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 based mostly on an fascinating examine 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 varied 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 word that biking had 100 instances the harm charge of strolling. So it is smart to do no matter potential to attenuate the dangers. That is very true in my case, as within the few years I’ve been penning this log, I’ve accrued the train advantages of many hours of exercise. However I’ve additionally: damaged a collarbone in a motorbike crash, ripped my rotator cuff in a climbing fall, and needed to go to the hospital for a head trauma (fortunately not too extreme).
For biking, listed here are some apparent security measures:
- Accident threat greater at evening than through the day, so if potential keep away from using at evening, in any other case have good lighting and shiny reflective clothes.
- Accident threat is greater at busy roads on rush hour. Using at these instances could also be unavoidable for bike commuting, however it helps to seek out alternate routes on quieter roads. Again within the late 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 bear in mind my route went midway on Central Expressway, which had a pleasant bike lane, however then changed into Alma Ave, a busy road with no bike lane and a slim shoulder. I shortly mapped out a route that averted Alma Ave by utilizing quieter streets, in any other case I won’t be right here to jot down this weblog.
I used to be already doing measures like these and others like conserving my bike well-maintained. My current accident brought on me to rethink what I might need finished 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 large tires, and once they wore out I changed them with 25 mm to be quicker. Security first! I’ll be placing 32s again on the bike quickly. I’ve additionally all the time prided myself on being a “fearless descender”. Because the crash occurred on a downhill flip, I feel it’s time to somewhat take pleasure in being a “cautious descender”.
References
- Davies M, Lawrence T, Edwards A, et al, “Sport-related main trauma incidence in younger folks and adults in England and Wales: a nationwide registry-based examine”, Harm Prevention Printed On-line First: 24 October 2023. doi: 10.1136/ip-2023-044887.
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