Posted by: RAHrider
Syncro, I agree with most of what you post here but I cannot get on board with luxury taxes for mtb. The government spends tons of money on things for the health of our population. Swimming pools, tennis courts, beaches etc. Volunteer built and maintained trails on vacant land is far from a luxury activity. Sure, I have some nice bikes but that doesn't mean I'm rich. Many mountain bikers arrive with bikes on their trailer hitch that are worth more than the car carrying them.
Mountain biking is a decent tourist draw for BC. It has literally transformed towns like squamish and Cumberland. In Cumberland, there are more people in the Forrest than in the community centre any night of the week. In my opinion the government should be spending more on mountain biking. Creating access to quality trails is good for the health of our population and the economy.
I pay way more taxes than I would prefer and aside from streets and sewage, use very little our government provides. I don't see Mountain biking as a luxury activity, save that monicker for golf or something like that. That being said, I do believe everyone should be contributing through donations, trail passes and participating in maintenance
Fair point and I would like to see more govt funding for mtn biking too. But compared to things like say swimming, I'd guess that mtb participation numbers pale in total province wide. And something like tennis differs in that it is basically a one time capital investment that needs little to no maintenance. I think a better comparison would be something like playing fields, where regular maintenance is required. As for the luxury moniker I'm looking at the cost of new bikes these days as well as upkeep, mtbing is not exactly a cheap sport to participate in. I get your point here though as I am all about the min-max idea and try to ride on the cheap, but even at that it's still an expensive activity.
