The long mountain ridge between Lake Zurich and Lake Greifensee has been a popular biking area for decades. And because there is some pressure to use the area between Zurich, Uster, Rapperswil and all the agglomeration communities (i.e. lots of people on the mountain), there are inevitable conflicts between bikers and pedestrians, horse riders, hunters and, last but not least, forest owners.
All attempts to legalize some of the many single trails and steer mountain biking in a more orderly direction failed or were fought so hard that they came to nothing. "The previous initiatives were all local and therefore easier to attack," explains Hans-Peter Kienast. He, his son Leandro Kienast and other mountain bikers from the region now want to do better and have founded the BikeTrails Pfannenstiel association. They are looking for supporters in all twelve municipalities bordering the 853-metre-high elevation - not only mountain bikers but also local and regional politicians and other opinion leaders. The aim is to reach a critical mass so that the project, which is to be developed at a later date, is not shot down.

A trail center as a vision

In the first two months since its launch, the group has gained over 200 supporters online. The next step is to determine the needs of bikers on the Pfannenstiel. Hans-Peter Kienast explains on request that a concrete project will only be drawn up once this is known. Nevertheless, the 63-year-old biker reveals his vision: "We envisage a trail center with routes for all skill and age levels. And we hope that the bikers can be distributed geographically in such a way that we can manage without biking bans on the Pfannenstiel."
Kienast and his fellow campaigners are aware of the example of other local recreation areas where bike bans were imposed following the large-scale construction of a bike route, and such a development should be avoided at all costs. The 63-year-old has been working with disabled people for over 30 years and has a lot of experience in fundraising and networking. He therefore knows how much time such a process takes. "Perhaps the first routes could be opened in 2022."

www.biketrailspfannenstiel.ch