So Much for Mountain Biking's Alleged "Health Benefit"

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 01:45:56 GMT, Mike Vandeman
wrote:

http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs...51767,00.html:

Ojai man collapses, dies during mountain bike ride

December 30, 2005

An Ojai man died of unknown health problems while mountain biking with a friend
Thursday, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said.

It really amazes me that the world authority on statistics and
research methodology can only provide anecdotal evidence yet again,
alternating with a secondary analysis of studies done by others and
coming to entirely different conclusions that match your existing
bias. I guess all that is better than doing any original research or
thinking.

Given the number of off-road mountain bikers you say there are, and
the number of miles you say they each ride in a year, and the small
number of these anecdotal accounts you give, although your honesty,
thoroughness and accuracy are unquestionable, the likelihood of
serious injury or death from mountain biking makes it far safer
statistically than praying in church/temple/mosque.

Also, pretending that you care about people you vilify at every chance
does not make up for your reveling in the death of yet another human
being. By another human being, I mean another incident. Your lack of
affect and empathy are alarming.

As you have repeatedly supported and applauded the placing of
dangerous traps along mountain bike trails, it is possible that many
of the injuries you ascribe to mountain biking may actually be caused
by those traps rather than inherent risks of mountain biking itself.

See the dangers of having a monomanical advocate pretending to be an
objective observer, which casts your every word as suspect.
Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
--
At the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom