Mountain Biking Risks During The Pandemic

It’s a section of trail I’ve ridden a million times over the years. Sometimes I get a bit nervous rolling up to it—not because it’s hard, but because it’s awkward and constantly becoming more eroded. I take the high line on the right hand side to avoid the first bombhole compression, hop down the next root and finally roll through the stream crossing at the end. Just as easy as I remembered it. 

A bit further along the trail, I roll over a tangle of roots surrounded by greasy mud, and set up to take my standard far left line through an amalgamation of roots and rocks. During all of this, I’m thinking about the risks involved with riding a trail with technical sections like the one I’m on. While current “stay at home” orders and social distancing rules in Santa Cruz County don’t prohibit outdoor recreation—like mountain biking—a slew of organizations have made clear that now is not a great time to get hurt and further burden our medical systems. 

As I enter the section, my left arm brushes up against a tree. It’s not enough to hurt, just enough to realize that every turn of the trail presents new hazards that probably won’t injure me, but there is the remote possibility that they will.  

Recognition of Risk

Mountain bike media, advocacy groups, and brands have been spreading the message that if we choose to use the trails, we need to be responsible and mitigate the chance of a serious injury. 

The other day, global mountain bike website Pinkbike posted this notice, highlighted in yellow, to the top of their homepage: “NOTICE: Mountain biking irresponsibly during the COVID-19 pandemic puts you and others at risk. Riding injuries put unnecessary stress on medical systems that need all available resources to fight the virus, and group rides increase your chances of exposure. Please follow all local health authority directives, and DO NOT take risks.” 

Pinkbike has also highlighted a message from Euan Rossi, an orthopedic surgeon who has served as a medical consultant for the Crankworx mountain bike race series and currently works in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. “You obviously know I love to ride a bike, Rossi says. “I love to race bikes, it's a massive part of my life, but right now you have to make good decisions. One of those decisions is not putting pressure on emergency services unnecessarily.” 

Some governments are going as far as banning outdoor recreation and exercise. “Across Spain, VeloNews reports, “police and the civil guard were telling motorists, pedestrians and cyclists that all unnecessary movement is banned.” The rationale is that a cycling crash which injures a rider would put the healthcare system of the nation with the world’s second highest number of COVID-19 deaths under further stress. 

Normalization of Risk 

Since I am a regular rider, mountain biking does not feel like a risky activity. In fact, I don’t think I have ever crashed on the trail I mentioned above. Plus, In my eight years of mountain bike racing I have only had one incident where I needed help getting off the hill, which was followed by an ambulance ride to the emergency room. 

As mountain bikers, we are desensitized to the risks involved with our sport. Even on a standard ride, I’ve noticed that I have a “racer mentality,” where I almost unconsciously try to push myself to go faster. Even on a rail that I’ve ridden a thousand times and never crashed on, there are moments where If I do crash, the consequences would result in pain in the best case and injury in the worst. In the past few days, when I feel myself drifting in a corner, I have a voice in the back of my head that I need to slow up since I really can’t afford to crash now. 

However, there are a number of contradictions surrounding the risks involved with mountain biking. 

The first is what I might call the risk paradox. Many mountain bikers will tell you that their crashes don’t actually happen in the spots with the most risk. It’s the classic story of clearing the hard trail perfectly but crashing jumping the curb in the parking lot. Does this mean we should avoid parking lots? 

Second is the fact that some trails actually become riskier when you ride them at a slower speed. Watch a professional racer, and you will notice that in certain cases their bikes actually skip over the top of rocks and roots rather than slamming into them. Riding at speed is what enables this advanced technique. Riding a similar section at a slower speed would cause the bike to slam into the rocks and fall into the holes in between the rocks, making it more likely for the rider to get bucked over the bars. 

So, what exactly should we do to mitigate risk? My best answer is that every rider knows their personal baseline of fitness, speed, and skills. It’s everybody’s personal responsibility to ensure that they make it back to the trailhead safely. I know that I will slow down a notch and avoid trails or features that I know have a higher probability of things going bad. Ride like you’re on a remote backcountry trail where a search and rescue operation would take three hours minimum and the closest hospital is a two hour drive away. 

The Worst Case Scenario 

Outside Magazine recently published a riveting account of what it’s like to go through an almost-fatal accident in the backcountry. 

On March 24, a snowboarder triggered and became caught in an avalanche above the small town of Ophir, Colorado near Telluride, a region where I used to live. The snowboarder, who was riding with a partner, was critically injured, so they radioed down to town for help. Locals deployed a search and rescue team, but the victim was a 90-minute climb on skis from town. 

Days before, the sheriff of neighbouring San Juan County implemented a policy to avoid situations like this. A local’s only policy bans backcountry users who don’t live in the 600-or-so resident, one-town county. The sheriff will hand out tickets to cars parked at backcountry access points with out of town license plates. I personally think this is a prudent decision to limit accidents in the notoriously avalanche prone San Juans. But the order has rightfully garnered debate over the constitutionality of blocking access to federally designated public lands. 

There are no bans on backcountry recreation in San Miguel County, where Ophir is located. Plus, skiing is embedded in the culture of the place. Even the chief medical officer of the local hospital, who responded to the scene of the accident, skied earlier that day. 

“More than 50 people were involved with the rescue, from civilian first responders to professional air-medical crews, and many on scene worked close enough to breathe on each other,” writes Devon O’Neil, pointing out how the snowboarder’s accident could have exposed many people to COVID-19. The victim suffered a broken leg and multiple internal traumas, and his life was saved by those who responded to the scene. 

While mountain biking in California poses risks much different than avalanches in Colorado, the Outside piece has important takeaways for any trail user during this time. I highly suggest reading it, as it paints a nuanced and thoughtful picture. 

For me, I’m going to slow my roll and stay healthy to ride another day. Lately, my time spent in the woods has seemed to be more cathartic than usual. I notice the light glowing through the redwoods, the smell of damp soil, and the rustle of the leaves. It’s a great time to take it slow, and appreciate the natural world that we usually speed through.