Do you wear a helmet?

[Alpe d'Huez]

I wear mine 99% of the time. Only on really hot days on quiet roads, or taking it off going up big climbs with no traffic do I not. In my state (Oregon) it is mandatory under the age of 18, a law I am in favor of.

I wish pros were still allowed to take them off if a stage ends on a climb.

Me too.

I stopped riding seriously (well as seriously as local club riders get) in about '95 and had never worn one up to then.. (ask anyone who was riding 85-95 if they wore a helmet and virtually nobody did..)

Sort of. I raced using an old Bell which was horribly uncomfortable, in about 1987(?), but rarely rode with it. When the Giro Prolight came out in I think 1989, I bought one, and rode with it about 80% of the time.

I do support your "old timer" decision though Dim. Just be careful.

Steamboat Springs

Lucky you! How far are RCR 38 and FS-301 paved, do you know? Looks like spectacular riding in there.

Mrs. Alpe and I are trying to figure out how to move to Durango. And we already live in a beautiful part of the country!

In BC where I live it IS compulsory.... I'm a small town doc and also saw a 4 year old who was riding with his mum on the sidewalk, suddenly veered onto the street and... there is NO excuse for going without.

Good post. Even though you're from BC.

 

[philcrisp]

I wish you luck and accident-free cycling. While I am relatively confident of my own abilities, especially when riding solo or with certain friends, I know I have no control over anything other than myself on the bike. I also know that if it comes down to me versus a car, I'm going to lose. I'll take helmet hair and sweat any day.

I spent eight years working in the British driver education system. The number of accidents that are genuinely not your fault is much, much smaller than commonly supposed.

 

[elapid]

I spent eight years working in the British driver education system. The number of accidents that are genuinely not your fault is much, much smaller than commonly supposed.

True, but you still don't have control over automobiles. I am not sure about Great Britain, but some drivers can be quite anti-bike in North America and Australia. They may not deliberately hit you, although getting as close as possible seems to be a sport to some, but they certainly will make life uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous for cyclists. Regardless, nobody has 100% control over their bikes or how they react to dangerous situations, whether it be their fault or others. Again, happy trails and all the best for safe cycling.

 

[philcrisp]

And to you sir.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I usually don't ride with a helmet due to the simple fact that 75% of all my rides are virtually carless fore I live in the boondocks, and people out here are generally respectful of cyclists. The first 25% is scooting around two lakes with designated bike paths to get out of the last town before ultimate desolation. Sometimes in the fat part of the ride I won't see a car for the better part of an hour, probably since the bulk of my riding time is done when everybody is at their 9-5s. Most of my friends that live in the city wear them all the time, and so do I when they persuade me to ride into town a handful of times a year, but they're usually coming out to my stomping grounds helmetless anyway. You could either call me lucky or stupid, I've heard plenty both.

 

[Winterfold]

I tend to follow a similar logic.

However recently after taking my daughter to school, we had forgotten something so I had to go back. Switched the MTB/tagalong for the commuter bike and was going to go without helmet when I thought that as I was going to a primary school better set a good example. Stopped at a mates house to pick something up, then came round on the pavement about 5 yards from his house 10-15 minutes later with a crowd around me. Absolutely no idea what happened but 2 spars of the Giro were bust over my temple. My GP came out, and called ambulance, went off to the hospital and had an MRI and fortunately nothing serious except a minor shoulder separation. Doc has a look at the helmet and had no doubt it was major skull fracture on a fragile bit of the skull if it hadnt been on.

Apparently slow (would be amazed if was doing more than 5mph at the time) crashes are just as bad if not worse as you tend to hit the deck hard vertically rather than fast and at an oblique angle.

Still no idea what happened and this was 6 weeks ago now.

Yes a cap looks better and is way cooler but if you have responsibilities then you should wear a helmet.

 

[180mmCrank]

Pretty much always wear a lid - my 4 year old son would give me such a hard time if I didn't it wouldn't be worth it anyway

A helmet saved my life once - I was climbing on Milestone Buttress, Tryfan in North Wales when a rock the size of a small TV happened to fall on my head. Trashed my hat but saved my head. So I have always had a soft spot for helmets after that - feel I sort of owe one.

The avitar is me on Alpe D'huez - and I know I don't have a hat on. The reason (and not an excuse) is that I had ridden solo from Gap along the 2006 TdF route ... and I guess I wanted to ride up the Alpe 'old school' - please don't tell Conor my 4 year old

To me wearing a helmet just makes sense (and as has been said it's the law in BC!)

