Happier Trails

By Daren Fonda

Heath Woods doesn't get much business these days. A paramedic at Mount Snow in Vermont, he treats injured mountain bikers during the summer. Yet over a four-week stretch during which hundreds of riders braved the mountain's rocky woodland trails and craggy fields, he saw nary a soul. A few years ago, he bandaged half a dozen banged-up riders each weekend. Now, says Woods, 26, "the equipment is so much better, fewer riders are getting hurt."

Mountain-biking injuries have plummeted since the mid-'90s. About 48,600 people sustained such injuries in 1995, reports the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. In 2001 the figure was 19,500, a 60% drop. In the meantime, ridership has risen 26%, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.

There's no question that the equipment has improved. Rent a cross-country bike these days, and you're likely to get a sturdy steed with hydraulic or mechanical disk brakes, which will help prevent you from skidding out of control when descending a steep incline. A few years ago, the technology appealed mainly to downhill racers, but it has since become widespread. New rear suspensions allow bikers to alter their mount's shock-absorbing capacity to accommodate the terrain. This year Specialized launched a line of bikes, Epic ($1,900+), whose suspension system, called "the Brain," automatically adjusts the rear shock according to the impact of the bumps.

Riders' protective gear is nearly as sophisticated. Body armor once used mainly for dirt-track motorcycle racing has become fashionable among mountain bikers. A $500 body suit from the Italian designer Dainese features protection from the shoulders to the shins, with an aluminum "honeycomb inner structure" to help dissipate body heat.

The safety options appeal to riders like Calvin Schlenker, 36, an energy trader in Houston. "You get to an age," he says, "when you want to do a sport that gives you a rush of adrenaline, but you don't need a broken leg." --By Daren Fonda