It sounded as simple as it was unpleasant: in the canton of Aargau, only paths that are at least two meters wide may be used. This is what the canton announced in its questionnaire, with which it wants to gain insights for its "survey of cycling in the forest".

Thanks to attentive Ride readers familiar with the conditions in Aargau, it turned out that this is not true. Which trails mountain bikers are allowed to use is set out in the municipal forest road plans. So if you are planning a bike tour and want to know exactly, you have to ask to see the forest road plan in each municipality on your route. This in itself is an effort that no one can reasonably be expected to make.

But it gets even more Kafkaesque. The forest road plans are largely no longer up to date, as the canton of Aargau admitted when asked by Ride. This fact is also recorded in an official document, a consultation report from the Department of Construction, Transport and Environment. It states: "The forest road plans, most of which are around 20 years old, can no longer be found in various municipalities."

For lawyer Ivo Speck, one thing is certain: "The legislation is too unclear and the penal provision in the Aargau Forest Act is too general to allow anyone to be fined."

An online map aims to clarify

The state of limbo is therefore to the advantage of mountain bikers. However, the canton of Aargau is working on clarifying the situation and making it clear to everyone. The forest road maps of the municipalities are to be summarized in a digital map and made available to everyone online.

The question is how much this will increase transparency. Will every mountain biker in the forest then have to consult the canton's online map before turning onto a path to find out whether or not it is prohibited? What if the map is not available? Even on this basis, fines would be difficult to enforce legally.

Lawyer Ivo Speck explains: "A ban must be issued by a municipality and be recognizable on site. An online map alone has no legal effect."

The cantonal representative replies: The forest road map gives those who want to know for sure the opportunity to look it up. For everyone else, he recommends sticking to the two-meter rule to make sure you don't do anything wrong.

For mountain bikers in Aargau, this would mean no more riding single trails. Trail bikers would either have to move to another canton or find a new hobby. Experience shows that drastic regulations such as these, which call into question a decades-old practice, hardly have the desired steering effect.The canton of Aargau is working on an inventory of mountain biking on its territory. Ride has reported on this. If this analysis realistically depicts the needs and preferences of female bikers, the administration will also recognize that two-metre-wide forest roads are not what they are looking for and why they are out in nature.