"No, I don't see the discussion about the referendum as a vote for or against mountain biking," says Manuel Siegrist, contradicting the title of this article. The president of IG Mountainbike Zug puts it into perspective: "It's just about how restrictively it is regulated."

Up to now, mountain biking has been permitted on existing trails as long as there is no explicit ban. The new forest law only allows it on single trails that are listed as mountain bike trails in the cantonal structure plan. This is still in progress. However, it is becoming clear that in future, mountain bikers will have to do without many trails that have been part of their tours for years.

Single trail network is getting thinner and thinner

The bike community has drawn up an initial proposal for a single trail network for the canton. However, those who preferred fewer mountain bikers on narrow trails then cut this trail network. At this point, it was already clear - although not yet decided - that the Forest Act would only allow mountain biking on those single trails that were designated as bike trails in the structure plan.

In the months following the publication of the draft structure plan, fears grew that the network would be thinned out even further as part of the approval process, describes Siegrist. The mountain bikers involved in the development of the single trail network were also not in agreement with the canton's approach. "That's why we as IG Mountainbike decided to take the referendum."

The other parties involved were also no longer on good terms with the bikers, as an online article on Ride in March showed.

A law on an unclear basis

The fact that the structure plan has not even been finalized is one of the bikers' arguments. The Forest Act stipulates something - the restriction of cycling - the consequences of which are not yet clear. However, this is only half the truth. The fact that many popular single trails will be closed to mountain bikers has been clear for more than a year and was one of the reasons why the bikers launched the referendum.

They quickly gathered the 1500 signatures they needed. That is the positive part of this story. The referendum's chances of success are completely different. In addition to the IG, almost a dozen Zug bike clubs and Swiss Cycling Zug support the bill. No party is recommending a yes vote - which would mean rejecting the new Forest Act.

It should be added that the revision of the Forest Act touches on many other issues and the regulation of mountain bikes is just one of them. The fact that the parties want to retain the Forest Act in its current form is not least due to the fact that it contains many new regulations that are undisputed. Many are not against mountain biking on single trails, but are in favor of various things such as forest maintenance, dealing with alien organisms, protection against forest fires and more. Here is the law in full.

Bikers against the rest? Not quite

Manuel Siegrist sees it as a good sign that the parties are not actively campaigning against the referendum. "They are keeping a low profile, not exposing their position," he describes.

However, this is probably also due to the fact that they do not consider it necessary to actively campaign against the mountain bikers' initiative. Because even if 10 percent of the population - the proportion of mountain bikers in Swiss society - is a considerable group, in order to gain more than 50 percent of the vote, the bikers would have to win over far more people than they are themselves.

Siegrist has no illusions: "The chance of us winning is not particularly great." He considers it a success if the bikers receive a "decent" number of no votes. "That would show that we are not perceived as a negligible, small group that is only pursuing its own particular interests."

In this sense, the vote is also a vote for or against mountain bikers on single trails.

Defeat would not be the end

Siegrist is convinced, however, that he and his fellow campaigners have succeeded in showing that mountain bikers are not reckless destroyers of nature, but sensible people who are at home in all strata of society. He denied that the bikers had damaged their own image with the referendum. He had presented the issue to every party represented in the Zug Cantonal Council and had received a lot of understanding and positive feedback. "The referendum has also opened a few doors for us that were previously closed," he says.

That's why he now hopes that the cantonal council will revise the mountain bike routes in the structure plan once again. "We will get stuck into the finalization of the bike network and lobby for our concerns as best we can," promises Manuel Siegrist. It is not impossible to find a good solution for mountain biking, even if there will be restrictions. "Even in cantons that are considered good examples, not all that glitters is gold."