K-57

Mountain Bike Safety, Does it matter?

I have so much fun mountain biking that I sometimes forget the danger. During the club ride today, at the easiest park we ever ride in (called Flatwoods for a reason), two riders each broke an ankle. The first incident happened to a "newbie". While she was attempting to cross a small bridge (18 inches off the ground for a distance of 15 feet), she fell over and broke her ankle. When you are first learning to mountain bike it's hard to decide what things to take and what things to skip. However, even for a new rider, a small bridge such as this one doesn't look so bad as to be something to avoid. The second incident happened to an experienced rider. This woman has been riding longer than I have and caught a pedal on a palmetto root and tumbled over the tangled ankle/root combination. When we returned to the parking lot at the end of the ride she had already put a splint on her own ankle. (She's a nurse)

I flashed back to when I first started to ride with the club to an early ride at a park called Santos in north Florida. The beginner group came upon an area of ups and downs that looked really scary. That day (a year and a half ago) another new rider decided to walk that first hill section. As she walked her bike down the slope she slipped and caught a stump. Broken in two places and dislocated. Today's broken ankle nurse and I walked that rider out of the trails that day while she kept her ankle away from harm. Her husband had a wire splint kit that day. I heard he sold both their brand new bikes shortly after that day.

On Tuesday of this past week, a visitor from California crashed on a tough local trail. Apparently he took a bad fall over his handle bars following a buddy over a root section.

New riders, experienced riders and just visiting riders can be hurt. There is no predicting what or when something might happen. Usually when we least expect it. 3 incidents this past week. No meaning to that, it just happens in groups sometimes.

The thing is there is risk in just about everything we do, especially the fun stuff. Mountain biking is fun, despite the dangers. Bones heal. Confidence breaks don't heal without effort. Yes, safety matters but it's not everything. "Get back on the horse" is a saying that comes to mind. Keep trying. With each new triumph comes new confidence. With each new failure comes another opportunity to find triumph.

Ride on!

Tag: Mountain Biking

posted by Kev @ 5/01/2005 11:54:00 PM