Okay Guys, let me first say that I am a newbie to the Forum and a complete beginner to cycling (like I can't ride a straight line yet!). I have seen a reasonable number of brain injured individuals in my time, although I don't specilise in Neuro. I have also ridden horses and would under no circumstances get on the the back of one, even with the intention of me and the horse just standing still, without a riding hat. I am very protective of my brain.
All that said, at the risk of triggering WW3 (having seen another thread discussing this topic from a different angle), I am mulling over the whole cycling helmet debate. I have read the following and found it thought provoking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycle_helmet Even before reading that, I had decided that cycling away from traffic does not, for me, require use of a helmet. If and when (last week I'm afraid it was when) I fall from a bike, it will be a fall from more or less my own height sideways at a low speed. Even as I get faster, I doubt it would be merrited. I think if I venture onto roads, I will probably wear one as a car hitting a bike, can after all, propell the rider through the air and, in so doing, produce a very different type of impact. I'm not sure about racing if not in traffic. I am very unlikely to ever want to do that, so I probably will never need to decide about it.
Anyway, I am interested in the considered, mutually respected opinions of other. Any takers?