a rant...

It was a lovely day. It will continue to be so. I have a date with a beautiful women tonight who I've been persuing for four years. It was a short day at work, yet I got over time. My Chicago Schwinn commuter is doing well and better than my brand new bike and keeps me smiling. The MUP was pretty much glass free and smooth rolling. Breezy...not windy. My health is getting better daily and I love commuting and just generaly going for a roll whenever/wherever...

So! When you and I crossed paths on the bridge over the river and your only statement was "Get a Helmet!" I about choked and ,yes, I yelled an obcenity after you. Untill you yelled at me, I was watching my line, gazing ahead before I got to the bridge for traffic, what was on the path, outside pedal down so I don't ground out, and just genrally enjoying myself. Heck, I was going to nod in a friendly way as we passed but instead, before right before you spoke, YOU weaved a bit and I had to look you in the eyes to make sure YOU were paying attention and to try to ascertain what your intentions were, if they could be read. You were the potential hazard for that moment. You were more concerned about telling me that I needed a helmet than maintaining your line and concentration.

I appreciate, in a very small way, your concern for me and my lack of helmet. I chose not to today. I have also raced motorcycles, been there for friends who needed limbs removed/attached because of said MC's and I've spent 100k miles commuting by motorcyce and about 5k by car in the last 6 years...I know very well the risk I am taking. I don't mistake the severity of a fall or accident (and probably more than 50% rider error) no matter the speed. I get it.

I also chose and will choose again at some point to go sans helmet. In the future, please keep your indignation and self-righteous proclamations in your head. It just really rubbed me wrong even though I will give you the benefit of the doubt and hope your day and weekend go as well as mine is shaping up to be...


Enjoy...

/rant

thank you for a great post. sorry your day was ruined by a self aggrandizing ahole.

I have been guilty of knee jerk reactions to the whole helmet thing, having lost a couple of cycling friends to accidents (both not wearing helmets- only one, do I think, would a helmet possibly have helped) and I've learned to keep my mouth shut and opinions to myself because it serves no one to be so self-righteous. It is counter productive in 99% of those instances. The decision to wear or not wear a helmet is your own.

I do occasionally grumble a "get a light" to cyclists who've darted out of nowhere in the middle of the night dressed all in black clothing and almost sent both of us hurtling to the ground but only because their lack of a light endangered my safety- then I suppose it's "my business".

In any case, this post should serve as a reminder to those who, like me, choose to wear a helmet to let our actions speak louder than our words.

I hope your day, and date, got better after that.

* n.b. check out my avatar pic of Einstein- a pretty smart guy, I think, and he ain't wearin' no helmet. I can't say whether that would be true were he a rider in our day and age but it certainly was then.

Yea and he probably rode in a car without seatbelts, or airbags. And he probably didn't ride on roads congested with high speed cars. So it doesn't make much of a point.

Not that I am saying the OP should have been wearing a helmet. I too get annoyed with the people who feel the need to "help" with comments like that.

Just that times change, so referencing Einstein's helmet-less noggin isn't very relevent to today.

-D

I wonder if the helmet nazis realize when a cyclist is in rush hour traffic
at a lite and analyzing the intersection, scanning for rednecks and other
potentially problematic vehicles, trying to make eyecontacts etc, that breaking
that concentration and necassary thought moment with a stupid and unprovoked
verbal attack might be placing the rider in more danger ? If they really cared
they would shut up.

Bummer, sorry to hear about that. I only yell at the cyclist without headlights. Hope your date goes well!

Count down till a "helmet nazi" tells you that your are going to die for not wearing your helmet 5,4,3,2,1,.........

I don't wear a helmet. I do have one, and have worn it a few times and when out mountain biking. I do wear a helmet when mountain biking as I like to go nuts. Other than that, even though I've had a few spills, I still don't feel a need for a helmet. Here in Colorado, more cyclists wear helmets than motorcyclists. Bicycle helmets were never a big thing until people started watching Greg Lemond win TDF's. In checking out how effective a typical cycling helmet is, I found that it can save you from concussions, but that hunk of styrofoam won't save your life. I've heard the stories of people who believe the helmet saved their life after crashing through a windshield. The thing is, there are people who crash through windshields without helmets and survive anyway. Go figure.
With all this said though, I'll probably get that new Azonic helmet that has speakers for IPods. As its' probably the best way to listen to tunes without sticking foreign objects into my ear.

