"Blackblade" wrote in message ...

Well, if you really have nothing better to do be my guest and work your way down the Lake District Mountain Rescue Report for 2013. You will find that they have saved you the trouble by largely detailing what went wrong; falls, injuries, inadequate equipment/clothing, exhaustion, getting stuck etc etc. Be my guest and knock yourself out. (https://www.ldsamra.org.uk/publicdoc...documentid=299)

Hikers and campers hardly ever come to grief unless they are doing something really stupid. Any kind of climbing is like biking on a trail - stupid because dangerous.

Ah, that old Dolan Dodge again. Make a proposition, ask for the data, and then a quick diversion to other topics when you're shown to be wrong.

READ the report that you asked me to post. There are numerous cases of people requiring rescue because they twisted their ankles, broke bones, got caught out by changing conditions etc etc. Anyone who chooses to access remote, high mountain areas is, inevitably, accepting a degree of risk in so doing. And, particularly so in the more remote areas.

There is never any consistency to the accidents and deaths of hikers and campers other than falls. With mountain biking accidents and deaths, there is total consistency.They are all the same which is why it makes for tiring reading. The main thing that impacts hikers and campers at high elevations is the weather. Not so with bikers. The main thing that impacts them is negotiating the trail itself. That says it all!

I don't know what you intend to 'explain' though nor what you suggest I explain to you. Mountainbikers, like hikers, make mistakes which result in injury, go to places from which they can't then easily extricate themselves, accidentally walk/ride over sharp drops, suffer from other medical conditions which are exacerbated by exercise etc etc. As I've said, repeatedly, there is no such thing as a totally 'safe' activity ... not mountainbiking and not hiking either.

Mountain biking done normally is extremely dangerous. "Mistakes" have nothing to do with it. Other outdoor activities such as hiking and camping done normally are not dangerous. That is the difference.

No, Ed, mountain biking done normally is a relatively safe activity. It is not as safe as hiking, I'll give you that, but safer than a lot of other sports such as rugby, skiing and american football to name just three. And, unlike you, I can back that up with real figures from independent bodies such as the BMA who have no axe to grind either way.

You are quite right to class mountain biking along side of other sports. Hiking is not a sport. It is a pastime. It is for folks trying to connect with nature and their own past as creatures of this earth. Find another playground for your sport. It has no place on hiking trails.

Mountain bikers are barbarians and have no right to be on any trail used by hikers – unless they want to get off their god damn ****ing bikes and walk like everyone else. When they crash and injure themselves, I rejoice! If and when they manage to kill themselves, I say good riddance to bad rubbish! Death to mountain biking!

“Tread softly! All the earth is holy ground.”
~ Christina Rossetti (Psalm 24),
from "A Later Life: A Double Sonnet of Sonnets"

Mountain bikes have wheels. Wheels are for roads.

Trails are for walking. What’s the matter? Can’t walk?

Ed Dolan the Great
aka
Saint Edward the Great