Dear Editor:
RE: Wants ATVs on trails, Sept. 7.
My wife and I, both young geezers in our seventies, are ATWers (avid trail walkers) and would like to thank our municipalities and the OPP for keeping our hiking trails free from ATVers!
Admittedly we are ignorant and a little doubtful of Jim Machen’s “facts,” claiming that ATVing is the “fastest growing sport” or that it brings “countless jobs” to our communities.
I maintain – please prove me wrong – that writing letters to the editor is the fastest growing “sport” in Canada and can also be done while sitting down without any physical exertion.
Our physician thinks that these butt-bouncing, back-breaking and brain battering infernal internal combustion ATV machines do nothing for our physical and mental well-being – and she should know since she has studied medicine.
Furthermore, she claims, and she is probably correct, that there is no benefit from operating ATVs, other than adding to environmental pollution with dust, exhaust fumes and whining engine noises.
She also suggests that simple hiking and observing nature’s slow changes throughout the year will definitely improve our physical and cognitive well-being, much more than sitting on our derrière and mindlessly racing through nature.
Finally, believe me, nothing is sweeter and better for you than an after-hike afternoon nap, not even a visit to Tim’s.
Joerg Schnabel,
Guelph