The great thing about being a cyclist in a pandemic is that social distancing is generally built into the sport. Perhaps you’re interested in riding hybrid bikes for women so you can blend city riding with off-roading. Maybe you are considering basic road bikes for men so you can ride with your spouse and kids around your neighborhood. In any case, there are still important bike safety concerns to keep in mind.
Wearing Appropriate Safety Gear
A helmet could make the difference between suffering a severe head injury or walking away from a crash only feeling shaken up. Clothing, gloves and shoes can provide the same purpose for your skin. Consider wearing safety gear to keep your injury potential to a minimum:
- Helmet — The type of helmet you need will vary by type and location of riding you intend to do.
- Long sleeves and pants, gloves and closed-toed shoes — It may be cooler, both in temperature and trendiness, to wear shorts and t-shirts while biking, but it also means greater risks. Broader skin coverage designed for bicyclists, including on your hands and feet, can mitigate cuts and scrapes in a collision while also reducing your chance of sunburns.
- Eyewear — In some cases, eyewear may be optional. However, when vision could be disrupted, such as windy conditions with grit flying through the air, it’s important to use good eyewear designed for safe biking.
Although you don’t “wear” it exactly, picking a bike that fits your frame and purposes well is part of cyclist safety. For example, if you are a woman, opt for selecting your own womens bicycle rather than settling for borrowing your brother’s or husband’s.
Tuning Into Your Ride
Road traffic may thin out as people stay at home more during a pandemic, but your risks as a cyclist are as high as ever. Even when traffic seems thinner, and therefore safer, there could be drivers that turn a corner into your pathway unexpectedly or are distracted. Continue to keep a vigilant eye out for vehicles, pedestrians and other obstacles that may result in injuring yourself or other people. Hand signals alert drivers and other riders to your intentions so that they, too, can make adjustments if needed. Remember that even if the road looks like it’s all yours, the laws still apply.
Preventing the Spread of Disease
While most bike safety concerns involve crash-related risks, experiencing a pandemic presents a new level of awareness about potential concerns. If conditions are crowded, as with bike marathons or other kinds of gatherings, joining in may need to wait or further planning may be wise. On the other hand, many localities have miles of trails for biking and walking, often with users spread thin enough that social distancing is built into the activity. If your father or friend has been itching to get out of the house more since the pandemic hit and has a birthday coming up, a men’s bike is a great gift option.
Taking precautions into account doesn’t need to use a lot of extra time and resources, but may keep you healthy and active. After all, as someone who loves biking as a sport, you wouldn’t want to take the chance of coming down with an illness or injury and being put off your game for a time!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
