Conference noted::bicycle

    OH NO, here come the flames!
    
    You will find many cyclist are quite adamant about wearing helmets,
    while others complain about the heat and wind noise a helmet causes.
    Some bicycle clubs require the use of helmets.  
    
    My personal opinion on this subject is that it is just good sense
    to wear one.  I was reluctant to wear a helmet at first because I 
    thought it made me look silly.  However, I now wear it regularly and 
    really couldn't care less what other people think about it.  With
    all the idiot drivers out there, especially here in Massachussetts,
    you never know when you will need the protection a helmet offers.
    They DO work!
    
    I wear a Bell V1-Pro.  It is drastically overpriced, but was the
    only helmet I found to be comfortable.  It is also sharp looking
    and has plenty of ventilation to keep my head cool.  
    
    Regards,
    Denis

    re .1	There is no need for flames.  We can, however, agree
    to disagree on this and other topics.
    
    	Reg	{who_doesn't_wear_one_for_water_ski'ing_either}

    Everyone has an opinion about helmets for any sport but what it
    really comes down to the value you place on your head the one time
    you have an accident. Wearing a helmet is a small discomfort to
    pay for saving your life.......
    
    

I have to agree with .1.


I am not "Adamant" about it, but I feel it is common sense. It is not 
hard to find yourself going 40 miles an hour. At that speed you are going 
to need all the help you can get in a crash. Traffic is not the only 
cause of crashes. 


I have one of the old style Bell helmets. About as attractive as 
wearing a turtle on your head. But, I don't notice it after a few 
minutes. I have found that you get a little more respect from the 
general public when you wear a helmet. People treat you differently. I 
guess maybe they figure you are a serious rider or something.


I would say if you are planning to do a lot of riding (read: more than 
once a month) get it. $35 is really not all that much to spend. It could 
save your life.

JC

    As much as I don't want to agree with you pro-helmet cyclists, I
    do.  It is pretty stupid of me not to want to mess up my hair to
    chance messing up my head!  Have any of you actually had accidents?
    I,m wondering what my odds are for one during my 4 month cycle trip
    this summer and fall in Europe.  Any suggestions on how to prevent
    them, other than the obvious?
    
    jan

    I ride mountain bikes and have had LOTS of accidents...and have
    never hit my head. I think that the tendency in a fall is to hit
    your head, but you end up rolling and bashing your arms or the whole
    side of your body first. Usually you see/feel and accident about
    to happen and can compensate enough to miss your head. One of these
    days though.......get a helmet. I have noticed that almost always
    you hit your knee (either on the bike or on the ground), and sometimes
    the palms of your hands (you put your hands up to keep from hitting
    your head-wear gloves)
    

    I'd agree with .6, about the nature of falling-off injuries. I was
    messing about on a BMX track with a mountain-bike recently, and being
    completely unused to (a) BMX tracks, and (b) mountain-bikes, took a
    tumble, head over heels. I didn't hurt my head, but I grazed a hand, an
    elbow, an ankle, and pulled a chest muscle I didn't know existed.
    
    I don't wear a helmet, but at the moment few people in Britain do.
    I was on the London to Brighton bike-ride on Sunday, which is a
    huge event with 30 000+ cyclists, and offhand I can hardly recall
    seeing any helmets.
    
    I may eventually end up wearing one. I suppose any protective clothing
    must reduce the chance of injury. But maybe you should wear mitts
    too - grazed hands seem pretty common when you come off your bike.
    
    Rod

         A friend of mine regularly uses his bike to commute to work
    south of Worcester.  One morning while descending a hill at
    approximately 25 miles per hour, a car which was stopped and
    apparently waiting for him to pass, decided to turn in front of
    him into a side street.  Mike was thrown over the hood of the car
    and landed in the street badly breaking his leg.  Mike was lucky.
    Lucky you ask?  It seems his wife had bought him a Bell helmet the
    week before, and he was wearing it for the third or fourth time
    that morning.  The helmet which was clean and unmarked before the
    accident, now has a black scuff mark and crushed styrofoam from
    where Mike's head bounced off the pavement.  Mike honestly believes
    that he would not be with us, had he not been wearing the new helmet.
    
