Barfing and Bikes: Why You Might Want Fenders

Barf Blog reports on an unusual study that took a look at why a an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness occured at the world’s largest bike race in Norway. In short, mud from cattle grazing areas splashed up onto the faces of participants.

Now I wouldn’t see the need to repeat this if I hadn’t met a cyclist here in Los Angeles that something similar happened to. In his case it was a case of giardia–his doctor theorized that the little buggers came up from the gutter via the wheel and landed on the top of his water bottle. He was very sick for months and lost a lot of weight.

Portlandians will laugh at our lack of fenders down in sunny Los Angeles. Perhaps this study might be enough to convince even roadies to get some. Well, only if there are $2,000 titanium fenders.

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5 Comments

  1. Since my bike is my car & I try to look presentable when I hop off and go shopping or to an appointment my beach cruiser has fenders. But the friend’s Doc might be onto something about the nozzles on water bottles. I think I will start covering mine with a plastic baggie. I also carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer for the times that touch my rims.

  2. I’ve got fenders, which don’t protect my water bottle much, but they do help prevent the mud stripe up my back. I will have to think about the water bottle part though.

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