General Cycling Discussion - What I want for Christmas...

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I agree, HB. On the roads when you come across a stranger mind your own business.

However, in the bikeforums we freely discuss this and other issues so it's fair game here.

sure thing!

I'm not a helmet nazi as you put it but I would prefer it if people wore helmets. I'm not gonna go out of my way to yell at you though.

Happy Holidays!

I want the helmet nazis to shut up and ride. If you see a guy riding without a helmet, don't worry about it. Just keep your mouth shut and ride. Don't critisize the guy. Don't belittle him or make snide remarks. It's none of your business. Are you really stupid enough to believe that he will rush home and put on a helmet just because you acted like a jerk? Male psychology just doesn't work that way. All you will accomplish by acting self-righteous is that you will harden his resolve to never wear a helmet (and you will demonstrate that helmet-wearers are jerks which is not the kind of message we ought to be sending). The smartest thing to do is keep your mouth shut, wear your helmet, and ride. Let him see that you wear a helmet and you are not ashamed to be seen wearing it in public (but don't make comments about it). Lead by example, not by bullying.

That's what I want for Christmas. What do you want?
All I want for X-mas is for people to
STOP POSTING ****************** HELMET THREADS!
If you don't want to wear a helmet on your own fine, I could give a ************* but if you intend to ride with me you WILL wear a helmet even if I have to buy it for you and duct tape it to your head.

I feel better now. Now closetbiker will have some pithy commentary as is usual in helmet threads here.

a pony, not sure if I want said pony to have a helmet or not though.

I want the helmet nazis to shut up and ride. If you see a guy riding without a helmet, don't worry about it. Just keep your mouth shut and ride. Don't critisize the guy. Don't belittle him or make snide remarks. It's none of your business. Are you really stupid enough to believe that he will rush home and put on a helmet just because you acted like a jerk? Male psychology just doesn't work that way. All you will accomplish by acting self-righteous is that you will harden his resolve to never wear a helmet (and you will demonstrate that helmet-wearers are jerks which is not the kind of message we ought to be sending). The smartest thing to do is keep your mouth shut, wear your helmet, and ride. Let him see that you wear a helmet and you are not ashamed to be seen wearing it in public (but don't make comments about it). Lead by example, not by bullying.

That's what I want for Christmas. What do you want?

Do you have children?

If you ride with me a helmet has to be on your head and if it not you can find your way back. I do not want to scrape your brain material off the floor in a crash...

Alone... I do not care; well as long as you follow the rules of the road and are not stupid about it...

i want some god damn money this christmas, god dammit! ya!!


ya! you better bring me some money lard tub!!

All I want for X-mas is for people to
STOP POSTING ****************** HELMET THREADS!
If you don't want to wear a helmet on your own fine, I could give a ************* but if you intend to ride with me you WILL wear a helmet even if I have to buy it for you and duct tape it to your head.

I feel better now. Now closetbiker will have some pithy commentary as is usual in helmet threads here.

I cant for the life of me think of what all those astericks stand for. I'm not even gonna guess.

:D oh. and it's "i couldn't" such and such a crap and so forth.


the idea is that you don't have enough care to care for something so worthless.

you's burned, foo! :D

I would promise to never wear a helmet again if one of you kind strangers would give me a Brooks B-17 for Christmas. Thank you.

If you don't want to wear a helmet thats perfectly fine, just be at risk that a simple accident could cost you your life...such as the one I had over the summer. I was riding minding my business and not really paying attention to the shoulder (wearing a helmet of course) where I look up and there was a large rock that was in the middle of the shoulder. By the time I had noticed it it was too late to react to move away from it so both my tires had went over it causing them to go flat and I went flying with my head bouncing off a rock off to the side of the road, I was lucky enough to be able to walk away from that crash with a cut and a bruise. I am not sharing this story for the sake of getting sympathy or to force you people to wear helmets.

This site poses some intresting research on bike crashes and the relation to helmet uses:
http://www.lesberries.co.uk/cycling/helmets/research.html

These sites as well:
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/study-guides/cycles.html#statistics

I am not out to be a helmet nazi and sorry if I do but I think if you do go out cycling without a helmet then you ought to have some confidence in your ability to focus on every single thing around you. The simplest thing could cause you to go flying off your bike and end your life.

I've always held to the theory "if you arent smart enough to wear a helmet, its probably not going to do you a lot of good in a crash anyway".

As for Santa's plans - how about some nice AC wheels!

My wife, who is a nurse in an ER, was telling me about a cyclist who came in the other day after falling/being knocked off his bike. He wasn't wearing a helmet and ended up with a long and deep laceration on his head.

The doctor attending to him criticized him for not wearing a helmet.

Was the doctor being a helmet nazi?

What about kids copying the example set by other riders? If you ride without a helmet it does affect others, even if you think it does not. If you have kids that has an even greater effect. Setting an example good or bad does happen.

Apparently I don't get my wish. :mad:http://img155.exs.cx/img155/1593/soapbox.gif

Thats fine if you don't wear a helmet but if you get hit by accident and the car kills you then don't let your family sue for killing their beloved one. His own dumbass fault fot not wearing a helmet. Thats what I want

I agree with HunterBee and in the spirit of Christmas we can give Raiyn his wish :D

Apparently I don't get my wish. :mad:http://img155.exs.cx/img155/1593/soapbox.gif


The debate rages.

All i want for christmas is Rose McGowan (clothing optional, yes and I can only dream...), and a new CD Player to replace the one that got broke last month.

But knowing the way I've been....I'm prolly going to just get a book of matches and a punch in the face.

Quick story to share about helmets---sorry Raiyn. Group ride this year with about 10 people all wearing helmets except for the guy whose sheet don't stink. Wanna guess who went to the hospital in an ambulance? Yep---and it was his fault too. Apparently, people in his class of riders (famous in their own mind) like to sway their bike back and forth really quickly similar to the way drag racers warm up their tires before the run but this time he forgot to sway back. Down he went onto his head. I agree with HB, I won't tell people to wear their helmets for all the same reasons he stated but I do tell them that it's a standing policy with our group that we don't carry dead people home. Bottom line is if you mess up my ride b/c of your stupidity I'm going to be pissed. This is really only a problem with the new people to the rides though. Plus, I've rarely come across a serious cyclist in the Cincinnati area without a helmet. I've heard that it's more common in the St. Louis area to ride without a helmet.

Oh, to make this post relevant to the title of the thread, I'd like a mini-helmet cam to catch the license plate numbers of all the jerks that buzz me on the road and the ability to find their address so that I can sign them up to receive Nashbar, Performance, Colorado and Excel catalogs.