I had a similar thought when I first heard about this study. How many people ride bikes (rides per person per week/year) compared to play hockey or other contact sports.
I have been involved in the RSTBC trail standards pilot project where they are attempting to standardize trail ratings across the province, at least the ones in Established trails on crown land. It feels like RSTBC is trying to blend a difficulty ratings with a risk assessment. We don’t have enough data to develop a true risk assessment of trails. Most people are starting to understand that most injuries happen on Blue flow trails. There are a number of reasons this could be, speed, user numbers, user skill level. all three? who knows? we just don’t track the data.
As the local trail manager (for lack of a better term) I probably hear about less than 1% of all injuries. And that’s only because I am friends with some of the local SAR members and our most popular trail network is behind a locked gate.
That’s not to say this should be brushed off. If there in and inherent risk that can be addressed in mountain biking, we should look at it. My feeling is that if we ever to get the numbers, it’s still going to be statistically safer to mountain bike than to drive to work.
Look after your self.
Nov. 29, 2024, 7:02 a.m. - Adrian Bostock
I had a similar thought when I first heard about this study. How many people ride bikes (rides per person per week/year) compared to play hockey or other contact sports. I have been involved in the RSTBC trail standards pilot project where they are attempting to standardize trail ratings across the province, at least the ones in Established trails on crown land. It feels like RSTBC is trying to blend a difficulty ratings with a risk assessment. We don’t have enough data to develop a true risk assessment of trails. Most people are starting to understand that most injuries happen on Blue flow trails. There are a number of reasons this could be, speed, user numbers, user skill level. all three? who knows? we just don’t track the data. As the local trail manager (for lack of a better term) I probably hear about less than 1% of all injuries. And that’s only because I am friends with some of the local SAR members and our most popular trail network is behind a locked gate. That’s not to say this should be brushed off. If there in and inherent risk that can be addressed in mountain biking, we should look at it. My feeling is that if we ever to get the numbers, it’s still going to be statistically safer to mountain bike than to drive to work. Look after your self.