Train Indoors

52K

A staggering number.

52,000 cyclists were injured in the US in clashes with motor vehicles in 2010. That in addition to 618 deaths. 

This article takes a look at some of the ways we can can stay off that list.

With this RCVman addendum:

TRAIN INDOORS. 

You may be the toughest kid on the block with off-the-charts physical and mental toughness. You may have firmly stamped on your brain the marketing mantra that suggests (wrongly) that there is no such thing as bad riding weather, you just don't have the right gear. Or you might be of the old school roadie crowd that rides outside dispute all conditions because it builds character. 

I have no problem with any of the above if that is what you want to do. If that is the way YOU roll, have fun.

On Wednesday I passed two cyclists (recognizing one) on a dark, rainy and windy late afternoon trip for supplies. They were struggling up a hill with two trucks slowed behind them. I pulled as far as I could to the right, putting two tires in the muddy ditch. My windshield was foggy with compromised visibility from the diagonal torrent. It was three in the afternoon but dark as sunset. You can draw your own conclusion as to the safety element. 

We had done a monster indoor hour set earlier that day. What were those two doing?

Having fun?

Getting tough?

Building character?

Being real men?

52,000.

Train indoors when the conditions dictate.

Please. 

At right: Michael and Junior after a great Thanksgiving meal test each other's powers of concentration. Indoors.