         Anytime I feel the sweat dribbling out from under my helmet,
    or look in the mirror at my "mashed down" hair following a ride
    I think of Mike, and think that these are small sacrifices to make
    in order to preserve one's skull.
                                     

    As long as there is a chance, however slight, of a head injury, you
    should wear a helmet. I would rather not wear a helmet but of more
    importance to me is the ability to form words with my mouth and count
    to ten in sequence. I have fallen a few times and not hit my head *but*
    one time in Ireland I was going along a major road and a truck kicked
    up a rather large stone and hit me square in the head. Enough to give
    me a good jolt. Had I not had a helmet I'm sure I would have been
    knocked off in addition to having a good laceration in my skull. 

    I had a Bell Biker (manhole cover with a chin strap) until last month
    when I bought an Avenir Advantage soft shell. It is tremendously
    comfortable (as helmets go) and guaranteed to mess up your hair!
    I would highly recommend a soft shell (they really are quite hard).
    Find one that's ANSI approved and feels good to you. Helmets, by
    nature, are not comfortable but some will fit better than others.
    It's a small inconvenience and you'll feel much better going down
    a mountain pass with your head protected.
    
    Jonathan

    I don't understand why you all feel compelled to add to this note
    when 199.* has a great on-going discussion.   Just think, you could
    be making a great note better...
    

    This discussion seems to be more of "why wear a helmet" whereas
    the discussion in 199 is "which helmet is best".  :-)
                      
    Anyway, I never wore my helmet while in Europe because it wasn't
    very common to do so there.  When I came back to the U.S. last fall
    I got a Giro and started wearing it all the time because it was
    much more common to do so here and, well it just seemed to make
    sense.  I guess I'm getting a little wiser as I grow old.
    
    I never, NEVER, had any kind of biking accident as an adult
    until recently.  On a wet day I crossed a set of railroad tracks
    at a slight angle just like I had done on many previous dry days.
    The gap next to the slippery metal track and the angle of my 
    slippery tire were just right.  As I crossed the gap it reached
    up, grapped my wheel and twisted it all out of shape.  I went
    from a relaxed vertical postion directly to a horizontal one
    ending with a very hard hit on the side of my head.  
    
    At first I thought, coma here I come.  Then, well maybe I'm just
    in shock.  Finally, after a few seconds I realized that the helmet
    had taken all the shock and my head was fine (can't say the same
    about my elbow and knee).  The combination of a good helmet and
    a good fit (doesn't work if it falls off) worked for me.
    
    Now, I ALWAYS wear my helmet.
    
    Bob

    I would feel extremely uncomfortable riding without a helmet, as I
    would feel uncomfortable driving without safety belts. You don't
    need traffic to induce accidents: I took the turn into my driveway a
    bit too fast a year or so ago, hit some sand, and went down. My head
    snapped back very smartly into the pavement. I doubt it would have
    been curtains, but without the helmet I'd have probably been out
    cold for a couple of minutes. I also know somebody who sustained
    brain damage from a head injury (in a car, but the head doesn't
    really care where the injury comes from). Wear the helmet. The
    minimal effort could save you a lifetime of trouble. 

Wear one for god's sake!  The new styrofoam ones now are so light that it's
hardly an excuse (although the price may be a good one, $50 for a piece
of styrofoam is a bit much).

My story is:  I was riding a mountain bike in August '84 and I went down
a hill and over a jump, flipped the bike and landed DIRECTLY on my head.
Hit with such force that I was knocked cold and shoulder broken.  The guys
I was with had to carry me to a near by park and find someone to drive me
to the hospital.  I had gotten tired of people telling me I should wear
one so I had only been wearing this one for about 1 month.

I've had a couple falls on the road but have never hit my head.

But this brings up a topic better suited for SOAPBOX, should the government
be able to force motorsyclists (and perhaps bicyclists) to wear helmets?
The argument against is - it's my head why should you have anything to say
about it, and the argument for is - maybe it's your head but you smash yourself
up we all end up paying for it.

    re .10 or so,  Well, we discussed this all  WAY BACK  in the early
    topics.  Basically I havn't changed my views very much since 22.9
    and 40.5.  If anything I've become even more convinced by the miles
    and falls (don't ask, less than ..... ?? , Oh, I dunno) of the last
    couple of years. 
    
