No helmet today

Belv

Now i am well aware of the debate and i'm not trying to re-open that. All i am doing is passing on an unusual experience for me that occured during my morning commute:

Due to some inexplicable short-term amnesia, today i didn't wear my helmet for the first time in years. I first noticed about a mile from home when i had a cold head! Once i noticed i decided to carry on to work anyway, but suddenly felt a lot more vulnerable. Wearing a helmet doesn't make me feel safe, or even safer, yet not having one on certainly made me feel at risk - corners were taken more slowly, surfaces double-checked for consistancy, etc. I also took the cycle path as far as i could rather than jumping off where it gets narrow to use the roads.
In terms of performance, the biggest difference was that sweat was running down my forehead that is normally caught in the foam pads of the helmet. I found this quite irritating.

I will certainly be wearing the helmet again tomorrow (i must have stepped over it to get out of the house!!!) and will be interested to see if i am as aware of it being on as i was it being off today.

dirk_van_gently

Belv
Now i am well aware of the debate and i'm not trying to re-open that.

Amen to that 8)

BentMikey

Thanks for the post, that's an interesting description. It's not the first time I've seen risk compensation described this way.

Belv

I've noticed in the past that when i ride without a rucksack, my back feels vulnerable despite the rucksack having no protective qualities (and is perhaps a liability, depending on contents).

Drfabulous0

I don't really notice mine when it's on, but occaisionally I ride without it if the weather is nice and I am not taking busy roads or difficult trails. I love the feeling of the wind in my hair and don't feel vulnerable without it, but I still wear it nearly all the time.

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

Let me tell you - having recently come off my bike without a helmet and hurt my shoulder (note: not my head) to the extent of having to visit casualty and subsequently the doctors on a couple of occasions - the most important reason for wearing a helmet is to avoid continuous nagging, finger wagging and disapproving looks from doctors and other health professionals whose first question to you on learning you've had a bike accident will be 'were you wearing a helmet? (I do most of the time)'.

God that was a long sentence.

el_presidente

I did this a few months ago exactly as Belv poster described. I did though have my free TdF Prologue T-mobile cap to protect my bonce 8)


It felt nicer and I don't remember being any more careful particularly but nevertheless I've still worn my helmet every day since

Belv

Sea_Green_Incorruptible wrote:

Let me tell you - having recently come off my bike without a helmet and hurt my shoulder (note: not my head) to the extent of having to visit casualty and subsequently the doctors on a couple of occasions - the most important reason for wearing a helmet is to avoid continuous nagging, finger wagging and disapproving looks from doctors and other health professionals whose first question to you on learning you've had a bike accident will be 'were you wearing a helmet? (I do most of the time)'.

God that was a long sentence.

Sounds familiar. The overweight, chain-smoking health care professionals at my local hospital have come out with various similar comments when i've been there for different sporting injuries!

robmanic1

Peer pressure is the best thing for making sure you always wear one. The group I ride with give you such griif when you don't wear one, you seldom forget. That said, I do occaisonally ride helmet-less if I'm on a pub ride and it's a scorcher. Had a nasty "off" at Llandegla last year and head-butted a tree, if I hadn't have had my lid on I don't think I'd be here to tell the tale.

dirk_van_gently

Drfabulous0

I love the feeling of the wind in my hair ........

Hmmm I remember hair :oops:

cee

again, as Belv said, not wanting to open the debate, but.....

and a bit of comment on Robmaniac1's post........

I have heard all of the arguments about helmets not helping in anything other than relatively minor knocks..and that argument has been done to the end of the earth..but

Do the non-helmet folks think any differently about helmets for trail/off-road use?

As I said, my intention is not to re-open the debate, but for instance, would BentMikey wear a helmet when riding at a trail centre (I don't know if you do Mikey, but I assume that many other folks who don't wear helmets for their commutes/road cycling also ride trails).

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Hmmm I remember hair :oops:

haha....yes that boat has sailed for me too!

robmanic1

I guess it all boils down to your own personal experience, I've had an off on my road bike, whilst commuting (got knocked over by a Frenchy!) , knocked my suede on the tarmac but suffered no more than a lumpy head (no lasting damage, wibble!). I was laways fairly blase regarding head protection until Llandegla, made me re-asess things I can tell you!

alan_sherman

knocked my suede

Jacket or shoes? Are you a geography teacher?

Sounds like the knock on the head had some effect


I went for a long ride last Saturday without my helmet, meant my forehead got some sunshine and lots of flies hit my head. I liked it. But then I don't wear my helmet to commute because it is something else to carry.

As ever - there are pros and cons. As long as we are not forced to wear a helmet like in Australia then I am happy.

sonnyb

I hate to say this, but I have never worn one, and i commute every day.
In fact hardly any of the people i pass wear one either.

spen666

Belv wrote:

Now i am well aware of the debate and i'm not trying to re-open that. ....

