Spinal Cord Injuries in Mountain Biking

A recent post by NSMB cause a stir in the comments questioning the validity of a study on spinal cord injury in mountain biking as well as some defending the study urging those to use the data in a positive way.

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a catastrophic injury which seriously alters the life of those who suffer a SCI.

There are many downstream affects on loved ones, friends, emergency response personelle and the community the mountain biker is a part of.

A study from the UBC School of Medicine looked at the rate of SCI in British Columbia, Canada and compared the total number of SCI to hockey and US football. Ultimately the total number of SCI in mountain bikers was higher than these other sports. While this is just a retrospective study taking a look at trends over the past 14 years. Understandably there are multiple limitations to the study.

Does it bring up a good point that there is an observable risk of SCI while mountain biking?

What can we do with this data?

Should we shrug it off a sensationalist fear mongering like some on the NSMB comment section suggested?

I recorded my thoughts as an Athletic Therapist who has worked in the field for many sports, including providing medical coverage at MTB events. I have also collected data for studies looking into injury rates and mechanisms in the past.