I ride outside all the time from April to October/ November. I only ride indoors when daylight is limited or if there is bad weather. I don’t think it’s any more dangerous now than it used to be, and the official US data doesn’t seem to suggest it’s any worse. Once a year somebody will be an a hole but the vast majority of drivers are just fine. I live in New Hampshire. It’s all about your subjective perception of risk. I realize my perspective is probably supported by where I live.
Also just be aware this is a once every 6 month conversation on slow twitch. To make it interesting this time it would be great if everyone could say where they live if they are afraid to ride outside.
I haven’t cycled regularly on the roads since 2020. I quit for a while because I was working from home during the pandemic (no bike commute) and there were no tris in 2020, but with the increase I’ve seen since then in speeding in excess of 20+ mph over the limit, the increase in the no. of high-profile vehicles and a very noticeable decrease in traffic enforcement in Ohio, I’ve been hesitant to resume riding regularly on the roads which I had done for decades.
Part of that is my age (64) with similar concerns as Dean T and part of it is that I discovered I can fulfill my current need to play outside simply by running about 9 hours a week. I still do reasonably well in local sprint tris with basically no cycling (or swim) training.
Best wishes and thanks to those who continue to ride regularly on the roads. If everyone gets too scared to ride on the roads, those who think they shouldn’t have to share the roads will have won.
FWIW, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety statistics: U.S.fatalities from bicycling 1975-2021.
I do a good amount of indoor riding, partially due to weather, but also do to safety. Another aspect is time - it’s much easier to hope on the trainer/indoor bike 20 minutes after waking up than getting everything ready for an outside ride.
When I do ride outside I get out stupid early with a ton of lights - I’ve done many rides starting at 4 AM. I always say it’s been a good ride when I’ve seen more deer than cars - I like to keep the deer/car ration always in favor of the deer, and that’s usually the case when I do these early rides.
I’ll also ride outside when I’m not home, although I’ve been known to lug the trainer and a fan along when we travel via car.
I figure it’s a lot harder to die riding inside than outside, so I usually stick with the less-dying option.
Never inside. Always outside mix of gravel and tri bike.
FWIW, I also swim open water only, no pool.
Running outside too, never treadmill.
I started this to have fun, not to be brain dead.
I do between 5-7hrs every Sunday with a 6-20km run off the bike
I am not pro nor do any racing at all anymore. I do it because I enjoy it, keeps my head in a good space and like to test myself.
After 2 broken shoulders from hit and runs and the standard of drivers that exist now it is just safer
The vast majority of my riding is in my basement in front of Zwift. Probably 90%.
Most outdoor rides are on a local trail.
Safety is one of the reasons I ride indoors, but not the biggest.
I like the controlled environment for training. No stoplights. No weather-related missed workouts. No dogs. No crappy roads.
The watts and intensity are always exactly where I want them.
I do a good amount of indoor riding, partially due to weather, but also do to safety. Another aspect is time - it’s much easier to hope on the trainer/indoor bike 20 minutes after waking up than getting everything ready for an outside ride.
I’ll also ride outside when I’m not home, although I’ve been known to lug the trainer and a fan along when we travel via car.
I figure it’s a lot harder to die riding inside than outside, so I usually stick with the less-dying option.
This is me too.
For me, I feel like I still have to get outside some in aero training in. I have a slightly different position in aero when I’m not actually looking up a road, even as I try to emulate as best I can. I get sore and tired fast unless I do an outside ride here and there. Otherwise, you’ll find me indoors.
I used to be a 100% outside person 10 years ago, but direct drive trainers and technology have changed that. Training wise, indoor is awesome.
We seem to have this thread about once a month, usually after some well publicized accident. It always strikes me as odd how eager people here are to share how much they don’t ride outside. I’ve come to the conclusion that people that do all their riding indoors, ride for very different reasons than I do.
Some seem to feel like every ride is a near death experience, while others ride for years or decades without even a close call. I’m clearly in that second group. I just don’t see the danger that others see. I’m sure it’s a combination of where I live, how I ride and how I perceive danger, but I rarely give a second thought to the dangers of cycling in traffic. I have much more fear of mass start events with zero traffic.
I live in Alabama south of I10, but I lived in The Netherlands until age 34. I think you’re absolutely right. Alabama is not cycling friendly but riding is second nature to me.
Just to be a counterpoint to the echo-chamber…No, I still ride outside on roads, as much as possible.
x2. 95% outside. But I’m also lucky that (though a lot by design) that my backyard is adjacent to thousands of square miles of the best offroad cycling on the planet. And the on road stuff is also on the safer side. I pretty much just ride indoors when the weather is really brutal, or if I want to throw down in an indoor race or something.
