Why I wear a helmet
 

I wear a helmet for a number of reasons such as:

-- to protect my head from falling rocks in the avalanche areas I ride through a time or two each year (yes, I've had rocks fall all around me)

-- to protect my head from the birds that like to dive-bomb me. Their beaks can be pretty sharp.

-- to protect my head from falling acorns. When I lived in Winnipeg, this was an issue because of the quantity of oak trees in that city.


But about a week ago, I encountered the main reason I wear a helmet .... to save my life.

I crashed at the bottom of a very steep and slippery hill on a 200K brevet. My first contact point was my left hip (which is a rainbow hue of many colors and incredibly painful right now), but milliseconds after I landed on my hip, the thought that flashed through my brain was, "My head is going too fast!!". I tensed, but it all happened so fast. There was a very loud CRACK, and everything went white and sparkly. I tried to focus ... I started to raise my head ... but everything was still white and sparkly, and I laid my head down again. A few minutes later I was able to sit up, but I had to be assisted off the road.

While I was sitting in the van of one of the people who helped me off the road, trying to control my nausea and dizziness, he told me to check my helmet. He must have had some association with the cycling world, or I'm not sure he would have thought of it. I checked ...... and my helmet is cracked through.

My helmet cracked .... my skull did not.


I finished the ride on adrenalin ... and tried another brevet a couple days later, but discovered that I'm too injured right now for anything like that. I'll be visiting a sports Dr soon (I hope) to have a few of the more serious injuries looked at. But I am SO GLAD I was wearing that helmet.

The crack isn't much to look at, but the helmet is cracked right through.

.

Glad to hear you made it through okay.

Yep, only after smashing a helmet do you gain a true appreciation for them.

Hey Machka, sorry to hear about the accident. I'm glad you're ok, although it must have been a bummer to do all that travelling and have that happen. Did it happen coming down the Malahat? There was one day there, Sunday I believe, when it was torrential.

Glad you're okay...all things considered.

There is no way I'd ride without a helmet personally. I've never had to put one to the test but if I ever do there will be one on my head for sure.

No, it was down a 15% grade into Duncan. It was last Saturday and had been drizzling. Maybe if it had been raining hard, the mud would have washed away, but as it was it looked like construction or farm trucks had been driving up and down the hill, and left a lot of mud all over it, which pooled at the bottom, of course. I made it all the way down the hill all right, but it was the 4-way stop at the bottom of the hill that got me.

If I did not have the accident on the 200K, I would have ridden the 300K which went over the Malahat on Sunday. Maybe the accident was a blessing in disguise??? :rolleyes:

Agreed. I have used 3 helmet to their full potential to date. Glad you still have your wits about you, Machka.

Machka, glad to hear you're still with us and in one piece. One of my favorite reasons to wear a helmet is to serve as protection from "branch hits" when riding mountainbikes through singletrack terrain.

That would have been horrible without a helmet! I wasn't gonna ride with one today, but I thought I would because ya just never know. I didn't crash, but reading about your crash makes me glad I made the right choice.

Sounds like hard luck more than anything. I wish you a speedy recovery and good preparation for PBP.

why i wear a helmet:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/20...Raisin-USA.jpg

(although not always while commuting... :/)

Very impressive that you still finished the ride even after that, hope the hip's better soon.

Thank god you seem all right and that you wore a helmet! :)

Hey machka. I am very glad to hear that you are alright, if a bit sore. I have, fortunately, not had to find out just how beneifical a helmet can be. Nonetheless I do not get on my bike...even to go around the corner to the stroe.....without donning my helmet (and MINE is incredibly dorky). Thank you for yet another vivid reminder.

Hang in there....and your posts are ones I always enjoy readinh.

Cheers,

Brian

Nice one Machka - always nice to hear that kind of report. Hope that hip feels better soon.

I can't BELIEVE I used to ride around without one. I had a fall recently where I cracked my cheekbone pretty good, and while helmets are a little less protective at this angle I'm sure it helped... it probably would have been more in the temple area if I had been sans protection.

One of my big objections years ago was how hot helmets were, but that has changed in my perception.

Yep, the helmet did its job!! Glad you're OK and can write about it.

I still haven't tested any helmets via a crash. Sometimes, though I leave it at home when doing a slow, flat recovery ride. But I may rethink that.

I wear a helmet for all rides...just because you're taking it easy doesn't mean you're crash proof (think dogs running out nowhere, etc.).

I crashed last August (bad pavement) and did a number on my collarbone. Helmet was dented in too but my head was just fine. So yes, helmets are very good things.

Glad you're ok Machka.

You need to trim that nail!

Thanks ... I was determined that I was going to get at least one brevet finished that week!!!

The hip is still really sore and is going through a rainbow of pretty colors now, but I was out for a ride today and it didn't feel too bad while riding. It'll be nice when the skin regrows on my knees ... and when the effects of whiplash and various pulled muscles heals too. :)

People look like dorks when they DON'T wear a helmet.

Guy in our club cracked his helmet in 7 places and still suffered a head injury; there is no sane reason not to wear one on all rides.

Well I'm glad your OK and that the helmet did its job.

Regarding your helmet with that exposed foam that cracked, well it was going to crack even in the lightest of impacts because exposed foam just has NO strength at all which is why I'm not a fan of that paticular design. I had a LG ( I cant spell) helmet crack in the same spot when I fell from stationary and lightly banged my head and I'm glad that I had the helmet on but it was a bit lame that it cracked.

I reccomend looking for a new helmet that has the shell completely covering the foam. There's a few around and I think Bell has a commuter/touring helmet that looks pretty sturdy. I'm a fan of Catlike helmets because they are completely covered.

Regards, Anthony

Nice. Hope the bike's okay too.

Glad to see you are okay. That was some report. Perhaps the picture did not do justice to what happened, but it looked similar to my run in with a car. I was t-boned against a car (I think a suburu, or something like that), and next thing I knew, I was on the street, on my back, looking up, and hearing everybody not to move. This is definitely why we wear a helmet. But like Endox says, I'm very impressed you finished the brevet ... maybe not the brightest thing to do, but I think it's the stubborn-headedness in all of us.

When it comes to health, life and limb, who cares how dorky the helmet looks. As long as it does the job, that's all that counts.