Did a helmet really save a cyclist's life?

dondare

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -race.html

mailmannz

Imagine, if this had happened in good old blighty...every bike race this side of Paris would now be cancelled, insurance would be going up, and you would be killed by a mountain of health and safety and risk assessment paper work!

Mailman

ris

could a helmet protect from falling mountains of H&S paperwork?

chuckcork

mailmannz wrote:

Imagine, if this had happened in good old blighty...every bike race this side of Paris would now be cancelled, insurance would be going up, and you would be killed by a mountain of health and safety and risk assessment paper work!

Mailman

I believe the last native bear (as opposed to captive circus/zoo animals) died out around the 10th Century. For one to attack a cyclist now would take some doing!

cee

chuckcork wrote:

mailmannz wrote:

Imagine, if this had happened in good old blighty...every bike race this side of Paris would now be cancelled, insurance would be going up, and you would be killed by a mountain of health and safety and risk assessment paper work!

Mailman

I believe the last native bear (as opposed to captive circus/zoo animals) died out around the 10th Century. For one to attack a cyclist now would take some doing!

hoho...but there are rumbles from certain camps about re-introducing wolves into Scotland, and what about these big camera shy cats that are spotted (or were they stripey ) around the country (dartmoor etc)

spen666

ris wrote:

could a helmet protect from falling mountains of H&S paperwork?

The evidence is inconclusive and the nanny state should respect our freedom to decide to take the risk of fallingmountains of H&S paperwork without forcing us to wear useless bits of polystyrene on our heads

always_tyred

Mmm. A bear can remove a person's scalp in a single swipe and they tend, in any event, to go for the face.

Girl saved from bear by elaborate Ascot hat. Same effect. too many feathers. Inconvenient.

cee

Always Tyred wrote:

Mmm. A bear can remove a person's scalp in a single swipe and they tend, in any event, to go for the face.

Girl saved from bear by elaborate Ascot hat. Same effect. too many feathers. Inconvenient.

I have noticed that the current trend in hat wear is for these feathery numbers, that are not really hats.

They are called fascinators. And let me tell you.....my cat would find them really fascinating!

mailmannz

cee wrote:

chuckcork wrote:

mailmannz wrote:

Imagine, if this had happened in good old blighty...every bike race this side of Paris would now be cancelled, insurance would be going up, and you would be killed by a mountain of health and safety and risk assessment paper work!

Mailman

I believe the last native bear (as opposed to captive circus/zoo animals) died out around the 10th Century. For one to attack a cyclist now would take some doing!

hoho...but there are rumbles from certain camps about re-introducing wolves into Scotland, and what about these big camera shy cats that are spotted (or were they stripey ) around the country (dartmoor etc)

Its only a matter of time!

Mailman

meanwhile

I have a team of zoologists and engineers working to prove my theory that the helmet caused the accident by causing the bear to mistake her head for a giant boiled sweet.

always_tyred

Interesting though.

Do you guys find that as a cyclist you scare the crap out of animals?

I mean, we all know about dogs, right?

But on my commute, I pass an area dense with rabbits. Major road, heavy traffic - loads'o'bunnies. I come past; mixematosis aftermath.

Horses - for reasons best know to themselves in a regional park, horse owners still occationally find the need to travel for miles on a-roads rather than be held up by taking a b-line on all that moor land. Audi's, BMW's, white van man hammer past at about 40. I come past at about 15mph - badminton horse trials.

What's with that?

dirk_van_gently

Always Tyred wrote:

Do you guys find that as a cyclist you scare the crap out of animals?

Yes, I have noticed this, cars, vans, lorries thunder past and rabbits, deer etc don't turn a head, bicycle 50mtrs away, Runaway in mad random direction and fashion, scaring the $#!t out of every other wildlife nearby.

Parkey

A nice lady on a horse once told me it was because in the corner of a horse's eye an approaching cyclist resembles a predator.

ChrisLS

...been said before, but always speak to the horse rider before passing, as horses are easily spooked by bicycles. Best to keep things friendly out there.

...on the original topic lets hope the 14 year old girl recovers from her injuries...

always_tyred

I do try to do that, but when I 'm close enough to say "Hello" or "Bike behind you" to the rider, I scare the sh1t out of the rider and/or the horse.

I'm sure dogs don't regard me as prey. From what I can tell, they think I'm a tasty rodent or something.

meanwhile

Always Tyred wrote:

I do try to do that, but when I 'm close enough to say "Hello" or "Bike behind you" to the rider, I scare the sh1t out of the rider and/or the horse.
.