For me outdoors is pretty much the whole point. Racing and stuff is just an excuse to schedule time outdoors.
We seem to have this thread about once a month, usually after some well publicized accident. It always strikes me as odd how eager people here are to share how much they don’t ride outside. I’ve come to the conclusion that people that do all their riding indoors, ride for very different reasons than I do.
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Yep…I wouldn’t bother riding at all if I felt I couldn’t ride outdoors.There is too much to see and experience for me to spend all my time riding inside…Hell,I still use a dumb trainer inside and have no interest in Zwift or Fulgaz or any other virtual platform.
I get that big city riding is tough and I specifically selected this place in Oz to ride when Covid forced me back to here because it is way more cycling friendly than other coastal places in Australia.
I live a stones throw from the Provincial parliament (and occasionally am tempted to see if that’s true). It’s an 1 hour ride to get out of town or a 1/2 drive to get to a parking lot that cyclists use, then bike from there. It’s half a day whatever I do. Country riding is pretty safe here but town riding is a nightmare on a twitchy Tri bike.
Covid stopped the group and club rides (my choice to some degree) and not racing removed the actual need. So I rode indoors for most of two years with some outside riding when Toronto shut down a few highways to accommodate riding. Then the City stopped doing the closures and went one step further by closing interconnecting trails because of a huge roadworks program. So I have all but given up riding outdoors. Ride in the gym or on a home setup. Might finally set up online riding this winter because riding and watching the tele is boring.
One thing that I think is worth mentioning about indoor training is that I believe it more closely reflects race conditions, which is no stopping, no coasting and no socializing. My race speed hasn’t suffered much and most of that is age related.
It’s worth noting that modern direct drive trainers are a completely different experience than old wheel-on mag trainers. One feels like riding a bike, the other like pedaling through mud. Nevermind Zwift and such to use in comparison to the old shift-gears-to-make-it-harder.
One side of the equation is how bad the roads are, but the other side is how good the indoors experience has become.
It’s worth noting that modern direct drive trainers are a completely different experience than old wheel-on mag trainers. One feels like riding a bike, the other like pedaling through mud. Nevermind Zwift and such to use in comparison to the old shift-gears-to-make-it-harder.
One side of the equation is how bad the roads are, but the other side is how good the indoors experience has become.
Actually, wheel-on mag trainers feel amazingly smooth. Way better smooth feel than a Wahoo Kickr. When I first switched to the Kickr before trying all the smart features, I almost returned it as the Fluid trainer felt so much better!
Cant’ deny however how excellent the smart features of direct drive trainers are. So even if my Fluid2 always and still feels smoother than my Kickr by a lot, the Kickr’s erg and app compatibility means it’s the main equipment. Nothing wrong with the outstanding feel of fluid wheel-on trainers, though!
I have found a happy medium. I ride indoors when weather forces me to. Otherwise I ride outdoors - but not on the open road. I line in a neighborhood with a basic 5 mile loop. With a few twists and turns I can make nearly 8 miles. There is traffic but it’s slow and there are always people out doing something on the roads so I feel like motorists are somewhat looking out for people. Using this 5-8 mile loop, I’ve done 50-60 mile rides, which is about as far as I’m going to ride these days. So while I do the majority of my rides outdoors, it’s not on the open road.
100% of my riding is outdoors during decent weather, and will try and ride outside in winter if it’s not too wet or icy.
I live about 30miles outside of London and most drivers are used to cyclists round here, so never had any trouble on that front.
Plus I can get a much better cup of coffee on my rides than I can make at home!!
I live in the north of England and have been riding since the late 80’s. There is no doubt that there are far more cars on our roads and the standard of driving is undoubtedly a lot worse (speed, impatience, distraction etc). I’m very lucky to live in an area where I can find quieter roads so if I can ride outdoors I will, I loathe the indoor trainer…including Zwift and all the rest. The only time I’m indoors is if it’s blowing a gale or icy.
When I lived in rural Oregon the only thing that kept me from riding outside was the weather for a good part of the year. 98% of drivers were accommodating and I felt very safe.
Now that we’re back living on the east coast of FL my training is about 50/50 indoor/outdoor due to work and family.
100% of my outdoor riding is on a rail trail that’s very close by. The amount of aggressive and distracted drivers in this area is baffling.
The number of beer bottles that are smashed on the sections of the rail trail adjacent to the road is frustrating… you don’t want cyclists on the road, yet you want to F up the one place they can safely ride and not interfere with traffic. Some people are just miserable pricks.
