The Simple Smartphone App That Can Keep You Safe When Out Training

It’s not something that many of us consider too often when heading out on our own for a long endurance training ride or run a long way from home but personal safety is something that should be taken pretty seriously. There’s now a simple answer to the problem of how to let people know in the case of an incident, wherever you are even if you cannot get to your phone – Busby.

Back in May British Triathlon announced the free smartphone app as its Official Fitness Safety Partner (there’s a discount on premium for members too – see more at the end of the article) but we’ve only just got around to trying it out, and we’re glad we did. The app really simply helps provide added safety and peace of mind when out training with your phone on you through in-built features monitoring the sensors within your phone.

In the case of an incident the app will automatically start a 30-second countdown timer before then alerting your saved emergency contact, or five contacts with Premium, with your exact location – provided by what3words – if you do not respond during this time.

The app has plenty of other smart features which are suited to those regularly heading out training which include SmartStart, allowing you to set SafeZones, your home for example, in which the app remains dormant. However, upon leaving a 200m radius of your SmartZones, the app autostarts in the background of your smartphone. One thing we also really like about this app is that it’s not tracking you or storing data, only monitoring in case of an incident – something more and more people are aware of with tech companies.

Also great for when you have an issue when out, perhaps just a puncture or mechanical that you can’t fix, is the Flare function. When activated, this sends out a signal to other Busby users nearby or even local bike shops partnered with Busby, to alert them of your need for help so that they can respond and see your location when needed.

It’s a lot of help and security to have packed away into your pocket when heading out training or even just walking and something that you don’t even need to worry about starting and stopping too which is even more handy. 

Busby is clearly taking its approach to the safety of endurance athletes seriously with other recent partnerships including professional cycling teams Qhubeka NextHash and Team Novo Nordisk, as part of a drive to help raise awareness of the safety app to those living with diabetes. When you consider the number of accidents with cyclists alone out on the roads around the world each year, you can see why there would be such demand for something like Busby.

It gets the nod from us as a really simple yet effective safety tool to have in your back pocket, for free. It also has a very low drain on the battery when in use which is helpful if running Strava or other training apps on your phone too. When you read the claim on Busby’s website that they’ve already saved a number of lives then it puts it into perspective even more. 

As mentioned, British Triathlon members can access a discount on a premium Busby account through their online member area here. You can find out more and download the Busby app yourself over at www.busby.io.