Bit of a scare last night..

rhysyd

Been road biking for about 3 months now and I absolutely love it, every time im out, Im getting more confident, fitter and faster.

But last night I set off for a 20mile ride on my own, feeling fit I was ready to attack it to get some PB's on strava. Anyway as I was half way up a hill I noticed a police signs. There was 3 police cars and an ambulance and then I seen 2 bikes at the side of the road. I was ushered through by the police directing traffic so didn't have time to stop, but I got the the top of the hill and there was a few people chatting saying that there had been a nasty accident involving a cyclist, its a fairly fast B road with sharp bends.

After that I was pretty downhearted and was thinking Is this road biking malarkey really worth the risks?

danlikesbikes

Tough when you learn of something like that.

I have friends who work in the police, ambulance and fire service and unfortunately they see death on a regular basis & often there is no reason it's just a fact that this sort of thing happens.

All you can do is ride safe and positive.

ben@31

Rhysyd. You have to think to yourself for that 1 unfortunate accident, there were 100000's of others who cycled safely.

There's risk with everything.

I once came across a good quote when I was on a job related course... "To reap great rewards you have to take risks". You could sit safely at home and do nothing but then you'd never achieve anything.

simon_masterson

I think it's fairly safe to say that road cycling is a safe sport. Crashes caused by environmental factors or equipment malfunctions are often (if not always, or even the majority of the time) avoidable by not riding into that hole or onto that gravel, or by taking that corner more carefully, etc. But as per the above, there are thousands upon thousands of "serious cyclists" in this country, and countless more "people that own and/or use bicycles" - the number of injuries and fatalities on the road is very, very small to the best of my knowledge.

Sutton_Rider

It is a bit of a scare and sobering when you come across this sort of thing, but what you don't know are all the fact, who's fault was it, the bike rider could have been totally to blame. If you are that worried you could help yourself by making yourself more visible, such as hi vis band, bright LED lights, all very inexpensive and especially important at night. One last thing, how many crashes have you seen involving just cars? Has that stopped you driving?

Mikey23

Yes, very sad but you cant dwell on it. Ive done 16 k now and often think what if when i hear traffic coming up behind. But i carry on because i love it. If one has ny number on it then so be it, ive had a good life. Be safe, be visible...

Schoie81

As others have said, of course there are risks, but there are with everything. I once was the first on the scene of an accident where a driver had lost control on an icy road and hit a tree - the tree didn't move, so his car became banana shaped, I doubt he knew much about it. :-( That was on my commute and it crossed my mind that it could easily have been me, it is worrying, but it doesn't mean I've stopped driving.

You just have to do what you can to stay as safe as you can and hope it never happens to you, but you can't go through life avoiding all dangers and risks, otherwise you'd never get out of bed, and you wouldn't have a life.

cougie

Do you think the same when you hear of a car crash on the news and think Is Driving worth the risk ?

IShaggy

http://cyclehelmets.org/1026.html#lifetime

The relative risk stats in the 1st table should give you some comfort. Basically, in terms of risk of death per participant, cycling is just a little riskier than golf. Ok, there are different demographics in the 2 groups, with a significant proportion of golf players being elderly. But if you look at the table showing deaths by age for cycling, you'll see that the greatest number of deaths are in the under 18 and over 50 age groups. So if you're 18-50 then you're ok.

And don't forget that the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks. So cycling extends your life.

BrandonA

If we worried about everything that could harm us, we'd never get out of bed in the morning.

IShaggy

BrandonA wrote:

If we worried about everything that could harm us, we'd never get out of bed in the morning.

Falling out of bed kills 450 people annually in the U.S. It's a dangerous place to be

http://www.oddee.com/item_98002.aspx

Bozman

I've been knocked off a few times and I've fallen off a few times over the years, does it bother me and do I worry about it? No.

redbikejohn

On my third week of commuting now. Had some close ones already. I normally ride a motorcycle so my road skills are good ie able to spot likely issues ahead but despite a powerful flashing strobe Cree led lamp car drives don't seem to acknowledge my right of way or even recognize me as a legitimate road user. It gets worse once I get into Brent area of london - I cycle in from bucks.
Out of town its the skip and waste lorries f me they pass close sometimes
I've had more close ones in the last three weeks than four years on my motorcycle .....

THE_GREAT_GONZO

Cycling is what it is, you can die on the toilet! At least when cycling you've got a lid on and look sexy in your Lycra!

motogull

I've done a little commuting this summer. Tried to use back roads where possible. Ambulance passed me going home one day, got he impression it was a bit lost. Caught it up a 'junction' One of those where the road follows the corner. Anyway, motorcyclist getting treatment. My hunch being a car didn't expect anyone coming round as he went straight on, if you know what I mean.

marcusjb

http://www.gicentre.net/blog/2013/11/24 ... or-neglect

Another interesting article on risk.