A few days in the past, fellow blogger Tony posted this: Most types of train are overwhelmingly secure – however don’t ignore the hazards. Thanks, Tony. It’s primarily based on an attention-grabbing research not too long ago printed within the journal Harm Prevention [1]. By analyzing accident statistics in England and Wales within the interval 2012-2017, they got here up with harm charges for numerous exercise-related actions. Biking had an harm charge of two.8 per 100,000 outings, whereas strolling had 0.03 per 100,000, and health actions (e.g. gymnasium participation) had 0.21 per 100,000. All of those are comparatively low, I’m solely more likely to get injured about as soon as each 33,000 rides, and it may be argued that the well being advantages of the exercise outweigh the harm threat. However be aware that biking had 100 instances the harm charge of strolling. So it is sensible to do no matter attainable to reduce the dangers. That is very true in my case, as within the few years I’ve been scripting this log, I’ve accrued the train advantages of many hours of exercise. However I’ve additionally: damaged a collarbone in a motorcycle crash, ripped my rotator cuff in a mountaineering fall, and needed to go to the hospital for a head trauma (fortunately not too extreme).

For biking, listed below are some apparent security measures:

1. Accident threat larger at evening than in the course of the day, so if attainable keep away from driving at evening, in any other case have good lighting and vibrant reflective clothes.
2. Accident threat is larger at busy roads on rush hour. Using at these instances could also be unavoidable for bike commuting, however it helps to search out alternate routes on quieter roads. Again within the late Nineteen Seventies I used to be commuting from Mountain View Ca to Palo Alto. Palo Alto is now thought of a bike-friendly metropolis however was significantly much less so again then. I keep in mind my route went midway on Central Expressway, which had a pleasant bike lane, however then become Alma Ave, a busy road with no bike lane and a slim shoulder. I shortly mapped out a route that prevented Alma Ave by utilizing quieter streets, in any other case I may not be right here to jot down this weblog.

I used to be already doing measures like these and others like holding my bike well-maintained. My current accident triggered me to rethink what I might need achieved in another way, and I got here up with: Use fatter tires. The bike I crashed on is taken into account a “gravel bike” and may have been sure-footed on the street I used to be on. It got here with 32 mm broad tires, and once they wore out I changed them with 25 mm to be sooner. Security first! I’ll be placing 32s again on the bike quickly. I’ve additionally at all times prided myself on being a “fearless descender”. Because the crash occurred on a downhill flip, I believe it’s time to fairly take satisfaction in being a “cautious descender”.

References

1. Davies M, Lawrence T, Edwards A, et al, “Sport-related main trauma incidence in younger individuals and adults in England and Wales: a nationwide registry-based research”, Harm Prevention Printed On-line First: 24 October 2023. doi: 10.1136/ip-2023-044887.