The program "Keep on Riding" from Tuesday evening is making big waves. Swiss television broadcast footage of various mountain bikers in a two-part documentary. Nino Schurter was in Ticino together with Thomas Frischknecht, the Gehrig Twins in Laax and Ride editor Thomas Giger together with Franziska Gobeli on the Barrhorn. However, the sequence by Alec Wohlgroth and Matthias Lüscher on the Üetliberg in Zurich is now making the biggest waves. The focus was on trails that bikers usually ride on, but whose publication by Swiss television is now classified as unfavorable or even harmful.

Watch the entire "Keep on Riding" program

srf.ch/play/tv/keep-on-/video/the-most-exciting-mountainbiketrails-in-switzerland?urn=urn:srf:video:b4aae0d3-1bd4-4dba-bdaf-6027eb91dd14

The association's board is now accusing Swiss television of damaging the sport and its voluntary commitment to mountain biking in the city of Zurich with such a report. It is also particularly disappointed in the TV protagonist Alec Wohlgroth, who has been a mountain biker in the Zurich region from the very beginning and a driving force behind the legendary Pizza Cup, among other things. Züritrails has been working hard for years to expand the MTB infrastructure, but has been set back by such contributions. The construction of a new trail at Höckler is currently underway and is to be financed via a crowdfunding campaign. With this in mind, Züritrails is calling on Swiss television to donate the sum of CHF 30,000 for the construction of this trail. Such a donation would be made to make up for the damage caused, but also to lend a positive note to the reporting on mountain biking for once.

Details on the crowdfunding of the Höckler Trail

localhelden.ch/hoecklertrail

Statement of the "Züritrails" association

We, the Züritrails association, refer to yesterday's TV report "Keep on Riding" on SRF Swiss Radio and Television. We hereby distance ourselves formally from the way in which mountain biking is practised in Zurich as portrayed by the protagonists.

We believe that mountain biking needs an appropriate infrastructure that meets the needs of bikers, and we are doing everything we can to expand the infrastructure. However, under no circumstances should trails be created through individual actions and unauthorized construction activities in the forest, but only in cooperation with the responsible authorities. Wild rides through the forest must be avoided.

There is an undisputed need for more and more challenging trails in Zurich. We are responding to this need by building the new Höcklertrail, which is currently being crowdfunded on Lokalhelden.ch/hoecklertrail. The fact that we as an association are being given the opportunity to build this trail and are being supported by the city of Zurich is a huge vote of confidence in us from the authorities.

And now this!!! At prime time, SRF Swiss Radio and Television, which is financed by state funds and is obliged to provide factual reporting as part of its public service, is virtually advertising biking on wild trails in Zurich to the general public in an unbelievable matter-of-fact manner. Such reporting is simply irresponsible and in no way meets the requirements of proper reporting on behalf of the federal government. The city of Zurich and Züritrails have been trying for some time to counteract precisely this wild biking by building a new, legal trail. SRF Swiss Radio and Television should have reported on this!

We are hugely disappointed with SRF, but also with the protagonist and biker Alec. What were you thinking!!! The city of Zurich was portrayed on national television as if it was standing idly by and watching the illegal goings-on in its forests. It will probably have to act ex officio. The consequences of this will certainly not be in our favor. It will also set the Züritrails association back a long way in its cooperation with the authorities. With such actions, we will lose much of the fragile credibility that we have built up over the years, not least in our spare time. In addition, the article contributes significantly to the nationwide cementing of prejudices against mountain bikers.

For some time now, SRF has shown very little sensitivity when it comes to mountain biking and has loved to seek out and report on smouldering conflicts. Now you've done it. The conflict is here. SRF, you are doing us enormous damage with such unobjective, poorly researched reports! The immaterial damage you are doing to us cannot be repaired so quickly. We demand that SRF Swiss Radio and Television make some form of compensation in the amount of CHF 30,000 as a donation towards the construction costs of the Höckler Trail. Then you can once again report something positive about biking. We also expect you to provide us with a written statement explaining the purpose of this program, what it is intended to convey to the audience and what added value it will bring to the program. We are also requesting a counterstatement or correction about biking in Zurich to the same extent, also during prime time.

Finally, however, we are trying to look ahead again and focus on our mission of improving the bike infrastructure in the city of Zurich. Support us by becoming a member of Züritrails and supporting our current project, the construction of the Höcklertrail (lokalhelden.ch/hoecklertrail).

www.zueritrails.ch