, had paid little attention to bicycle trials until then, was surprised and enthusiastic and wrote an enthusiastic editorial about bicycle trials in the December issue of TRIALSPORT.