 

[Steampunk]

True, but you still don't have control over automobiles. I am not sure about Great Britain, but some drivers can be quite anti-bike in North America and Australia. They may not deliberately hit you, although getting as close as possible seems to be a sport to some, but they certainly will make life uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous for cyclists. Regardless, nobody has 100% control over their bikes or how they react to dangerous situations, whether it be their fault or others. Again, happy trails and all the best for safe cycling.

Are automobiles the only reason riders come off their bikes and need a helmet?

 

[elapid]

Are automobiles the only reason riders come off their bikes and need a helmet?

No - if you read my first post in this thread I described a good friend of mine that sustained permanent personality and career changing brain damage after coming off his bike at low speed without a helmet. He cannot remember what happened. But of course there are plenty of other reasons: hitting an unexpected bump, overcooking a corner, rubbing wheels, inattention, any race situation, and falls, trees, branches, rocks etc on the trails. The list can go on and on, but all can result in you hitting your head.

 

[philcrisp]

If you take Voight's recent accident as an example the force generated by the bike's speed would have acted at a shallow angel across his head being disappated while he slid, while the force from falling down acted fairly directly. The EU testing standard is based on falling off a stationary bicycle.

 

[Winterfold]

If you take Voight's recent accident as an example the force generated by the bike's speed would have acted at a shallow angel across his head being disappated while he slid, while the force from falling down acted fairly directly. The EU testing standard is based on falling off a stationary bicycle.

Voight's crash was far more spectacular than mine - but he was out cold for a lot shorter time than I was. I think if you have some forward momentum then you are going to bounce rather than smack. If you are pushing down on the pedal as the same time something jams your front wheel then you are going over the bars with huge force even if moving very slowly. Even from completely stationary your head will hit the floor at ~35kph just through gravity.

8 years I commute through Central London with no real injuries (so I think I am streetwise) and do a lot of events with technical descents then I move to the country and one day i wake up after a bad accident with no recollection or understanding of what happened.

**** happens - I am glad I had a lid on.

 

[shawnrohrbach]

What did it for me was a hot prospect racer back in 1992 when I was training with him. An SUV drove by too close and a combination of wind and a few loose rocks, nothing serious for a CAT 1 rider, caused him to slip to the inside (luckily not under the wheels) hit his head on hard dirt, and now he sits in a wheel chair and has a hard time carrying on a conversation. The docs all say it is the head injury, period.

 

[cromagnon]

Large blow to head = potential for brain swelling.

So you can get up from the crash, say you're fine, go home, watch telly, slip into a coma and die.

The cyclists they scrape up off the road usually survive if they were wearing a helmet. They might be mangled but the brain won't do its stupid swelling trick with a proper helmet on.

 

[Parbar]

My dad gave me a bike about 7 years ago to encourage me to take up riding. Bit by bit, I got into it, never wearing a helmet because he didn't. And because I thought I was riding too slow to get hurt. The state doesn't require bicycle helmets.

After a couple years, I mentioned to my little brother how much I get yelled at by drivers to "get on the sidewalk." His response was two-fold. Get a helmet; you'll get more respect. And, get a helmet; he had seen a rider in a park swerve to miss a pedestrian, somehow fall and come up with a bloody head because there was a rock in the grass.

So I got a helmet. A couple years later, I mentioned to my brother that just as many drivers still yell "get on the sidewalk." His response: get a wig; women rider's apparently get more respect. I'm not going there.

Anyway, a few weeks back I saw a motorcyclist go down when a driver decided to do a u-turn in a two-lane road. He had minimal road rash on his bare arms and hands; worst damage was to his helmet. He looked like the kind of rider that wouldn't wear a helmet if the state didn't require it. I hope he's thanking that helmet now. The lesson for me was keep wearing my bicycle helmet.

 

[philcrisp]

Large blow to head = potential for brain swelling.

So you can get up from the crash, say you're fine, go home, watch telly, slip into a coma and die.

The cyclists they scrape up off the road usually survive if they were wearing a helmet. They might be mangled but the brain won't do its stupid swelling trick with a proper helmet on.

Do you mind stating your source for that?

 

[runninboy]

I have a friend who has two little girls and he always has to remind them to wear their helmets. As i have stated before i wear my helmet almost all the time, maybe once i year i dont. I have worn it so much it feels weird not to have it on.
Anyway the one day i didnt have it on wouldnt you know i met the two girls & their dad riding. I felt pretty crappy about that.
When i was about 6 years old i remember this high school kid who was on the track team and he used to run down my block. I couldnt imagine someone who could run a mile without stopping. i thought he was like superman.
Every once in awhile i see a little kid and theyll yell to their mom" look, its a biker!" and i remember what it was like to be that little kid. I figure wearing a helmet is no bother to me, but if that kid sees me wearing one, maybe he'll want to wear one too...

 

[TheDude]

Had to replace mine about 2 years ago after going over the bars and hitting on the back of it. My co-worker just went down on a wet street last week and dented the side of his, but no damage to head or face.