So are you for or against helmet wearing and what about compulsion to wear helemts :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

dirk_van_gently

I have a helmet and it's purple, nuff said really. :P

Pointless comment admittedly, as pointless as the arguments for against, which have bounced around this forum forever. So please excuse me if I don't take it seriously 8)

yorkshireraw

friend of mine is now sporting 23 stitches in forehead, a lump the size of an apple and can't see open one eye at the mo after being knocked off on his 2 mile ride to work on Monday. I think he wishes he'd had one on.

TheFoolio888

YorkshireRaw wrote:

friend of mine is now sporting 23 stitches in forehead, a lump the size of an apple and can't see open one eye at the mo after being knocked off on his 2 mile ride to work on Monday. I think he wishes he'd had one on.

Same as the bloke I found unconcious at the side of the Hagley Road today with blood dripping out of his nogin. Being ignored by a constant stream of cars I might add :evil:

But then again if he'd have fallen into the road instead of onto the pavement he'd have been a bus ornament by now so academic really...

He'd seemed okay by the time he got into the ambulance...so he should be alright.

Belv

Oops.

I'd lock this thread now if i could.

TheFoolio888

Don't get me wrong...

I think anyone who doesn't want to wear a helmet it is fully within their rights not to do so...and I wouldn't want to anything changed to enforce it. Like everything else, there are arguments for and against. That's why I've never understood the seat belt law...tell people of the benefits (and negatives) and then let them make their own minds up. If someone wants to fly through a windscreen in the event of an accident then I wouldn't want to stop them from fulfilling their dream.

As a generalisation I think within reason, you should be able to do anything you like if it doesn't affect other people. We're all adults here after all.

robmanic1

Rules are for fools

dirk_van_gently

Belv
Oops.
I'd lock this thread now if i could.

You got a lot to answer for :P

I did suggest a while back that the moderator create one Sticky "Helmets" thread, then all those interested in such would have one thread they could go to 24hrs 7days.

So PLEASE Mr Moderator, create the thread!

pete236

I went for a ride without a lid the other day - It was quite hot, very sunny and for a time I thought it was great. As soon as I got off road I started to feel vulnerable and the feeling lasted until I got home 2 hours later! Tried again last Sunday in the rain and felt even more vulnerable! (Commuting tyres didn't help either - too lazy to change over to knobblies!)

When I first started commuting I didn't use a lid - I'd grown out of my last one! After a few weeks I realised what a daft idea it was to not use one with all the muppets about in Slough in rush hour! Won't commute without one again!
If nothing else, it gives me a leg to stand on if I do get knocked off - Bright clothes, helmet, bright lights, bright bike (clean yellow!) and riding fairly quickly in primary - not my fault you didn't see me! Need to nip down to Aldi for a flourescent top soon though!

jcrofts

When I was a kid a friend of the family came off his bike and hit his head on the kerb. He had no helmet on. He died.

Consequently, I've never (ever) been out on a bike without a lid. To me it's like sitting in a car without a seatbelt on. Just can't do it - I feel naked.

That said, if you don't want to wear one that's your choice. I may silently wonder if you have a death wish... but there's something to be said for Darwin's ramblings

redddraggon

Robmanic1 wrote:

Had a nasty "off" at Llandegla last year

Llandegla is a bit far to go for a ride from Lincolnshire isn't it?

always_tyred

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

I have a helmet and it's purple, nuff said really. :P

Pointless comment admittedly, as pointless as the arguments for against, which have bounced around this forum forever. So please excuse me if I don't take it seriously 8)

You know what would really help? Sunglasses with an air bag. I think that covers just about every objection.

jjojjas

Always Tyred wrote:

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

I have a helmet and it's purple, nuff said really. :P

Pointless comment admittedly, as pointless as the arguments for against, which have bounced around this forum forever. So please excuse me if I don't take it seriously 8)

You know what would really help? Sunglasses with an air bag. I think that covers just about every objection.

Naaahhh...... Just stay in bed....avoid the risk of going outside all together.
Jas

pst88

When I started commuting I did wear a helmet but like you one day forgot to put it on. Got half way down the road and realised but i'd already gone too far to turn back (about 200m ). It did feel weird at first but after a while I started leaving it more and more and didn't really miss it. I do sometimes think I might wear one if i had a really cool looking one, like those aero helmets... ok, maybe that wouldn't be cool after all.

always_tyred

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Belv
Oops.
I'd lock this thread now if i could.

You got a lot to answer for :P

I did suggest a while back that the moderator create one Sticky "Helmets" thread, then all those interested in such would have one thread they could go to 24hrs 7days.

So PLEASE Mr Moderator, create the thread!

I feel that your efforts should be acknowledged. In your honour, I shall start a thread, ostensibly about problems trueing a wheel, entitled "cracked nipples".

Bravo.

BentMikey

jcrofts wrote:

That said, if you don't want to wear one that's your choice. I may silently wonder if you have a death wish... but there's something to be said for Darwin's ramblings

But why wear a helmet for something that's patently not dangerous? Or rather no more dangerous than other common daily activities such as walking.

Mog Uk

Oh god it's started...... how many times do we need to have this discussion :?

I couldn't give a toss if someone wears a helmet or not, it's their decision and got bugger all to do with me....

Now, black socks or white socks, that's a different matter......