Cycling health
- Thread starter CourierDriver
- Start date
Good article. I enjoy cycling. Just sad that I take my life in my own hands when I do since there are so many crazy drivers out there and cell phone users. But I figure if it is my time to go may as well be while doing something I like.
It's one of the reasons why I really don't want to move closer to work--my roads are bad, but lightly traveled, and it seems most drivers give me wide berth. At work we have a group that rides, and we stick to the backroads and seem to not have much of an issue--but I prefer riding out in the sticks.
Hate riding indoors though. After about 20 minutes I've had my fill. I tend to take Dec off from riding (well, Oct-Dec if I'm not careful) and try to get on the indoor trainer in Jan as the new year starts up, in high hopes of being able to ride as soon as the weather allows me. Not a fan of riding when it's below freezing. Good hiking weather, lousy biking weather. At least for me.
Hate riding indoors though. After about 20 minutes I've had my fill. I tend to take Dec off from riding (well, Oct-Dec if I'm not careful) and try to get on the indoor trainer in Jan as the new year starts up, in high hopes of being able to ride as soon as the weather allows me. Not a fan of riding when it's below freezing. Good hiking weather, lousy biking weather. At least for me.
Originally Posted by supton
It's one of the reasons why I really don't want to move closer to work--my roads are bad, but lightly traveled, and it seems most drivers give me wide berth. At work we have a group that rides, and we stick to the backroads and seem to not have much of an issue--but I prefer riding out in the sticks.
Hate riding indoors though. After about 20 minutes I've had my fill. I tend to take Dec off from riding (well, Oct-Dec if I'm not careful) and try to get on the indoor trainer in Jan as the new year starts up, in high hopes of being able to ride as soon as the weather allows me. Not a fan of riding when it's below freezing. Good hiking weather, lousy biking weather. At least for me.
It's one of the reasons why I really don't want to move closer to work--my roads are bad, but lightly traveled, and it seems most drivers give me wide berth. At work we have a group that rides, and we stick to the backroads and seem to not have much of an issue--but I prefer riding out in the sticks.
Hate riding indoors though. After about 20 minutes I've had my fill. I tend to take Dec off from riding (well, Oct-Dec if I'm not careful) and try to get on the indoor trainer in Jan as the new year starts up, in high hopes of being able to ride as soon as the weather allows me. Not a fan of riding when it's below freezing. Good hiking weather, lousy biking weather. At least for me.
some stats on cycling..
Courier, that's a great talk ... but the speaker unintentionally points out just how risky cycling is per mile - or maybe not, as I crunch some numbers. 40,000 car deaths/year in the US, but over, what, 200,000,000 drivers x 15,000 miles/year/driver? (This is just an estimate on my part.) That's 2 x 10^8 x 1.5 x 10^4 = 3 x 10^12 miles (i.e. 3 trillion miles) driven annually in the US. 3 x 10^12 miles/4 x 10^4 traffic deaths = 0.75 x 10^8 miles driven/traffic death = 7.5 x 10^7 miles/traffic death. That's 75 million miles driven per traffic death. Can that be right? Someone please check my numbers.
In any case, following the same logic, let's say there are 30 million cyclists in the US, each averaging 1000 miles/year. That's 3 billion (3 x 10^9) cycling miles total per year. 3 x 10^9 cycling miles/4 x 10^3 cycling deaths = 0.75 x 10^6 cycling miles/death. That's a cycling death per every 750,000 miles ridden.
So by my rough estimates, cycling is about 100 x more dangerous than driving per mile. And yet, I figure I've ridden perhaps 70,000 miles over the past 35 years of cycling as an adult. That's only about 1/10th of the 75,000 miles associated with a cycling fatality.
So, cycling is relatively dangerous (compared to driving), but still quite safe in absolute terms. And perhaps I tip the odds in my favour a bit by wearing a helmet (I've wrecked two in crashes), a high-vis vest, using lights, having a mirror, and obeying the rules of the road.
Furthermore, I enjoy really good health, due in part to the cycling. My odds of dying on the road are higher than that of a car driver, but my chances of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer are lower than someone who doesn't exercise.
Again, someone please check my numbers. I may be way off on how many drivers and cyclists there are in the US, and how much they drive. As well, the more cycle commuters there are, the fewer cars there are on the road, making things that much safer for cyclists.
In any case, following the same logic, let's say there are 30 million cyclists in the US, each averaging 1000 miles/year. That's 3 billion (3 x 10^9) cycling miles total per year. 3 x 10^9 cycling miles/4 x 10^3 cycling deaths = 0.75 x 10^6 cycling miles/death. That's a cycling death per every 750,000 miles ridden.
So by my rough estimates, cycling is about 100 x more dangerous than driving per mile. And yet, I figure I've ridden perhaps 70,000 miles over the past 35 years of cycling as an adult. That's only about 1/10th of the 75,000 miles associated with a cycling fatality.
