What an embarrassment for the forest authorities of the city of Zurich. For two decades, "Grün Stadt Zürich" has been preaching that mountain biking on single trails is illegal. Now there are even large posters in the forest stating that cycling is only permitted on official routes and roads. A court ruling clearly states that this is in fact a lie. According to the Statthalteramt Affoltern am Albis, it is permitted to cycle on paths that are marked on Swisstopo maps and are suitable for mountain biking. In addition, the designation as a hiking trail does not exclude use by mountain bikers.

22 years of stability

It was the year 2000 when I was first summoned to the debate by the then Forestry Office of the City of Zurich. Back then, I founded the Singletrail Map and was the first to map the trails in the Zurich region. The authorities' demand at the time: A mountain bike map should only contain forest roads, everything else was illegal. I broke off the meeting at the time because of insurmountable ideas. For me, this was an arbitrary interpretation of the law even back then.

I subsequently decided to take the path of steadfastness and to do so far beyond the city of Zurich. Over the past 22 years, there have been countless attempts by the authorities to silence the Singletrail Map and Ride. They were all (legally untenable) attempts at intimidation. They left us unimpressed. We are convinced that we are standing up for a good cause and that we have the law behind us. The current case in the city of Zurich confirms this.

Pragmatism or uncompromising attitude?

With Ride and the Singletrail Map, we are often criticized for our uncompromising attitude, especially from the mountain bike scene itself. We, on the other hand, see ourselves as unbending representatives of the needs of mountain bikers, while critics accuse us of lacking a solution-oriented approach. This conflict has now been made even more explosive by the Zurich ruling: are we mountain bikers adopting the positions of an authority in order to facilitate sound solutions? Just like "Züritrails" does. So far, they have accepted the slogans of the city authorities, but have been able to realize new offers such as the Höckler Trail. Or will they take the confrontational route, as Alec Wohlgroth and Matthias Lüscher are currently doing? By going to court, they have shown that we are legally entitled to far more and that we mountain bikers have obviously been ripped off in negotiations (in Zurich).

It's the classic question of a bird in the hand or a pigeon on the roof. Do we settle for a compromise (sparrow) or do we go all out at the risk of failure (pigeon)? It's a question that has subliminally preoccupied me for twenty years. We have chosen the path of the dove. If there were to be an indictment, we would basically take the case to the Federal Supreme Court in the belief that this would set a precedent and have the legality of the sport confirmed by the highest court. However, this would not be without risk: a negative ruling would undo a great deal of development work. Sparrow or dove?

It needs the judge and the negotiating table

It is to Alec Wohlgroth and Matthias Lüscher's credit that they chose to go to court and were able to prove that the City of Zurich had interpreted the law arbitrarily. However, the ruling should not be seen as an affront to "ZüriTrails". It is not their fault that they were led around by the nose by "Grün Stadt Zürich". Rather, this ruling should make us mountain bikers realize that we need both paths. The confrontational path to court and the moderate path to the negotiating table. Both together result in a kind of "self-confident ability to compromise". It is precisely with this kind of power play that we can move the sport of mountain biking forward.

More blog posts by Thomas Giger

ride.ch/blog/giger