According to the district forester responsible, the main sticking point proved to be the ridge path at the top of the Blauen, which is already heavily used by hikers. Additional use by bikers was simply not an option, especially as the law only allows bikes on paved paths - a law that is nota bene older than the sport of biking. The Blauen ridgeway is currently the bone of contention in the preparation of forest development plans on the Blauen. In particular, the "Vereinigung Wanderwege beider Basel" (Hiking Trail Association of Basel) is calling for a complete ban on biking on the ridge path, which has been popular with bikers up to now. Against the backdrop of this dispute, the authorities were apparently not even prepared to make the ridge path accessible for a single Sunday by means of a special permit.

Not the first Basel prank on the shield
Move wishes the local authorities lots of fun in advance trying to enforce the driving ban on the ridge path on the Blauen. As far as we know, the police forces of the two Basel cantons do not have any spare capacity either. Incidentally, the tragedy surrounding the "Blauen Bike Race" is by no means the first case in which the Basel area has presented itself as a particularly nasty environment for bikers: With arbitrary rules such as the ban on biking on paths less than 2.30 meters wide in the Riehen municipal area, those responsible in this region have already caused head-shaking among bikers on more than one occasion. It seems that the authorities in both Basel are only prepared to adopt less restrictive solutions under pressure from the media - as Jakob Weber has already proven on several occasions with his "Gempen Initiative".