Climbing in summer weather on roads without traffic, I might take it off, but helmets and seatbelts are available to us for a reason. BTW, I also find gloves have saved me some pain in the past too.

 

[badboyberty]

I've killed three helmets, two while commuting, one while racing. I suspect that both commuting spills would have left me even more super-stoopid had I not been wearing a helmet. From my experience commuting/cruising spills seem more dangerous than racing spills as you don't realise what's happening until you hear the crack of the bitumen whacking you in the face.

Long and short of it is, I wear a helmet and I believe without helmets I probably would make even less sense than I do now. And riding slowly on roads you know off by heart doesn't make you any safer.

 

[Nigel Dean]

Fun anyway

Yes, gone are those days of my early racing without a helmet (although only leather strip helmets came in later). Now the "LIDS" seem to have been in forever. Feels great with the wind in your hair - until you hit your head. But it should be a free choice. Difference is a bit like sex - "It's great anyway, but should you wear a condom?" OR A SEAT BELT EVEN!

 

[cromagnon]

Do you mind stating your source for that?

Sure, those are the professional experiences of an intensive care nurse. In the UK once you're no longer a screaming piece of meat and have been stabilised but wil die without xyz treatment, you go to intensive care. Naturally I take an interest a a cyclist and ask a lot of questions. What I'm told is sufficient for me to always wear a lid - you can be sure of that.

The lack of room in the cranium as it is just solid bone causes the centre for autonomic control (heart rate breathing and probably control of the bowels) to be crushed by brain swelling. So once the respirator is turned off they cannot continue to live even if they outwardly do not appear seriously injured.

They use all sorts of techniques to try to prevent the brain swelling but they don't always work, or the damage is done by the time they wheel them in. We're not talking being punched in the face or anything but a serious whack on the head jarring the brain violently.

Interestingly the Ancient Romans seemed to know about this too, there is evidence that surgeons at the Colleseum (gladiatorial combat etc) would cut out rectangular sections of the skull to give some room for the brain to swell up, then go back down. The best "physicians" in ancient Rome were usually Greek and Persian, both civilisations were big on general science, philosophy experimentation etc.

 

[St. Elia]

Sorry, but you have to be an idiot(or french) not to wear one. It's like people not using seatbelts 'cuz then man can't tell me what to do!'

 

[philcrisp]

Sure, those are the professional experiences of an intensive care nurse. In the UK once you're no longer a screaming piece of meat and have been stabilised but wil die without xyz treatment, you go to intensive care. Naturally I take an interest a a cyclist and ask a lot of questions. What I'm told is sufficient for me to always wear a lid - you can be sure of that.

The lack of room in the cranium as it is just solid bone causes the centre for autonomic control (heart rate breathing and probably control of the bowels) to be crushed by brain swelling. So once the respirator is turned off they cannot continue to live even if they outwardly do not appear seriously injured.

They use all sorts of techniques to try to prevent the brain swelling but they don't always work, or the damage is done by the time they wheel them in. We're not talking being punched in the face or anything but a serious whack on the head jarring the brain violently.

Interestingly the Ancient Romans seemed to know about this too, there is evidence that surgeons at the Colleseum (gladiatorial combat etc) would cut out rectangular sections of the skull to give some room for the brain to swell up, then go back down. The best "physicians" in ancient Rome were usually Greek and Persian, both civilisations were big on general science, philosophy experimentation etc.

Does a serious whack to the head imply something in excess of falling off a stationary bike, ie considerably more force than the helmet is designed to deal with?

 

[philcrisp]

Sorry, but you have to be an idiot(or french) not to wear one. It's like people not using seatbelts 'cuz then man can't tell me what to do!'

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the French have a better casulaty rate for cyclists than anywhere in the English speaking world?

 

[runninboy]

The bottom line is i have never heard about a cyclist who dies BECAUSE he was wearing a helmet.
They might not always save you but i doubt they would ever cause a death,
maybe if we find out later that they attract lightening strikes i will stop wering them when it gets cloudy...

 

[cromagnon]

Does a serious whack to the head imply something in excess of falling off a stationary bike, ie considerably more force than the helmet is designed to deal with?

No idea of the forces involved. Without a helmet, drop yourself from 3ft, 4ft, and 5ft head first onto a piece of concrete placed on top of a calibrated force plate. Do some CAT scans of your brain 1 minute, 30 minutes, 1 hour and 12 hours after each impact then report back your findings.

Orr email mythbusters "cycle helmets do nothing, fact or myth"? They would find out the kind of energy needed to jarr the brain hard enough to cause life-threatening swelling, then they would set up a crash test dummy at about 70kg in weight etc etc