The "Stoffel Trail" rides from a hill of this name down to Bliggenswil near Bauma. Mountain bikers use it just as much as pedestrians. But suddenly there were wooden barriers forcing cyclists to descend. The perfect flow killers.

Who had installed them? And what for? The board of the Züri Oberland Biketrails association was in the dark. "None of the municipalities in question knew anything about it," can be read on the association's website. Only after more in-depth research did it emerge that the cantonal civil engineering office had the wooden barriers built at the request of the local managers of the Zurich hiking trails.

However, they had no intention of preventing mountain biking on this trail. The association's board also found this out. The aim was merely to reduce the speed of bikers in certain places. "The main bone of contention: just before Bliggenswil, it had become common practice to take a shortcut across a meadow instead of staying on the path. To the displeasure of the landowner," explains the report.

Someone had already resorted to self-help and torn the wooden structure out of the ground. A solution had to be found before the affair escalated. Within a few days, campaigners from Züri Oberland Biketrails had an appointment with representatives from the civil engineering office and the Zurich hiking trails.

Constructive cooperation with Zurich hiking trails and civil engineering office

A few days later, bikers, hikers and civil engineering officials walked the trail together. "The whole thing took place in an extremely cooperative manner - there was absolutely no sign of the much-publicized conflict between bikers and hikers," describe the bikers.

A week later, the civil engineering office had implemented the solution that had been discussed: The braking chicanes can be passed without any problems, even with wide handlebars. Tree trunks on the side of the path make it impossible to take a shortcut.

The Züri Oberland Biketrails association warns on its website: "Tearing out obstacles and throwing them into the forest is not an option." It would be much more effective to talk to all those involved. "In this case, there was absolutely no sign of hostility towards bikes on the part of the authorities involved - on the contrary!"

The situation is completely different in the municipality of Rüti. Some landowners there are opposed to the creation of an official route and are instead demanding that bikers who ride on trails they have created themselves be fined. The situation is so deadlocked that it is pointless at the moment to invest any more energy in finding a solution, say the bikers of the Zurich Oberland. Cooperation is only possible if all sides join in.