Originally Posted by cyccommute

Proper riding skills: good thing. Bike in good working order: good thing. But neither will keep you from crashing. I have excellent riding skills (very long term mountain biker) and my bikes are always in top mechanical form but I still crash...on occasion. It happens. Most of the time when you least expect it. My most recent crash occurred on a flat smooth bit of single track that can be ridden at nearly 20 mph. I didn't see a rock, clipped it with my pedal and found myself flying through the air before I augerred into the ground on my knee, my shoulder and then my head. It followed the same pattern as every other crash I've experienced...no warning and then you hit the ground. Sure, I could have not been riding there and I could have slowed down but then I could have driven my car that day too. I won't say that the helmet saved my life but it didn't hurt anything to wear it and I'd rather have rocks embedded in it then in my skull.