After half an hour, I massage the back of Fanie Kok's neck. I can't remember who is kneading my neck muscles at the same time. Before that, the group had already been doing yoga exercises, led by Dave Spielmann, the former head instructor of the Swiss Bike Guides, who now works for the Lenzerheide region.

Where did I end up? At the InnHub PopUp in La Punt, where they are working on the future of the cycling ecosystem in Graubünden. graubündenBike brings together industry professionals from tourism, trail building, marketing, events, science and others who have a professional interest in advancing cycling. The interest of the majority of attendees is mountain biking, which is easy to see from their appearance. However, graubündenBike 2023-2026 is explicitly about the bicycle in its entirety, about all types of bikes, about tourism and local recreation, about leisure and everyday life, about sport and transportation.

graubündenBike 1.0: "Home of Trails" comes of age

A flashback is necessary here: according to all ten or so people interviewed for this report, graubündenBike 2010-2015 established mountain biking as a central element of summer tourism in the canton of Graubünden and anchored knowledge about almost all important aspects. The knowledge about the nature of mountain bikers, their needs, preferences and purchasing power, which was already available but concentrated in a few minds, was made widely accessible. The same applied to the planning, approval, construction and maintenance of mountain bike trails and dual-use trails. Simple but effective things like the warning pennants on pasture fences are a result of the first cycle of. 

Before that, some destinations drove the development forward. They formed islands with trails, transportation, offers and a lot of knowledge about mountain bikers. In between, there was little to nothing. graubündenBike ensured that the entire canton became a playground where mountain bikers could get around efficiently.

The first cycle should be called graubündenBike 1.0. The distinction between 1.0 and 2.0 fits quite well in this context. Version 1.0 was a project of the cantonal civil engineering office and its specialist department for non-motorized traffic under the direction of Peter Stirnimann. The canton entrusted the management of the project to the company Allegra and its founder Darco Cazin. The latter coined the metaphor that before graubündenBike, knowledge about mountain biking was concentrated in so few people that they could have been kidnapped in a minibus. And then all the knowledge would have been gone. 

As a result of the program, the current state of knowledge is available to anyone who needs it. There is an online handbook that deals with the nature of mountain biking, trail construction and maintenance, signposting, liability issues, bike hotels, guide training, offer development and even quality features of target group-oriented image material.

graubündenBike 2.0: growth downwards and across the board

Finally, Graubünden Bike 2.0 was launched in 2023 and will run until 2026. Back in the operational lead: Darco Cazin and his company Allegra. The canton is providing 2.5 million francs in NRP funds. A large proportion of this will be used for projects developed as part of the workshops.

Because there are now a large number of people in the canton of Graubünden with knowledge and experience of mountain bike infrastructure, offers, marketing and much more, graubündenBike 2.0 is no longer led by a handful of pioneers. Today, the 40 to 60 participants at the meetings, which take place every three months, decide for themselves which topics they want to discuss and what projects they want to develop from them. graubündenBike is no longer managed by a "central office", but is the result of the sum of what those present are committed to. The first cycle was "top-down", the current one is "bottom-up".

Darco Cazin clarifies: "The statement 'One should once ...' no longer counts today. If someone wants to develop something new or solve a problem, they have to convince enough other people in the system to join in and then drive the project forward themselves." There is also something brutal about that. Because if nobody wants to get involved in a topic apart from the person who raised it, the topic is off the table the same day.

In this way, a range of projects have been launched, from frequency measurement to a book project, from issues relating to reservation systems for Postbuses to a series of events aimed at attracting women to cycling.

An overview of the graubündenBike 2.0 projects that have been launched or completed by the halfway point shows the range of ways in which cycling is being promoted: Analysis on biking baby boomers, measurement of the economic impact of mountain biking, input on the reservation obligation in post buses, canton-wide frequency measurement and consolidation of existing measurement activities, update and expansion of the Graubünden route network across all cycling disciplines, Offers for beginners and children, training for trail maintenance managers, courses for professionals, a series of events to attract women to cycling, a project that aims to connect the various cycling communities - a book about Graubünden's cycling culture and protagonists, Flem Gravel & Coffee - a gravel event organized by the Gehrig Twins in Flims, which already existed before graubündenBike's support.

