Man is an intelligent being. That is why, for example, he has formed communities for tasks that overwhelm individuals. These include road construction, the rule of law, education and research, national defense, social welfare and healthcare. This is how our society works: we delegate these tasks to the authorities and pay taxes in return.

And now there are these mountain bikers. They would like to use infrastructure already created by the state. But because this is often not so easy, and much more often not wanted, new trails are springing up. And with them comes the question: who pays for the construction and who is responsible for maintenance?

The local authorities reject the obligation and we mountain bikers unthinkingly join in a diffuse financing canon. Crowdfunding campaigns are launched, EU funding is applied for, club coffers are tapped and countless hours of volunteer work are put in. But this is actually grotesque. Mountain bikers are not a social micro-segment with exaggerated individual needs. The sport is so widespread that trails and routes are actually part of the basic municipal infrastructure - and should therefore be paid for and maintained by the authorities. Just like playgrounds, football pitches or hiking trails. Instead, mountain bikers are still degraded as freaks who are expected to pay for their own needs.

Outlaw corner instead of proven models

The latest funding push comes from Austria, the trail absurdistan of Europe. From mountain biking circles comes the full-bodied proposal of a kind of compulsory levy. Every mountain biker would pay into a pot that would be used to finance the construction and maintenance of trails throughout the country. The initiators are dreaming of many millions of euros. That sounds promising, but we've known this system for a long time: it's called taxes.

With this discussion about funding, mountain bikers are returning to the outlaw corner from which they have long since bid farewell. The sport of mountain biking has arrived in the middle of society and this should also be reflected in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure. Crowdfunding, volunteer work or compulsory levies are the wrong approach because sustainability falls by the wayside. Mountain bike infrastructure is the responsibility of local authorities and the state. Switzerland has understood this and recently had it explicitly written into the constitution. Germany and Austria are not there yet. But we mountain bikers have to start getting there by throwing self-financing and voluntary work overboard and making the public sector responsible. Because mountain bikers are not freaks, they are taxpayers. 

More blog posts by Thomas Giger

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