Radioactive Lines: Biking in a Nuclear Power Plant

As mountain bikers we are magically drawn to exotic places. We spend hours studying maps to find places off the beaten path. Constantly on the hunt for new bike regions. To get a taste of this sought after pioneer feeling. The crew of the Austrian mountain bike magazine LINES just took this hunt a giant leap further. Teaming up with three upcoming riders they set out to discover the bikeable inwards of a nuclear power plant.


What’s the most unusual place to ride a mountain bike at? Once we asked this question, there was no turning back. We had to figure it out. A few liquid brainstorming sessions later we found ourselves in front of a gigantic concrete bloc. Nuclear power plant Zwentendorf, Austria. Dirtjump pro Eric Walenta, Enduro talent Daniel Schemmel and the Austrian version of 'Ratboy' Bryceland – Alex Kurz – gave us company in starring at this humongous cuboid. None of them was hard to convince to join us. No one wanted to miss out on this once in a lifetime experience.



A nuclear power plant is not a bikepark. That’s something that had to be said. Endless kilometres of cables, thousands of pipes, semi-floors and railings way too narrow for a decent sized handlebar. The biggest challenge of all - 1000 rooms. Just going for a quick pee became a major navigation task – and sometimes almost a survival challenge. Some corners looked liked as if “somebody had just died”, as our photographer put it. Creepy feelings didn’t get to the brains of our bike-trio, who were eager to get their bikes ready and shred this thing.





Sure, some places looked sinister as hell. Thanks to loads of Cold War movies, a radiation protection suit gets fantasy going – you have no idea. But it’s more like a goose bump feeling. What was seriously hard on our nerves, was the condensation chamber. A huge bowl made of dark, thick steel. Pure hell, when you are a photographer and trying to get a flash signal through the room. Even oral communication over the distance of a mere meters became a puzzle. On the other hand, there are real beautiful locations, leaving you in joy and awe. The control room, for example. Taken right out of an old James Bond movie. Cubic computer displays. Rotary-dial phones. A feeling of relief comes upon us, as we grasp that thankfully this technique never ever controlled nuclear powered water cooking.








The safest nuclear power plant on earth. Zwentendorf has sincerely earned this title. It’s never been taken into service. Due to a rather absurd situation, it became Austria’s biggest investment ruin: after finishing the building process, it was left to the people of Austria to decide whether the power station was turned on or left turned off. Less than one percent of the votes hindered activation of the nuclear fuel rods. It was still the same year that nuclear power was prohibited by law in Austria. Until 1985 Zwentendorf was maintained for possible service. Since 2009 the new owner EVN uses the building as a test area for solar power and offers guided tours for the public.








Nothing is safe from Eric’s Dirtjump bike. Turbine housings, loading ramps and smokestacks are embellished with wallrides, barspins and foot jams. Same for Enduro rising star Daniel - there is barely a corner he doesn’t leave a tire mark. Not even sets of stairs and locks can stop him from going to a place you should definitely avoid in a running nuclear power plant: the control rod drive room. Only Alex has a hard time. The environment is not exactly downhill rig friendly. Sometimes it looks more like the inside of a submarine than an industrial building. But 'Shorty' is a man with a plan. He heads directly for the reactor. Plant manager Franz is glad to give a hand and starts the gigantic underslung crane. 125-ton-crane for a 0.016 ton downhill bike. Drifting inside a nuclear reactor – that’s not something everybody can put down in his CV.



The entire story, printed in black/white with a neon color, and a whole lot more is available in LINES Issue #2. It will be released this weekend on the course of Vienna Air King and is available here: www.lines-mag.at

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