Between diversity and fragmentation

Anyone can propose an idea. If there are enough muckrakers and the project does not violate certain basic rules, there will be money from the graubündenBike pot. That sounds like arbitrariness and carries the risk of getting bogged down. Darco Cazin disagrees: "The collective is better able to assess what is relevant than individuals." He himself moderates the workshops and the program and ensures that the principles of graubündenBike and governance are adhered to. The rules that apply to the allocation of NRP funds are also crucial: no construction of infrastructure, no pure marketing, only start-up funding. What is started with money from graubündenBike must later finance itself. In addition, a steering group checks that the projects meet the canton's objectives. This includes representatives from the AWT, the non-motorized traffic department and Graubünden Ferien.

"The risk is that the strategic focus is lost," says Jan Steiner, head of Engadin Tourism. Nevertheless, he is convinced that the broad expertise brought together by the many participants is an asset for Graubünden.

The question is also whether the workshop participants are not taking on too much if they want to get children, women and senior citizens on bikes, improve leisure and everyday routes, measure movement throughout the canton, train experts and realize media productions on the side. The distribution of tasks among many heads is a benefit here. graubündenBike does not even have to delegate tasks if those carrying them out set their own tasks.

However, this leads directly to the fundamental criticism that graubündenBike 2.0 may implement many small projects, but will not produce a big hit like version 1.0 did. And even more, that Graubünden 2.0 has no vision at all, while other areas all around are working flat out to expand their mountain bike offers.

There is definitely a vision for the future of graubündenBIKE. Bicycles must be given a greater role in everyday life and leisure activities, and non-motorized traffic must be promoted. The project description states that Graubünden should become an "alternative living space". There is a strategic goal, but it is formulated in very general terms.

A big shot or a broader basis?

The criticism of graubündenBike comes from people who focus on mountain biking. For them, the role of Graubünden as Europe's leading mountain bike region is at stake. Pascal Krieger, until recently brand manager of Bike Kingdom Lenzerheide, argues historically: "When Henry Ford asked the farmers what they needed to be able to work better, they said: 'stronger horses'. They didn't know the tractor and couldn't imagine it." The same applies to those implementing the sub-projects of graubündenBike 2.0: "Nobody has a vision for the big picture that is needed to take the next big step." It's better to invest a million francs in 1000 small projects than in one big one that will benefit everyone.

Marc Schlüssel, Managing Director of the Lenzerheide tourism organization, sees graubündenBike 2.0 as a solid foundation, but also as untapped potential: "With the further development of routes, accessibility and the focus on slow traffic, graubündenBike is doing key groundwork that will sustainably strengthen mountain bike tourism in the canton. In order to secure this leading role in the long term - and further expand it internationally - visionary lighthouse projects are now also needed. I'm thinking of an innovation and competence center that brings together business, research, start-ups and events related to biking and cycling in one place. This could create a real "Silicon Valley" of mountain biking in Graubünden - a creative ecosystem that generates new technologies, products and formats and attracts the global bike industry. The conditions are there: topography, infrastructure, know-how and a lot of passion. I am convinced that now is the time to take this next step." 

The criticism of graubündenBike 2.0 is not just from visionaries about the work of realists. Behind the criticism are people who want to be leaders in a narrowly defined market segment - mountain bike tourism. Pascal Krieger puts it in a nutshell: a large group that meets every three months will not deliver the big hit. "It won't work with 50 people. A handful of capable people have to work on it full-time." Perhaps the Leader destinations in Graubünden are now strong enough in this market to make the next big leap without subsidies and workshops sponsored by the canton.
 

Analysis of the situation in Graubünden

There is a detailed commentary on this report by Thomas Giger:
Has Graubünden missed the trail?
 

Disclosure

The author of this article benefits from graubündenBike himself: He has written a text for a book about the cycling culture in Graubünden, half of which is financed from the graubündenBike budget.