Mountain Biking Lake District Safety

Mountain Biking in the Lake District may take you to areas where the sport becomes extreme. Since extreme sport riders often push the limits of their ability, this is when accidents can happen and injuries result.

From my own experience it is the ‘sticky out bits’ of the body that seem to attract injury. By that I mean the head, shoulders, elbows, knees, and hands. Over the years I’ve had anything from ‘sub-lux’ to gravel rash ( did I hear someone think that it is down to c**p riding – maybe right there!)

This should not put you off going out on a ride though because nowadays body protective clothing is so good that one is spoilt for choice. When I started out protective equipment wasn’t up to much, but today there is a whole range of body armour to choose from.

What you might need to wear in the way of protective clothing depends on the type of ride you intend to tackle. You need to assess the likely risks to your body and clobber up with appropriate armour.

For the less serious rides you may just want to protect your elbows and knees, and for just general riding I favour padded palm, fingerless gloves and a wrap around type of eye shades that have coloured, interchangeable lenses. Always, wherever you are riding, wear a good helmet.

If you intend to compete or do the really serious stuff then you will be looking for full body armour to protect your shoulders, chest, back ,shins and thighs also. This type of protection is a very personal choice and quite expensive; so ask around your MTB companions and see what they recommend. Then make your own decision on what to buy.

So you are in full body armour and immortal right? Wrong, all you are is better protected so do carry a first aid kit and know how to use it. If you are riding solo , just in case you have an accident, set up your first aid kit before you go out so you can use it single handed.

If you do come to grief, would you lose earnings? If you would, then look for a good MTB insurance policy to cover you. It is not optional for the self-employed.

Now off you go, get out your map and check the Lake District’s many remote bridleways or maybe try Whinlatter or Grizedale this week – it is up to you.

Check out the blogs and articles on www.mountainbikinglakedistrict.com regularly and we wish you happy riding.

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