Obenabe is a quirky no-budget film about trail biking in Winterthur's forests. In a cozy Winterthur dialect, cartoonist Ruedi Widmer introduces viewers to the nature of the "bike people". 676 views in six months show that the mountain bike community on YouTube is thirsting for something else.

One of these views can be traced back to the fishing and hunting administration of the canton of Zurich. They obviously didn't find the film funny either and saw it as a series of offenses. Firstly, there was the illegal use of an area. Secondly, the IG Biketrails Winterthur had filmed on public land without permission.

And finally, a man appears in the film "carrying a carbine 11 on his back in a cocked state", according to the ruling. Responsible for the film production as a whole, as well as for the carbine in particular, was Tom Meister, musician, author, mountain biker and one of the members of IG Biketrails Winterthur.

So now he was faced with charges including carrying a weapon without a firearms license, an offence that carries a criminal record.

Riding on the trails at the riding arena not deemed illegal

The film shoot took place in May 2023, the criminal complaint was received by the Zurich cantonal police in June, and in September the public prosecutor's office in Winterthur/Unterland decided to discontinue the proceedings for several reasons. The decision is now legally binding.

It is particularly noteworthy that the public prosecutor's office did not recognize any illegal driving on paths in the Winterthur forest in the video. And since only helmet cameras were used, filming at this location is also permitted. Setting up cameras, lights and other equipment there would obviously have been illegal.

And this brings us to the crux of the case, the weapon: Tom Meister was able to convince the public prosecutor's office that he had no intention of poaching - this is what the article of the law refers to, which prohibits carrying a weapon in a hunting area without being authorized to hunt there. Tom Meister and the actor who played the hunter therefore did not violate the hunting law.

The missing gun license remains. It didn't help that Meister carried the rifle in a large bag into the forest and only took it out there without being seen by bystanders. It also didn't matter that the weapon was not in working order, according to the restraining order - even a real-looking dummy should not be carried around in public.

Master did not want to poach or spread terror

In the end, however, the offense weighed lightly because the director and the actor had not carried the rifle with malicious intent, but merely carelessly. The public prosecutor's office also dropped the case on this point. However, Meister still had to pay the legal costs. Thanks to legal expenses insurance, the damage is within manageable limits, he says.

For him, the joy outweighs the fact that mountain biking on the trails at the riding arena was not deemed illegal. He also strongly advises biking without weapons. In conclusion, Tom Meister notes that some of the reports are a sign that biking still takes place in a gray area in many places. The IG is continuing to work on changing this.

He emphasizes that he and the IG Biketrails Winterthur are still in contact with the city and cantonal authorities and support the project of official bike trails at the Reitplatz - based on the principle that no existing trails should be closed without at least an equivalent replacement.