Mountain Biking is Recreation, Not Exercise Says Scotland's National Clinical Director

Mountain Biking is Recreation, Not Exercise Says Scotland’s National Clinical Director

A government official in Scotland says mountain biking is not a valid form of exercise under stay-at-home guidance, while a mountain biker near Los Angeles is rescued after sustaining an injury on a remote trail.

By Jeff Barber
April 13, 2020 Last Updated: April 13, 2020

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photo courtesy Graeme McClean, Mountain Biking Scotland.

The National is reporting that mountain bikers in Scotland are being told that mountain biking is not a valid reason to leave home for exercise.

National Clinical Director Jason Leitch says, “You can leave home for the four reasons that you now know well.”

“Can I just emphasize that exercise is exercise, not recreation, not your hobby. It’s not the time to go mountain biking. You need to just use it for 30, up to 60 minutes from your home to exercise to stay healthy and then stay at home.”

Some have pointed out that Scotland’s current stay-at-home regulations do not specifically define what constitutes exercise, nor do they stipulate a time limit. Mountain bike Scotland sent the following tweet in response.

Hi @jasonleitch we are doing our utmost to promote your advice. Mountain biking(MTB) is not just a hobby it is a form of exercise and is essential for the physical and mental well being of many riders. We were wondering why you singled out MTB in your daily briefing earlier?
— DMBinS (@dmbins) April 10, 2020

In other news, a mountain biker was rescued this weekend after suffering a facial injury in a remote area of the San Gabriel mountains outside Los Angeles, California. A helicopter transported him to a trauma center for treatment.

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spreadsheet British Columbia // 2014
Apr 16, 2020

Is everyone commenting blind to the irony of this article? While arguing that a mountain bike is exercise (which it is) the article finishes off with a story about a mountain biker being rescued and transported by a helicopter to a trauma center. That's why mountain biking is an issue--it's not just exercise. Inevitably, someone mountain biking will get hurt which in turn exposes search and rescue, emergency services and anyone else involved in the incident and ties up medical resources. Everything is not a power grab by the government to destroy your life. They're trying to make decisions (based on imperfect data) about how to protect the public, allocate scarce resources and protect front line people. Give them a break. Yes, mountain biking is an important form of exercise and mental therapy. But it isn't essential and in some areas, that means it may need to be put on hold for the good of others. Keep some perspective.

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Jeff Barber Georgia // 1998
Apr 16, 2020

Good point. Unfortunately there have been more MTB rescues this week:

https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2020/04/14/rescue-team-called-out-to-ilkley-moor-after-mountain-biker-injures-leg
https://www.nsnews.com/news/dnv-firefighters-rescue-injured-mountain-biker-1.24117787

Blackhat Tennessee // 2020
Apr 19, 2020

Just another example of the first rule of Coronavirus: We don't know what to do, so let's stop everyone from having fun and see if that helps.

Evan, we're all aware of the issue caused by rescues but the issue is proportion and context. Singletracks is posting one or two rescue stories per week from all over the globe. That's fine, and I support them highlighting the need to ride responsibly right now. But the actual impact of these incidents is less than a drop in the bucket in a world of 6 Billion and represents an incredibly tiny cost on a per km basis for all MTB activities. We need to look for intelligent ways to reduce the load on the medical system, but that doesn't mean that any potential load makes an activity unacceptable. Is there a movement to shame people who play video games instead of getting exercise and sunlight? Are we going to see news stories questioning why they contributed to the load on the healthcare system if they wind up on a vent? And there's no website tracking the number of lifeflights from auto accidents right now while documenting whether the travel was actually essential or not. Everything has a risk to create an unnecessary load on the healthcare system when looked at through the hyper critical eye applied to fun activities like mountain biking.

