Originally Posted by
79pmooney
The crash happened when I hopped a ditch at a construction site. It was repaved but the new pavement was an inch lower so I always hopped it. My regular training ride. That day, my Lambert fork decided it had lived its life and wasn't there when I landed. I was going probably 35 at the time. (The next year, nothing had changed and I hopped that ditch another several hundred times but on forks I trusted.) There was no evidence I ever got my hands off the bars or attempted any roll and lots that this took me completely by surprise.
I'm not judging you, unlike some people here I'm not arrogant enough to assume I'm in a position to tell others what kind of risks they should or shouldn't take, but what I take away from your story is NOT that I should wear a helmet, but that I shouldn't hop ditches at 35mph.
(In the hypothetical case I would do so, I probably would opt for something more robust than a cycling helmet to protect myself btw.)