My personal opinion is that the helmetless are taking a dumb risk, but I keep it to myself, as someone else's noggin is not my problem. Like buzzman, though, I'll say something about lighting b/c it is my problem when a collision nearly happens b/c some dummy was riding lightless with abandon.

But OP, to say that your day was ruined, come on: you, sir, need thicker skin!

You're human, don't beat yourself up over it.
There is no reason a grown adult should not be able to make the decision to not wear a helmet and not get flack over it.
Enjoy your date.

Wow, I didnt know that these helmet nazi's really existed. I have heard tales of them and thought they existed only on the internet. That is until I came across one. i was tooling around one afternoon in the middle of a field. Practicing my wheelies and wheelie drops in a public park soccer field. There was nobody around me for at least 100 yards. A little later this lady comes up to me while I am still practicing and tells me that I need to stop and put my helmet on. I was a little miffed and asked her why. She said something about getting hit by a car and then that it was required by law...yadda yadda. Now normally i am all about wearing my helmet, I do so when I commute and when I go on my epic mountain bike rides, but was not feeling it since it was just wheelie practicing. So I told her I didnt have mine with me. She told me I needed to leave. well...long story short we go back and forth for a few and I tell her I am not leaving and that I ahve a right to be here, since it is a public park. She then proceeds to rant about how I might hit one of her children and hurt them by doing tricks on my bike and so on. I think she was just looking to get in someones face at this point. So I said fine, I jumped on my bike and pedaled 50 yards in the opposite direction from where she came and resumed my activities.

For a while I thought I wasnt going to be bothered until the same lady comes back with a park officer. So I am thinking Uh oh... Turns out the lady was telling the park police I was running amok and causing problems and not wearing a helmet. The lady is very insistant and basically fuming next to the police dude. So he writes me a ticket...I couldn't believe it. I was actually getting a ticket for not wearing a helmet...or so I thought...

Turns out he was just writing on the ticket for me to leave and come back later so the lady would get off his back.

I swear, some people just need to chill...Its my head and I will choose to protect it as I see fit.

If "keeping it to yourself" means sharing with a couple of thousand members of an internet forum, I can't help but wonder what "going public" must look like in your world.

Get a condom!

Sorry; couldn't help myself.

Double fixed!

Ooooh, nice one!

If your date goes well I want you to imagine that dude screaming, "GET A CONDOM."

I had a dude pass me in a car and shout, "You need a helmet!" once. I'm like, "You need to not shout at people who are biking in traffic, man," but it was too late.

The weird thing is, I usually do wear a helmet -- I just forgot it that particular time.

Very funny. Really, you should try stand-up! Pardon me for an informal statement which clearly was meant to say that I keep it to myself when I come across a helmetless rider. Duh?

I still go for the ocassional ride sans the foam coffee cup strapped to my head.

However, I have yet to commute without one. With the heavy traffic, and really bad roads in Tacoma, I have found the extra minor bit of protection is worth it. However, I doubt a helmet would have mattered to that guy in Seattle who got run over by a dump truck. Poor Fella.

Riding without a helmet is not dangerous, just unforgiving.

I believe we need to spend less time, money and effort on helmet laws (motorcycle and cycles) and more on education of everyone on the road way.

wearing a helmet should be a choice. Millions of Europeans and Chinese choose not to wear them and survive day to day riding.

Einstein never learned to drive. He didn't need to.

Smart man!

Here fold up and keep handy next time.

How could so many people come up with the same joke at the same time? I swear I did not read the other comments until right now. Weird.

Never let other's opinions influence your mood.

Great story.

Sorry. I keep forgetting how seriously everyone takes themselves on the commuting board.

very good idea, makes storage lots easier.


wll