If governments are actually worried about the strain from rescues then suspend all backcountry rescue operations and be done with it. Individuals can decide whether the risks justify it for themselves. But of course that's callous or barbaric. Much more civilized to demonize everyone doing anything resembling the problem activity while still offering a safety net for irresponsible behaviour. Maybe close trails to thousands because of the actions of a single person.

I don't think it's ironic that someone doesn't want their XC ride on urban trails with a road within 2 miles of every point demonized because someone f'ed up in the middle of nowhere. The underlying beliefs and attitudes being displayed are pretty messed up and need to be called out.

dohoagland Arizona // 2016
Apr 20, 2020

Our entire life of the last several years is social distancing, living full time in our RV and boondocking on public lands. But some of the areas we frequent yearly (Moab) have now disallowed dispersed camping anywhere near the town. People we follow on Instagram are being pushed off public lands for no logical purpose or reason. Meanwhile almost all the campgrounds are closed as well.

Many people seem to feel if you're not suffering then you aren't taking the virus seriously enough, you are not virtuous enough. The fact is that our lifestyle was already so minimalist and self sufficient that the virus has not impacted our day to day life in any way other than we wash our hands a lot more and make a point of minimizing all shopping and physical contacts as much as possible.

dohoagland Arizona // 2016
Apr 16, 2020

Probably more Facebook drama and virtue signalling. Here in La Ventana in Mexico they closed the beaches because they would have been flooded with families partying for the Semana Santa holiday week, that would have been a disaster as it is a huge horde of folks camping on the beaches with poor sanitation. Meanwhile we continued to kite board while maintaining separation on shore, no risk at all. Then complainers started making a fuss, we're not observing the law yada yada, so everyone agreed to not kite during the holiday week to show respect. Afterwards the complainers continue their campaign to banish watersports so now it's done until restrictions are lifted Meanwhile I saw the village street packed with 50 cars on Easter, a huge fiesta going on, not looking good for the future.

All in all though the Mexicans are more reasonable that the USA, we can move around as we wish,
no one says you can't go biking and we have Mexico's best MTB trails here in this town. Stores have washing stations and require masks, limit the number of people at one time, plenty of toilet paper and everything, nobody sick in this town yet. We're sticking it out here on our land, Rancho Sueno Azul.

BTW, kite boarding is huge fun but barely qualifies as exercise compared to mountain biking. It's all about finesse and a relaxed grip.

Bike Nerd Colorado // 2017
Apr 13, 2020

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The chances of contracting the coronavirus while engaging in outdoor activities and maintaining a 6 foot distance in almost zero. Banning outdoor activities is the misguided attempt of government officials who do not understand the science of virus transmission to feel like they are doing something. However, all they are doing is controlling people and taking away our civil liberties. If they really understood the science of virus transmission, they would be requiring everyone to wear a mask when they were in indoor public spaces, like the grocery store. They would also require all businesses to have hand sanitizing stations at every entrance and exit and have everyone sanitize their hands upon entering and leaving. The places you are most likely to contract the coronavirus are places like the grocery store or drug store so that is the place where masks and hand sanitizing should be most required but all businesses that remain open should be requiring masks and hand sanitizing. Unfortunately, half the employees at my local grocery store aren't even wearing masks. The management of these grocery stores should be the ones being arrested, not some guy going for a bike ride. And you know the reason they aren't requiring masks is that they don't want to pay for them.

killer climb Pennsylvania // 2019
Apr 14, 2020

You would think they would understand that mountain biking is very good exercise. Low intensity low impact biking is still exercise actually really good exercise. On top of the cardio and strength you get from biking the mental benefits are off the charts in my eyes. All this that is going on and no work ,not knowing when work will come again and how hard it will be to find work can pull you apart but if you go for a heart pounding ride for even just a hour and everything seems to come back normal. One ride and it would be all clear to the people that think its not exercise. Chances are you have strong lungs and a strong heart if your a mountain biker and like someone we know said ,It would take a well timed hacking fit by a sick passerby to increase the odds. Agreed

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