The first official bike trail in Uster is almost 500 meters long and has a 30-meter difference in altitude. The bikers have the 2024 Road World Championships to thank for this trail, as it is one of several "legacy projects" with which the major event aims to leave lasting values behind.

Uster, the small town in the Zurich Oberland, has its first bike trail. It is neither particularly long nor steep, but it is fun, assures E-MTB world champion Nathalie Schneitter, who was the star guest at the opening on Wednesday. She was also the one who asked those responsible whether her work could become a legacy project of the Road World Championships. Uster is the starting point for several races of the 2024 UCI World Championships.

The Flow and Jump Trail, which starts on the Känzeli and runs through the Hasenbüel municipal forest, is the work of the city. Christian Ochsner, project manager in the construction department, planned the trail and supervised its construction. The local bike community was not involved. "I didn't find anyone who was interested." Fortunately, Ochsner is a biker himself and knew what it would take to make his fellow athletes happy.

He hired Nils Honegger, who built and maintains the Bikepark Bülach, to build the course. As he is also a forest warden, he was also the ideal choice from the point of view of hunting and forestry in Uster. And anyone who knows the Bikepark Bülach knows that its shaper can build jumps. At less than 500 meters in length and 30 meters in elevation gain, the course itself is not a monumental work. But the whole project only took two years before the trail could be handed over to the bikers. And more is to be built for the local bikers, Ochsner promises. It will be a trail center. A pump track is also being planned.

Slope brings trail closures

The Känzeli Trail also has a downer: various trails created by bikers on their own initiative will now be closed. "We want to channel them," says Ochsner. He admits that 500 meters of trail may not get all bikers off the unofficial single trails. But there's more to come.

The local bikers are getting involved after all. The bike club from the neighboring municipality of Volketswil has agreed to keep an eye on the trail and carry out a trail wipe from time to time. Vice-President Christian Knoll explains: "It's our way of saying thank you to the town of Uster." The association has not entered into any obligation to maintain the trail. VC Volketswil has been organizing a race of the Bikeworld Race Series (formerly EKZ Cup) in the Hasenbüel forest for years. Now there is an official trail there. "It's short but cool and a trail that we can incorporate into training with our boys and girls."