So, cycling is relatively dangerous (compared to driving), but still quite safe in absolute terms. And perhaps I tip the odds in my favour a bit by wearing a helmet (I've wrecked two in crashes), a high-vis vest, using lights, having a mirror, and obeying the rules of the road.
Furthermore, I enjoy really good health, due in part to the cycling. My odds of dying on the road are higher than that of a car driver, but my chances of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer are lower than someone who doesn't exercise.
Again, someone please check my numbers. I may be way off on how many drivers and cyclists there are in the US, and how much they drive. As well, the more cycle commuters there are, the fewer cars there are on the road, making things that much safer for cyclists.
I dug this up for another discussion, and found I'd made a significant error - 30M x 1K = 30B, not 3B! I've revised it below. The bottom line is that, if my assumptions are correct, or at least if they more-or-less cancel out, cycling is about 10x as dangerous as driving per mile, NOT 100x as I'd originally calculated!
Courier, that's a great talk ... but the speaker unintentionally points out just how risky cycling is per mile - or maybe not, as I crunch some numbers. 40,000 car deaths/year in the US, but over, what, 200,000,000 drivers x 15,000 miles/year/driver? (This is just an estimate on my part.) That's 2 x 10^8 x 1.5 x 10^4 = 3 x 10^12 miles (i.e. 3 trillion miles) driven annually in the US. 3 x 10^12 miles/4 x 10^4 traffic deaths = 0.75 x 10^8 miles driven/traffic death = 7.5 x 10^7 miles/traffic death. That's 75 million miles driven per traffic death. Can that be right? Someone please check my numbers. In any case, following the same logic, let's say there are 30 million cyclists in the US, each averaging 1000 miles/year. That's 30 billion (3 x 10^10) cycling miles total per year. 3 x 10^10 cycling miles/4 x 10^3 cycling deaths = 0.75 x 10^7 cycling miles/death. That's a cycling death per every 7.5M miles ridden. So by my rough estimates, cycling is about 100 x more dangerous than driving per mile. And yet, I figure I've ridden perhaps 70,000 miles over the past 35 years of cycling as an adult. That's only about 1/100th of the 7.5M miles associated with a cycling fatality. So, cycling is relatively dangerous (compared to driving), but still quite safe in absolute terms. And perhaps I tip the odds in my favour a bit by wearing a helmet (I've wrecked two in crashes), a high-vis vest, using lights, having a mirror, and obeying the rules of the road. Furthermore, I enjoy really good health, due in part to the cycling. My odds of dying on the road are higher than that of a car driver, but my chances of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer are lower than someone who doesn't exercise. Again, someone please check my numbers. I may be way off on how many drivers and cyclists there are in the US, and how much they drive. As well, the more cycle commuters there are, the fewer cars there are on the road, making things that much safer for cyclists.
Ridiculous filler article. Anything physically active that you do, burns calories, tones you, and beats sitting around, posting on the internet. 
No question that cycling is more dangerous than driving. You're on 2 wheels which is inherently less stable, you have no protection around you. If you're road biking there are cars buzzing around much faster, driven by inattentive drivers. If you're trail biking you're safe from cars but there are more hazards (gravel, rocks, trees, etc.). However, driving is quite safe, safer than it's ever been historically. So just because cycling is more dangerous than driving, doesn't mean it's really very dangerous. And cycling has health benefits that driving does not (both physical and mental).
Also, the averages include unsafe idiots, and we all know the idiots are out there, in cars and on bikes. If you don't ride like an idiot then your odds are better.
Also, you could compute it by hour, rather than by mile, and cycling would come out much closer to driving in safety.
Another factor to consider is what causes incidents. How much control do you have over them? For example, general aviation is more dangerous than driving, but virtually all incidents are caused by the pilot himself, not by others. When you pilot an airplane, you have control over your fate; there are very few situations where "the other guy" can kill you. Yet when driving, any moment some other idiot could cross over into your lane (or make some other mistake) and injure or kill you.
All this is to say, if you enjoy cycling, do it as much as you can, be aware of the danger and ride reasonably safe, and don't stress out about the risks. The benefits far outweigh the risks!
Also, the averages include unsafe idiots, and we all know the idiots are out there, in cars and on bikes. If you don't ride like an idiot then your odds are better.
Also, you could compute it by hour, rather than by mile, and cycling would come out much closer to driving in safety.
Another factor to consider is what causes incidents. How much control do you have over them? For example, general aviation is more dangerous than driving, but virtually all incidents are caused by the pilot himself, not by others. When you pilot an airplane, you have control over your fate; there are very few situations where "the other guy" can kill you. Yet when driving, any moment some other idiot could cross over into your lane (or make some other mistake) and injure or kill you.
All this is to say, if you enjoy cycling, do it as much as you can, be aware of the danger and ride reasonably safe, and don't stress out about the risks. The benefits far outweigh the risks!
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