Creeping regulation. In due course, parents will be criminally negligent if their child sustains a head injury in the home due to a play accident or random fall (e.g. out of bed) while not wearing a mandated helmet.

I'm not interested in debating facts related to an incident i myself went through. I'm alive because i was wearing a helmet. The end.

- Andy

Don't be absurd. More like common sense precaution becoming law.

- Andy

Wow, glad you're still with us!!

- Andy

I don't think that ruling on the safety or danger in bicycling should be based on the public perception and impact to numbers of people doing it. Helmets either substantially reduce the risk of injury, or not. That question has little to do with whether people want to wear them.

I personally know that a helmet reduces my potential for head injury. That's good enough for me. I'm not going to lie about what I know so more people will ride bicycles.

I disagree. For a few reasons. First, we have huge problems with obesity, diabetes, coronary disease, Alzheimer's, and numerous other chronic ailments related to lack of activity. Getting people riding, with or without helmets, will likely save far more lives than helmets ever could. If helmets do discourage people from riding and thus from getting activity then they are likely a far greater harm than benefit.

There is safety in numbers. The more people who ride, the safer EVERYONE is. Again, if helmets discourage people from riding then that increases the risk for all bicycle riders.

Finally, how do you 'know' that a helmet reduces your potential for head injury?

Like mandatory helmet laws did for motorcycling?

It's funny that when I decided to find alternatives to driving to work it started out with one set of expectations and morphed into another. And it had nothing to do with finances I just hate urban driving. And another thing that's kind of funny is the more I bike to work the more I hate the drive and all the road rage and inconsiderate driving habits that typify the morning/evening communte. Particularly this year I really noticed a significant jump in blantant illegal traffic maneuvers to avoid waiting at stop signs and red lights. Unfortunately my job and sometimes family life prevent from being 100% bike commuter. Initially I thought I would train/bus, but the bus schedules are too stretched out. Then I thought I would mostly train bike, but the bike capacity too small for the number of users. Now I ride just one short train segment closest to my house that coincidently has the least bike user and gets me through a nasty traffic corridor. I started off thinking it would only be practical if I could do in under 1.5h. In reality it's closer to 2h. If I forgo the train in the evening which causes me to take a longer more traffic friendly route it takes close to 3h. I've been averaging 2 days a week so far since Feb. and 3h on bike still goes by faster than 40min in car and I feel much better at the end.

Wow.

Is this now a helmet discussion?

I ride half my time in CPH, in which 5% of people wear helmet ... and that's a generously high estimate.

I ride half my time in England, which is similar to the US in many ways ... and roughly 50% of people wear a helmet.

I rode 3 months without a helmet before my possession arrived from Germany, now I ride with a helmet.

To be honest, I don't notice the difference and I doubt that most Americans would.

I'm pro helmet and anti-helmet-law, for the reason cited about Australia and Canada. Same thing with New Zealand. People shouldn't let the law stop them, but it does. The more people we can get out there, the safer we will all be, because each cyclist out there is one fewer car. Think about it. Nothing can improve cycling safety better than increasing the number of cyclists. If someone doesn't want to wear a helmet, leave it to her or him. It's only one person's problem. It's not as if they are endangering others. If someone asks me if I recommend one, I say yes. I wear one. But I will not be a helmet law activist.

All it takes is one high profile case of someone getting killed or severely brain injured and suddenly the helmet law sharks will start circling.

That said, i'm more concerned with unruly motorists, as they can kill you even if you're in a suit of armor.

- Andy

That's my point. Killing someone with a car? I think that's heinous. Dying because you didn't want to wear a helmet? Well, that's that person's problem, and they're families, not the law's. Why does the law care about the cyclist?

Hot weather riding doesn't require dealing with snow and ice. While asphalt can get a little soft when hot, it's not likely to cause a crash. Heat can cause injury and death but cold can do the same much more quickly.

Nope, cold is worse.

I think heat is worse, because your body can only cool down so much, even naked if the ambient temp is over 100 you'd need a pretty strong breeze just to keep out of the danger zone of heat stroke.

I've ridden in 100+ temps, and it is worse. Below zero is way better than over 100.

- Andy

i agree with these statements we do not need the government telling us every little thing. I can eat what I want wear a helmet if i want or not THere are consequences for any action. I choose to wear a helmet because i would like somethign around my head if it comes in contact with hard surfaces. I dont really care what my hair looks like or if I look like a dork. 1. i shave my head. 2. I am riding a bike and that will make people think i am dork. I really dont care. I am enjoying my commute far and above someone sitting in traffic in a car.