The problem the horse has is that you're arriving silently from behind it. The rider is scared because you make the horse bolt, with the risk of serious injury to the rider. If you have to pull a horse, slow way down (to around 8mph) and pass on the other side of the road. If you have to pass closer, slow down to the horses pace and then gradually speed up.

always_tyred

meanwhile wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I do try to do that, but when I 'm close enough to say "Hello" or "Bike behind you" to the rider, I scare the sh1t out of the rider and/or the horse.
.

The problem the horse has is that you're arriving silently from behind it. The rider is scared because you make the horse bolt, with the risk of serious injury to the rider. If you have to pull a horse, slow way down (to around 8mph) and pass on the other side of the road. If you have to pass closer, slow down to the horses pace and then gradually speed up.

Yes. Thanks for that. I never knew.

meanwhile

Always Tyred wrote:

meanwhile wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I do try to do that, but when I 'm close enough to say "Hello" or "Bike behind you" to the rider, I scare the sh1t out of the rider and/or the horse.
.

The problem the horse has is that you're arriving silently from behind it. The rider is scared because you make the horse bolt, with the risk of serious injury to the rider. If you have to pull a horse, slow way down (to around 8mph) and pass on the other side of the road. If you have to pass closer, slow down to the horses pace and then gradually speed up.

Yes. Thanks for that. I never knew.

Well, yes: I assumed that from your stating that you where zooming past them at 15mph...

always_tyred

Fair enough.

In all seriousness, horse riders are a bit like us. Doing what they like to do in a place no one wants them to do it. On the whole they are pretty aware. I tend to come to a distance where the horse rider has half a chance of hearing me, and often the horse's ears indicate it has, hang back a second or two, then I say hello - a lot harder on an A road, though.

I get really jumpy when its a kid riding the horse, because I just think its that much less likely that they'll be aware of traffic.

That's possibly as much of a misconception as half of drivers have about cyclists.

neslon

Hares - they all seem to be stupid. I meet them on one of my more rural rides to work, and unstead of just buggering off into the hedge like a sensible furball, they tear off down the road in front of me, zigging about and looking frantically over their shoulders. I kept trying to avoid them, then thought bollocks, I'll squash them. Same result, me and stupid rodent veering madly across country road. I want Magnatom to recommend a good helmet mounted airgun...

always_tyred

But I do have an empathy/knowledge block regarding riding habits.

I'm sure someone on here has an interest in horses and/or is close to someone who does -

- why do they ride on A-roads? I get the idea of getting from stables to a trail head or something, but I encounter horses in the unlikeliest places.

For example, if you know Edinburgh, I come across people riding out on the Lanark Road out along the Pentlands. This is in the middle of nowhere. There's fields, golf courses, grazing land, forestry commission plantations and open moorland, with a pretty dodgy A-road right in the middle of it all.

I'm a roadie, so that's my excuse.

But horses have 4 wheel drive. Why the road?

always_tyred

neslon wrote:

Hares - they all seem to be stupid. I meet them on one of my more rural rides to work, and unstead of just buggering off into the hedge like a sensible furball, they tear off down the road in front of me, zigging about and looking frantically over their shoulders. I kept trying to avoid them, then thought bollocks, I'll squash them. Same result, me and stupid rodent veering madly across country road. I want Magnatom to recommend a good helmet mounted airgun...

Helmet mounted airguns are safer than normal airguns.

rustychisel

horses are, without exception, very stupid animals.

downfader

..someone showed me this story about the bear on the daily mail website. Funnily enough i knew the first comment would be along the lines of "..if they knew there were bears..."

meanwhile

Always Tyred wrote:

if you know Edinburgh, I come across people riding out on the Lanark Road out along the Pentlands. This is in the middle of nowhere. There's fields, golf courses, grazing land, forestry commission plantations and open moorland, with a pretty dodgy A-road right in the middle of it all.

I'm a roadie, so that's my excuse.

But horses have 4 wheel drive. Why the road?

At the risk of irritating you once again, could it be because the road is i. in the public domain, ii. leads where they want to go, iii. isn't broken up with fences, walls, bushes, and water features, and iv. lacks hazards like low hanging branches and bulls? People on horses on the road are usually, in my limited experience, somewhere green where they are allowed to ride and it is safe for them to do so.