SARAJEVO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- For the 10th time in a row, "Giro di Sarajevo" bicycle race gathered cycling lovers to the Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) capital Sarajevo on late Sunday afternoon.
After the traffic was completely closed in the city center, some 3,000 residents of several cities in BiH, as well as tourists, rode a 15 kilometers long route through the busiest streets of Sarajevo.
By participating in this cycling event, people of all age groups were carrying the message that BiH can, deserves and must invest more in cycling infrastructure because it is the solution to many problems cities face every day. The slogan of this year's race was "For Sarajevo with bicycles", emphasizing that participants of "Giro di Sarajevo" are fighting for the better treatment of citizens of Sarajevo in general.
After the event, organizers said they are satisfied because the race was compact and that there were no incidents. For the end, they emphasized the importance of the "Giro di Sarajevo" jubilee race because it shows the success: from the complete ignorance of cyclists' rights to inclusion in the Law of BiH.
"In 2008, when we held the first Giro di Sarajevo, the capital had no meter of adequate bicycle trails. Now we have a few kilometers. Also, there were 750 participants in the first race, now we have 3,000," Nisad Selimovic, president of this organization told Xinhua.
Alma Vatric, a 6 year-old girl, is one of the youngest participants at the race. She is very happy to be here for the first time.
"I am very happy to be here and to drive my bicycle. At the beginning, I was scared, because there were lots of people, but with help of my parents, I managed to drive almost half of the race," Alma proudly told Xinhua.
An experienced bicycle rider, Almir Ajanovic, 42, told Xinhua that this is his 6th Giro di Sarajevo race in which he is participating.
"I am driving bicycle for some 10 years and I am encouraging my family to do it as well because it is a very healthy habit. Unfortunately, we do not have enough bicycle trails in Sarajevo, but the situation is better than 10 years ago when I started to drive," a medical technician Almir Ajanovic told Xinhua.
Apart from being an event that promotes sports and entertainment, "Giro di Sarajevo" is of a humanitarian character aiming to collect 50,000 KM (30,730 U.S.Dollars) to help children without parents who live in SOS Kinderdorf villages in BiH.
Over the past ten years, the number of cyclists in Sarajevo has increased to such an extent that now the community counts tens of thousands of active cyclists who use bicycles daily.
