In recent years, mountain bike news from the canton of Nidwalden has mostly been about either the expansion of the trails in Engelberg or the fact that the neighboring municipality of Wolfenschiessen had refused to invest in a joint mountain bike project.

And now this: 1217 people signed the petition calling for the creation of a coherent mountain bike infrastructure. In a canton with 43,000 inhabitants, that's an impressive number. When the petitioners presented the appeal to the responsible cantonal councillor Joe Christen (FDP), he told them: "You're knocking down our doors." In an interview with Ride, he explained that his directorate had already begun to consider what this meant for mountain biking in the canton of Nidwalden as soon as the Yes vote for the cycling initiative became apparent.

Great ambitions but no money yet

He is already in contact with representatives of the bike community and has taken the first steps. The first was that the cantonal specialist department for hiking trails was expanded to include bike trails at the end of 2020. However, even a year later, it still has no money to work with - a situation that the petition also called for to be rectified.

The government is not lacking in willpower, as was revealed in conversation with Councillor Joe Christen, who heads the Agriculture and Environment Directorate. He wants to bring all stakeholders together at a round table to explore how biking in the canton of Nidwalden can be steered in a generally acceptable direction in the future.

The focus is on a network of routes, most of which should run along existing paths. Christen told the Nidwaldner Zeitung that the specialist hiking and biking trails department would be drawing up route proposals by mid-2022. These would then be discussed by an "internal cantonal consultation" so that they could be presented to the public at the end of 2022. The experienced executive politician described the timetable as "very ambitious". Nevertheless, this shows the government's will to move this matter forward quickly.

Thomy Vetterli has the same goal. He heads the Central Switzerland Mountain Bike project, which is expanding the infrastructure with federal and cantonal funding (New Regional Policy, NRP) and from which the Central Switzerland Bike Cooperative has emerged. He also sits on the Wolfenschiesser municipal council and ensures that mountain bike enthusiasts organize themselves and make their concerns heard.

Is the government more bike-friendly than the population?

Because mountain bikers in the canton of Nidwalden are still fighting against resistance from parts of the population, and not just in Wolfenschiessen, the largest municipality in terms of area. "There will also be opposition to the plans, that's clear," says cantonal councillor Christen. This is not least due to the small minority of bikers who behave recklessly. Vetterli expects that in the planned discussions with all stakeholders involved, those for whom bikers are a thorn in the side will be in the majority.

Is the government perhaps even more bike-friendly than the population? Vetterli points out how many Nidwalden residents are bikers themselves and the route network should be designed for them in the first phase. Tourist use will come afterwards, he explains. One of the ways Christen wants to get the population on board is by ensuring that the routes pass by farm stores and pubs. "The bikers should come home with a heavier rucksack than when they set off, because they've bought something in a farm store on the way." In addition, the canton of Nidwalden has the highest density of cable cars in Switzerland. He is convinced that routes that link these cable cars would also be attractive for their operators.

A route network for fans of single trails

The fact that biking is still permitted on most hiking trails in the canton of Nidwalden is attractive for fans of single trails. "Currently, biking is not regulated in cantonal law. We need to tighten this up," Christen emphasizes. He himself is striving for a solution that would allow biking on narrow footpaths and only apply bans where other interests prevail. Of course, this is music to the ears of bikers, who prefer to ride on hiking trails rather than bike trails.

Vetterli and the bikers he represents want the route network to actually be implemented in this way. "Politics should not determine where bikers can indulge in their hobby. We already had that with earlier route concepts." He sees the current situation as a great opportunity to "generate a cool package". This requires mountain bikers who stand up and get involved, especially in bike-critical communities. The Nidwalden native hopes that his home canton will take advantage of the momentum and become a mountain bike pioneer in Central Switzerland. If a route network of the kind outlined by Cantonal Councillor Christen is actually created, then he believes a top position would be assured.