Originally Posted by Six jours

The Bicycle Club of Irvine is one of the oldest - and certainly one of the largest - bike clubs in Southern California. Hundreds of riders show up for their weekend rides. I once showed up without a helmet, and took all kinds of abuse, including foul-mouthed insults. One guy put his face about ten inches in front of mine and yelled (literally) that riding without a helmet was against the rules and that he would not allow me to ride. Other people intervened before it came to blows but everyone did insist that the club forbade bare-headed participation, and several people claimed that the club would lose its liability insurance if I rode without a helmet.

Eventually, the club founder and president had to stand up and make a speech about the fact that the insurer had nothing at all to say about helmets and that the club had no rule about it one way or another. The entire experience sums up, for me, the level of knowledge (and manners) of the typical cyclist around here. It may also explain my attitude toward the "Just buy a helmet and wear it" posts on BF.