The canton of Aargau is a special part of Switzerland. A mountain bike race has been held in Gränichen for over 30 years. Afterwards, the organizers have to rebuild the route. Riding single trails is not allowed. Nevertheless, an educational bike trail allows part of the race route to remain open all year round. Gränichen is also home to a regional Swiss Cycling training base and the Racing Club, which is also very active and organizes rides with children. J+S and Pro Senectute bike instructors receive training there.

The man behind all this is Beat Stirnemann. His children Kathrin and Matthias both became world-class bikers, and Florian Vogel, Esterh Süess and Joel Roth also trained with him early on. He was a junior and elite national coach. In a sport that can hardly be practiced legally in the canton of Aargau. Stirnemann is still committed to supporting young talent today: "I ride training laps with children and young people and could get a fine every time," he says, describing his situation.

Of course, it was like many other places: there are still bikes and with every road that is made impassable, at least one new one is created. The situation escalated in 2018 and Stirnemann began to look for a solution with the affected municipalities, hunting associations, forest owners, nature conservation associations, the canton and other stakeholders.

Opened, but not yet finished

Six years later, in June 2024, those responsible will celebrate the opening of the trail network in the lower Wynen and Suhrental valleys. A connected route has been realized by then, a Facebook reel shows how it rides. More than twenty other blue lines can be seen on the Map, representing approved bike trails. Stirnemann points out that these are by no means just trails: "They include everything from real single trails to forest roads suitable for trucks." The canton says that two thirds of the marked trails are already in use, are now legal and can therefore continue to be used.

Comparing the blue lines with the Swisstopo map shows that half of them are probably not natural single trails. Conversely, this means that the other half should actually be fun. It is also noticeable that there are many short sections, but few connected ones. Stirnemann hopes to be able to create one or two connections so that it will be possible to ride smooth trail laps. 

Marcel Murri, Head of Forest Conservation at the Canton of Aargau, emphasizes that the canton has worked hard to find a solution in the six affected municipalities. "We have invested a total of one person-year of working time to mediate between the municipalities and the other players and to accompany the approval procedures." The motto was partnership and equality. The network as it now stands is the result of six years of negotiations between the various parties involved.

Building and maintaining the trails is the job of the bikers

Building and maintaining the trails is the job of the mountain bikers involved, which is essentially the job of Beat Stirnemann and his few colleagues. "If I had the people, we could open more tomorrow." He emphasizes that no major work is needed, just a bit of shape work." Next, the construction group will tackle the approach from Rütihof to the long-established "Böhler Trail". "As the bikers are now concentrating on fewer trails, wear and tear will increase. We have to do something to ensure that the trail can withstand this." Only manual work is permitted. Gravel or other non-local material may not be used. Music to the ears of friends of natural trails.

The municipalities are not involved in the construction. Instead, they are active in shutting down illegal trails. "Steering only works, however, if the forbidden is first replaced by something attractive," Beat Stirnemann reminds us of a connection that forms the basis of many steering projects in Switzerland and elsewhere.

This leaves him and a group of volunteers to connect the sections of trail strewn across the map like paper snakes to form a network in which the forest roads are mainly used for uphill pedalling and which consists mainly of single trails downhill. Before they press a shovel into the ground, they also have to agree with the local forester on what exactly will be built. "The foresters represent the forest owners," explains Marcel Murri.

Where the work costs money, Beat Stirnemann has to find the funds himself. So far, the Racing Club has paid for it. There is nothing from the municipalities. Considering everything Stirnemann has achieved over the past three decades, there is no need to worry that this project could fail. At most, it will move forward a little more slowly.