To Ride Or Not To Ride? Thoughts From Washington State On Mitigating Risk During COVID-19

In recent weeks, the Pacific Northwest has emerged as the United States’ hardest hit region in the growing COVID-19 pandemic.

The death toll has steadily ticked upward here in Washington and, as of Tuesday, March 17th, the Seattle Times reports 904 cases have been confirmed with 48 deaths. There’s no doubt that this is a public health crisis worth taking seriously, and Washington’s governor has responded accordingly by shutting down restaurants and bars, limiting public gatherings to no more than 50 people, and closing all public schools.

The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the nation’s largest statewide mountain bike advocacy and trail building organization, announced on Friday that it would suspend all its events, classes, volunteer work parties and board meetings through April 26th.


Coincidentally, the spread of COVID-19 comes at a time when Washington’s mountain bikers are itching to get outside. A dark and horrendously wet winter is finally starting to release its grip and endless miles of singletrack are firming up and reaching hero dirt status.

The perfect storm of mandatory work from home policies, a teasingly pleasant 10-day forecast, and literally having the Governor himself exclaiming the virtues of “social distancing”– a skill most mountain bikers have already mastered– all amidst the spread of a disease that carries with it relatively low risk for physically fit individuals is a cooped up rider’s dream.

Or is it?

Josef Hoffman, an English and Special Education teacher at Camas High School in southwest Washington, is an avid rider who serves as a statewide board member for Evergreen. He readily admits that when he first heard news of school closures, one of the first thoughts to cross his mind was “how many places I was going to go mountain biking”.

A conversation with a friend who works in medicine was enough to bring Josef back to earth.

“He told me that his entire floor has been converted into a triage unit,” Josef says in a recent video he uploaded to his YouTube channel, “Voice Over Trail Reviews”, where he shares trail reviews, tips and guides for finding the Pacific Northwest’s best trails.


And, no, those extra triage units aren’t for treating an influx of broken collarbones and twisted ankles. They’re for dealing with an expected influx of critically ill patients infected with the deadly COVID-19 virus.


With so few businesses and other amenities open and public gatherings highly discouraged by state officials, riding a mountain bike outside seems like one of the few fun and healthy things left to ethically do right now.

But Josef isn’t calling for an outright break from two-wheel escapades, he’s just urging us all to practice a little common sense.

“I think there’s a balance that needs to be struck,” says Josef, “Be thoughtful before you get out there and ride your bike.”

So, watch Josef’s full video, ride within your limits, and if you find yourself in the coming weeks ahead sizing up that steep chute that’s been haunting your dreams since last summer, take a step back and remember: We’re all in this together.




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Josef Hoffman is an English and Special Education teacher at Camas High School in Camas, Washington. He serves on Evergreen’s statewide and Southwest Chapter boards. Josef is planning to do some riding during the coming weeks but has created a general rule of thumb for himself: If he wouldn’t do it on his hardtail, he’s not going to risk doing it now.

Ian Terry works as Evergreen’s Communications Manager. He plans on keeping his sanity in the weeks ahead by riding regularly, though mostly alone or in small groups of close friends also practicing proper social distancing, and promises to “dial it back a notch” when out on the trails.