    	Reg

    PS
        
    When you're out riding some time and call,  "on your left"  to the
    riders you pass, just try to notice which ones are wearing helmets
    and which are not.  Try to correlate this with the ones that obviously
    knew you were coming and the ones that are totally startled.  {Assuming
    you manage to catch the ones without helmets :-^)}  Standard disclaimer
    about valid sample size is assumed.
    
    

      Two thoughts:
    
      1.  Only wear a helmet if you have something worth protecting.
         
      2.  If you do hit your head and become a veggie, we all pay for
          your stupidity.
          
      Bet you don't wear you seat belt either because you are such a
      great dirver you can avoid the rest of the nuts on the road.

    
    
    	If you're concerned about a helmet slowing you down,
    	Get a Bell Stratos.  Since it's aerodynamiccally
    	designed, it's guaranteeed to give you a 5 foot
    	advantage over 25 miles!!!
    
    	Whate better reason to get a helmet?

>    When you're out riding some time and call,  "on your left"  to the
>    riders you pass, just try to notice which ones are wearing helmets
>    and which are not.  Try to correlate this with the ones that obviously
>    knew you were coming and the ones that are totally startled.  

    Actually, I also feel very uncomfortable riding without a mirror. I 
    use the Rhode Gear unit that attaches to the left brake, and 
    recommend it very highly. I always want to know what's behind me so 
    that when this pothole comes sliding my way at 20mph I'll know 
    whether to swing left or jump...

Just couldn't hold back any longer, my 2 sense:

This may sound a bit morbid, but I believe that if you ride a bike a 
lot, the question of an accident is NOT if, but when.  The best 
thing any thinking biker can do is to be prepared for it.

I had one a few years ago, like so many accidents it was with 
another bicycle.  I broke 4 ribs and my collar bone; road rash on 
much of my left side as well.

My Helmet saved me from a concussion, no doubt about it.

BTW:	There are 2 parts of the body that can't generally be fixed, 
the head and the spinal cord.  Spinal cord injuries are not common 
in cycling (swimming and auto accidents frequently); head injuries 
are common.

I don't believe Helmets should be the law; I do believe that 
they make good sense.  "Don't leave home without it"

	~Mike

>BTW:	There are 2 parts of the body that can't generally be fixed, 
>the head and the spinal cord.  Spinal cord injuries are not common 
>in cycling (swimming and auto accidents frequently); head injuries 
>are common.


I read an interesting article a long time ago about helmets. There was 
some resistance to helmets from some of the slightly short thinking 
anti-helmet people. They intially thought that helmets created an 
increased incidence of neck and back injuries. 

Turns out that the people who were normally getting crushed heads were
hurting their necks instead. :-) 


Another interesting point. A four foot fall directly on your head can 
cause brain damage. This was documented in medical journals according to 
another article. So, if you are just a cluts and forget to loosen your 
toe clip an fall over standing still (I've done this...) you can get 
hurt.


JC

In the minutes of a recent bike club board meeting I noticed,
"You can get a concussion while standing still."  If that can happen,
you could even pass out before you hit the ground!!

Seriously, I hope the damaged helmets in the aforegoing notes are
replaced -- or sent back, whetever it says in the paperwork that
we always throw away without reading.

ed

    
    
    
    Do you believe in Darwin?
    
    
    If so, you wear a helmet.
    
    
    _KB

    
>>    Do you believe in Darwin?

NO.  But I still wear my Skid-Lid every time I go biking.

A friend of mine once asked me a riddle:
What do they call motorcyclists who won't wear helmits?   Organ donors.

Bicycling may not be as risky as motorcycling, but I sure was glad I had 
my helmit on the day I went over the front of my bike.



                                   Kurt

    
    	I don't hit my head when I fall and due to training in falling
    I probably never will. I have hit my head several times while biking
    singletrack. This is without falling. Myself and everyone I ride with
    view helmetless MTB'ng as foolish at best. We always laugh when we have
    someone new start with us if they are helmetless because the very next
    time they show up with one.
    	I don't understand why so few people wear helmets skiing. I
    snowboard and I have hit my head more times doing that than any other
    sport I have done. One time at Widcat I woke up and thought I was in
    Colorado. What a disappointment to come back to reality 8*)
    	This year I think I'll go against the flow and wear a hekmet when
    I board.
    	I am against any type of mandatory helmet law, especially for
    motorcycles and more so for bicycles.
    
    	Roger