A presentation to help riders and potential riders understand the risks they choose to accept when joining for cross-country style bicycle rides.

1. What’s My Risk?
We want your ride to be
healthy and happy
www.FullerCenterBikeAdventure.org

2. Risks
By and large, riding a bicycle is safe, rewarding,
and fun. Still, it does come with risks that have
the potential to threaten health and safety.
Before letting fear win, though, remember that
not only is a risk-free life probably not worth
living, but it’s also impossible! Living your life
without leaving your home may be the greatest
risk of all – the risk of missing out on life.

3. First, the good news…

4. Which is more dangerous?
Injury rates by activity are hard to track. Fatalities aren’t.
Cycling has a relatively low fatality rate.
Which is more dangerous?
Going swimming?
Driving a car?
Bicycling?
Just being alive? (average of all risks)

5. Which is more dangerous?
An often-cited study from 1998 released the results below:
One surprising result: Just being alive has a higher (average) risk of death
than cycling!
Still, this averages all cycling activities, and may not equal the rate of risk in
participating on our ride.
Sources: 900mpg.org, cyclehelmets.org, U.S. News & World Report
8.8
2.0 1.5 1.1 0.9 0.5 0.3
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
Skydiving On-road
motorcycling
Scuba diving Living (all
causes of
death)
Swimming Snowmobiling Passenger
cars
Bicycling
Fatalities per million hours
128.7

6. As compared to climbing Mt. Everest
Sports adventure is in the heart of humankind. As of 2006, the
attempt to climb Mt. Everest has been attempted since 1922 over
10,000 times!
Sadly, 2% of those have died – 207 climbers.
Over the 8 years of our ride, we have had over 500 riders join for one
or more weeks of the ride. There have been injuries of various levels –
some serious -- but to our knowledge all have made or are making full
recoveries.
To equal the risk of climbing Mt. Everest, 10 would have died.
Cycling has risks – but they could be worse.
Source: AdventureStats

7. Exercise promotes health
We all live with risk of injury or death. As the next chart shows,
some of the highest risks of death over time are not from what
you do, but what you don’t do. Inactivity is deadly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Science shows
that physical activity can reduce your risk of dying early from the
leading causes of death, like heart disease and some cancers.”
It goes on to say, “Only a few lifestyle choices have as large an
impact on your health as physical activity. People who are
physically active for about 7 hours a week have a 40 percent
lower risk of dying early than those who are active for less than
30 minutes a week.”
Sources: CDC

8. Number of deaths in U.S. in 2013
Sources: CDC and NHTSA
611,105
584,881
128,978
84,767 75,578
53,282 41,149 38,851 35,369
743
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000

9. Death by vehicle accidents as
compared to cycling
35,369
743
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
Motor Vehicle accidents Bicyclists
Nope, cycling is not entirely safe. Neither is driving.
Sources: CDC and NHTSA

10. And now the bad news

11. About those cycling deaths…
• It’s been said, “One death is a tragedy, one
million is a statistic.”
• 742 cyclists died in 2013.
• That’s more than two every day.
• Each one has a name, a family and a story.

12. Where the deaths occurred
Urban, 68%
Rural, 32%
Intersections,
57%
Non-
intersections,
34%
Other,
9%
Sources: NHTSA

13. Other factors
• Alcohol. About 1 in 4 cyclists killed had at least
some alcohol on their breath
– Even low levels of alcohol reduce reaction times.
That’s why we don’t allow riders to consume any
alcohol before or while riding.
• Riding after dark. About half of all cyclists
were killed when it may have been dark,
between 6pm – 6am.
– We get started early morning and all riders must
arrive before sunset.
Sources: NHTSA

14. The hard facts
• Transportation involves danger. The longer your
exposure, the more risky it becomes.
• You will spend many hours traveling by bicycle
during our rides.
• Other cross country bicycle rides by other
organizations have had deadly accidents,
sometimes several over the years.

15. The hard facts
• Besides some risk of death, risk of injury while cycling is
also elevated.
• Injuries could be potentially very painful and debilitating in
the short- or long-term.
• This is why we require all participants to own health
insurance, even if it means purchasing a short-term
insurance policy for the duration of your time on the ride.
• As with everyone, you may want to consider other types of
insurance as well, such as life, disability, or long-term-care
insurance.

16. Some specific risks you will encounter
• Collision with car and truck
traffic as we ride on open
public roadways
• Adverse weather and road
surface conditions
• Physical inability to
complete the mileage in
good health, which is why it
is important that you only
participate if you know you
are medically able to do so,
such as by training and
visiting with your doctor
• Bicycle malfunction
• Actions of other cyclists
sharing the road or
participating in the event
• Various risks of injury on
construction worksites
• Illness from food
preparation or food
service
• Vehicle accidents while
riding in team support
vehicles
• Damage, loss, or theft of
your bicycle or other
possessions

17. There it is
• And as you might guess, as much as we want you
to be safe, as a ministry partnering with the
world’s poor, The Fuller Center for Housing
cannot accept liability for your risks, loss, or
injuries.
• It’s all in the waiver.
• We hope you’ll participate, but it’s your decision
which risks you deem worth taking in your life.

18. Why we’re telling you all this
• We want you to be able to make an informed
decision about your risks in joining our ride.
• We want you to know that as much as we value
safety, we cannot guarantee safety – and neither
can you when you drive to the grocery store.
• We want you to take our safety rules and
materials seriously to promote a safe ride for all.

19. One thing more
Don’t forget what (we feel) makes it all worth it!

20. www.FullerCenterBikeAdventure.org