Originally Posted by
unterhausen
Back to the original subject, a lot of randonneurs are of the age where the general population starts to have heart problems, often fatal. We are out, away from services, and if a serious heart issue happens then, the outcomes can be really serious. Fortunately this kind of thing is pretty rare, certainly more rare than among our age cohort that doesn't exercise. I am at risk for heart problems, so I am taking them seriously. It's obvious that cycling isn't a cure for this kind of thing.
Nearly every year on RAGBRAI, one rider out of the 10-20,000 will die of a heart attack. It will make the news, and friends and family members will let me know once I've gotten home myself. There seems to be a subtext to it that riding bikes can be dangerous, but I have to remind them that a lot more people died on their couches that week. They just didn't make the news.
