Riding a bike on a mountainous trail is very hard on the body

in various ways, especially older bodies. The reports from the field
are just

too numerous and widespread to conclude anything other than that
riding your

bike on a trail is dangerous. The main danger is from falls from the
front wheel

hitting an object in the pathway and being ejected over the
handlebars.*

Wheels need fairly smooth pathways whereas walkers don't. Hikers
merely step

over objects in the pathway.

Way to avoid the question Ed.* Please answer it.* Is
hiking safe if some people end up dead doing it ?

Hiking is not dangerous at all provided you use your common
sense. Biking on trails is dangerous no matter how much common sense you
exercise. That is because it is a stupid thing to be doing in the first
place.

I reiterate. If hiking is safe then how come people end up dead doing it ? Read the report from the Lake District. The casualties were mostly caused by people falling over precipices either because they tripped on the trail or because visibility was poor due to weather. If you think that you can go out into wilderness, on foot or on a bike, and be perfectly safe then you're deluding yourself.

Too bad we can't raise from the dead all those killed by

mountain biking and ask them if it (being dead) was worth it
*

Life is for living. I'd far rather have a shorter, but active and full,
life than a morose and miserable descent into grumpy old age.

You are quite mistaken about that. Every age has its own
rewards, but you have to live long enough to reach old age in order to know
that. Grumpiness is extremely enjoyable! Hells Bells, I have been morose and
miserable my whole life. We Americans only pursue happiness. We never catch
it.

Well, I am not in the business of telling anyone else how to live their life ... but I am not grumpy and I am, mostly, very happy. I am not interested in the pursuit of an elusive goal at the end of my lifetime, I am interested in enjoying and living my life now. For me, that involves an element of exhilaration and joy ... which I experience when I push my boundaries.