The wake-up call came from the canton - or more precisely, from the Department of Construction and Environment: with the revision of the Forest Act, the canton wants to strengthen enforcement, i.e. take tougher action if someone disposes of waste in the forest, parks machinery or rides a mountain bike on unofficial paths. To this end, forestry officials are to be authorized and trained to issue fines. This is not good news for mountain bikers who ride in the gray area of single trails in the canton of Thurgau.

With a little help from Biketrails Ostschweiz, dedicated bikers formed the IG Mountainbike Thurgau. Its president Silvio Crameri explains: "Some people have realized that we have to do something now, otherwise there will be no more relaxed biking on our beautiful trails." With a membership fee of five francs, the association deliberately keeps the threshold low. Just a few weeks after it was founded, it already has 350 members. As a sign of goodwill and a willingness to compromise, they undertake to observe a code that prohibits the creation of new trails, for example.

A consultation on the revision of the Forest Act has been underway since February and the public can comment on it. Following preliminary discussions, IG Mountainbike Thurgau has submitted its ideas to the cantonal government. "We have communicated that we do not want to accept only being allowed to ride on forest roads. In our view, the ideal solution would be for the canton to allow cycling on hiking trails."

The mountain bikers are hoping for a compromise

The deadline for submitting proposals is 2 May. Silvio Crameri assumes that talks with various groups will then begin. "I think that because we can show how many people are behind us, there will be a compromise. Maybe we can define which trails we can ride and which we have to do without."

And if the Department of Building and Environment gets its way with its proposal? "I think people who have been riding trails in the canton for decades will continue to do so. But we'll be doing it with the bad feeling that we're doing something forbidden."

The examples of other cantons show that if mountain bikers organize themselves and approach the authorities as a reliable partner willing to compromise, then solutions can be found. And there are also some examples that show that a blanket ban does not have the desired effect. The Thurgau forest police would probably have quite a lot to do.