"Imagine it's peace and nobody believes it", you could say, borrowing a saying from the peace movement. "The opponents of mountain bikers still manage to launch reports in the media about how bad we are. We have to manage to counter these polemics and unjustified attacks with positive news," explains Andy Stalder, tireless campaigner for access to single trails and President of Imba Switzerland. "The silent majority has no problem with coexistence," he is convinced.

"Bikers are heard much less than their opponents," confirms Albert Hess, local councillor in Wald ZH, "so it's good that this meeting is tackling sensitive issues and giving bikers a voice," Zürioberland Biketrails quotes the local politician. The association is co-organizer of the Meet & Ride event, with which Imba Switzerland wants to network people and organizations that are committed to coexistence on single trails. This recently took place in Wald in the Zurich Oberland.

Bikers have friends everywhere

Those who are sympathetic to mountain bikers can be found in environmental organizations, in public administration and in politics. Imba Switzerland brought together some representatives over the two days. The managing director of WWF Uri, for example, provided information on how mountain bikers can be given access to attractive trails while protecting sensitive natural areas.

The managing director of the Zurich Hiking Trail Association also has nothing against mountain bikers on single trails in the countryside - on the contrary, he is one of them himself. The representative of the Lucerne Office for Agriculture and Forestry confirms that legal trails are needed to make a solution possible. Her employer's law prohibits cycling on unpaved paths, which makes practically every single trail in Lucerne a no-cycling zone. Andy Stalder, himself from Lucerne and part-time president of MTB Lucerne, is counting on the steady drip that wears away the stone and gives coexistence a chance, even in cantons that rely on bans. 

As usual at such events, the vociferous opponents of mountain biking were not present. Finding a constructive dialog with them will be a little more challenging. But where there's a will, there's a singletrack trail, as the participants proved in the afternoons. The onset of winter didn't make the group rides any better, but it did make them more fun.