Jolting whilst cycling

[FeistySheep]

I know you're not supposed to do 'jarring' activities whilst pregnant, such as trampoling or downhill mountain biking etc. But I would like to know if anyone has any proper info about more ordinary off road cycling.

The off road cycling I do is generally along rough gravel stone paths, with the stones on the path about 4-6cm in diameter. You can imagine it makes for a jiggly ride! I don't leave the ground at any time so no 'jarring' impacts. The roads are not a better option as full of potholes, and in summer here the roads are dangerous (lots of tourists who can't drive their hire cars properly).

I'm not concerned about falling off - I am an experienced cyclist and I am prepared to take this small risk to gain the huge benefits of exercise. I am also not concerned about overdoing it in terms of too fast/too far etc - I know how to assess what my body can take and how to take it easy. I literally only want to know about the jolting from the paths.

I actually asked my obstetrician about this, but he wouldn't commit, just pointed me to NICE guidelines which were unhelpful.

Does anyone know any actual studies or 'proper' (NHS or similar) online resources which focus on how much bumping/jolting is okay? Am thinking throughout the second trimester and maybe early third, depending how I feel. I did a bit of this kind of cycling in my first pregnancy, but am less gungho with this one and would prefer to check out some studies etc!

Not sure I'd take the advice of randoms off the internet about this. If your obstetrician was non-comittal, it's not an overwhelming yes is it.

Of course I'm not taking advice of randoms (lovely though they are)! That's why I was asking for links to studies or similar...

My obstretrician wouldn't commit to any kind of exercise being safe; I think he is just risk-averse. I asked how much walking was safe and he wouldn't tell me that either!

If there were reliable studies, NICE guidelines would incorporate them.
The problem with questions like these is that designing a proper study is ethically impossible. How do you control the intensity and the conditions of cycling for all your participants? And who would participate if your tag line is "We want to find out if cycling will harm your unborn baby, join us now"?
Anyway, I personally would not cycle on gravel or busy roads. Maybe a static bike until the baby comes, for the exercise benefits?

Thanks for replying, eloiseislost :)

I couldn't find any studies myself, but that doesn't mean they're not out there. Ethical studies can be done retrospectively by asking women what kind of cycling they chose to do during pregnancy, so it is possible.

NICE guidelines DO recommend cycling, but irritatingly do not specify which type they consider safe. They don't even say 'no downhill mountain biking' which is clearly dangerous, so you can't take a lot of what they say as gospel sadly.

Never mind anyway, I knew it was a long shot!

@FeistySheep Retrospective studies are far from the "golden standard" (randomised control trial) NICE is looking at when composing guidelines. Memory and bias can affect people's perception of past events. For example, I was reading retrospective studies about exercise and pregnancy in general and a few studies have found a link between exercise and miscarriage. However, the authors note a link is not necessarily a causal relationship. It could be that women with higher hormone levels ("safer" pregnancies to begin with) feel nauseous and tired and thus avoid exercise. Or women who did go on to have a miscarriage tend to blame themselves so they remember every little thing they have done and report more accurately.

If studies about the specific type of cycling you want to do were out there, you would've found them, they are not kept in a top secret place, most if not all reputable periodicals are found on Google Scholar.

I'm afraid you won't find anyone to tell you whether it's OK or not; you are free to listen to your body and do what you think it's best for yourself and your baby.
Best of luck!