Nino Schurter (Switzerland) races to a silver medal in Champery at the Worlds
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Canton?s proposal threatens mountain bike access
The Swiss Cycling Federation officially voiced its opposition to a proposed ban on mountain biking on trails in the Canton of Bern late last week. It expressed its concern that the ban, if turned into law, could eventually be applied nationally and argued that any such ban would have drastically negative effects on the sport of mountain biking, both for elite Swiss athletes and recreational enthusiasts.
The Bern Canton?s proposed law on forests would prohibit mountain biking except on forest roads provided for this purpose. It would mean an end to mountain biking on singletrack, not only for regular racers, but also recreational riders.
?Swiss Cycling, the cycling federation of Switzerland, opposes this change in law,? read a statement from Swiss Cycling on Thursday. ?Changing it could create a precedent that might be emulated on a national level. We encourage everyone to sign the online petition which has been launched against the amendment.
?This change would have devastating consequences for mountain biking, a favorite Swiss hobby. The sport could no longer be done in its current form. Mountain biking only on forest roads is not practicing mountain biking. Thousands of children and youth and recreational and elite sportspeople could no longer legally do their sport of mountain biking with the application of this law.?
Swiss Cycling noted that nature is an essential part of the infrastructure for Swiss Cycling athletes, which use and respect the forest during training. Swiss elite mountain bikers are well respected in the mountain bike world ? riders like Christoph Sauser, Nino Schurter, Florian Vogel, Thomas Litscher and Nathalie Schneitter are consistently top international contenders.
?According to statistics, cycling has long been the favorite sport of the Swiss population. Just in the canton of Bern, there are almost 50,000 people regularly roaming the forests. It would be unthinkable to deny 10,000
To read the whole story, visit here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/swiss-cycling-federation-opposes-bern-mtb-trail-ban
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Source: http://www.worldonbike.org/2012/02/14/swiss-cycling-federation-opposes-bern-mtb-trail-ban/
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