Being in the SOUth, the coldest i have ridden in has be 27degrees F. I can say that I enjoy not having to scrape the car windows. I have found that one i get moving i warm up pretty good, except my toes still have not dialed that in YET.

Last year was warmer than normal many days. I made a point to drink lots of water during the day and drank a bottle after I got home to stay hydrated. Wearing a jersey and shorts is pretty comfortable in 100 degrees moving throught humidity laden air of North Carolina in the summer. I realize how hot it is when i stop at a light.

I have seen many more bike commuters in the last year and I am thinking that it is because it is easier to move about the city by bike.

Yea, when i'm riding in heat, i'm ok, but as soon as i stop, the sweat pours out & you can really feel the ambient temp, made worse by vehicle exhaust heat at intersections.

- Andy

Think of it this way: When it is hot, you can stop and rest under a tree in the shade until you or the weather cools down. You can ride early in the morning or later in the afternoon when the temperature mitigates a little. If you get caught in a summer rain in the south, the water is warm and mostly benign. Yes, you'll get wet but you probably won't get cold enough to risk hypothermia.

When the temperature is near or below freezing, you can't wait out the cold. It may warm a bit during the course of a day but the temperature is colder at morning and night. You can't sit under a tree and rest. Get caught in a cold rain...something we have to be very aware of here in Colorado even in the summer time ... and you can be in a lot of trouble very quickly.

Cold is still worse.

Are we arguing over whether hot or cold weather is worse? No comment on that but I can tell you for sure that it does get at or below freezing here, more than I care for, and a lot of that freezing rain that I can do without as well.

I don't think either condition is all that dangerous or difficult if you know what you're doing.

I dunno, the cold for me can easily be overcome by clothing, & the heat needs like a full on cool-down routine. often involving hosing myself off outside (all ready soaked with sweat) for a few inutes, to cold showers, ice cream box fans set on high, etc. Cold weather i simply take the layers off & i'm all set. As for trees, not really an option on the main routes. I don't really wait out weather unless its thunderstorm.... it is what it is... waiting means it'll just get things done later & later..

- Andy

Cold weather is more dangerous then hot weather... When it's very cold you have to keep moving or else you risk getting hypothermia or frost bite...I've been at the borderline of hypothermia and it's not easy to bring yourself back to normal when you alone...A flat tire or some other mechanical would be much worse to get when it's freezing then when it's hot...

These are fine for recreational riding but don't work so well for commuting when you have to be at work or home by a certain time.

The problem with this hot/cold discussion is that there are extremes of both. In a quick search I was not able to find any stats, but I'd guess that there are more deaths in the U.S. from heat than from cold.

For me I think that in an average year in Minnesota vs an average year in Alabama I'm likely to ride to work or for errands more often in Minnesota. This past year was much colder than usual, but in a normal year there are very few and often no days when it's too cold for me to ride (and some years there may be a day or two when it's too hot/humid). In Alabama though there are likely to be several days when it's too hot/humid for me to be able to ride.

RidingMatthew, you didn't ask for how to keep feet warm, but I'd like to offer what I discovered. I got shoes that are too big for me so I can fit thick socks in. I don't even usually use thick socks. I wear regular (wool) socks. Having the extra space in the toe box seems to make more difference than anything. I wrapped duct tape around the fronts of my shoes. I was fine. It's colder here than there.

According to the CDC there are more hyperthermia deaths than hypothermia deaths in the US per year but that's not the whole story. There are far more people active during the summer than there are during the winter. Although there are a few hardy souls outside in winter, most people aren't going to spend hours out in the cold while they will do so in the heat.

If it's really cold, like below ten degrees, i'll have 2 pair of socks on. I also, when in those single digits, have thermal pants under my jeans plus a PJ pants if it's at the lower end, 3 shirts one long sleve and two short on top, then my north face triclimate, and vest on top of that to cover all the pockets and zippers on the triclimate without adding bulk to my arms. Then up top i'll have my thick n thin headliner (see image below), then a paper mask tucked into that to keep from breathing in the super cold air, and finally either my old snowboarding hat with the pom removed, or my super warm mets hat in place of the helmet padding.

It is very thin up top to fit under helmet, and fleece below ot block wind and keep heat in..



Here it is sans mask. If it's daytime i have goggles (better fitting) or my julbo colorado sunglasses (better quality).


The biggest problem with being dressed like this is sweat, so if i feel like i'm warming too much, i'll unzip my vest and jacket to let some air circulation & adjust that at each stop accordingly.

- Andy