why don't you wear a helmet...?!?!

[the weiner posse]

there are some of us that i have noticed time and time again that do not wear a helmet...

why is this...?

what is your reasoning...?

don't you realise you could _die_...!?

[cootie]

Alright, weiner, since you care so much to ask, I'll tell you... I don't believe in helmets enough to make one a part of my routine. I doubt helmets protect nearly as well as so many people would like to think. Are you saying you can't die while wearing a helmet? (Does that mean I can finally go sky-diving without a parachute as long as I wear my cycling helmet?) I wear one on longer rides out of town, generally when I wear a chamois; this due to it having become part of that "uniform," but never does it make me feel any safer. A helmet would add hassle to my usually bulky commutes in-town with little protection in exchange. I don't have health insurance, either, so go figure.

This is a post from a discussion on helmet use from velorution.biz.



Helmet use isn’t just a problem because of risk-compensation though. It’s a problem because helmets:
1) Are designed _only_ to provide protection for non-life-threatening surface abrasions and wounds (ANSI, SNELL standards) and do not provide protection against the major problem the brain and blood-vessels being damaged by declerating by impact with the inside of the skull.

2) Increase the radius of the head. This in turn leads to both an increased incidence of the head striking the ground (instead of the body absorbing the impact), and to increased rotational/shearing damage to the neck, medulla oblongata and brain.

The Prisoner’s Dilemma and other later variants of game theory change massively dependant on the information available to the supposedly rational participants in the game.

I would wager that if the disadvantages of helmet usage were properly explained to their advocates then this particular game would change significantly.

(N.B. this all applies to the ANSI/SNELL standard helmets. It doesn’t apply to the heavier, robuster downhill fullface helmets which do have enough strength to destructively dissipate the force of fall to the head as a trade-off against their increased radius. Helmet critics have noted that the earlier SNELL standard was discarded because the resulting helmet was considered to be too heavy and uncomfortable for there to be a chance of cyclists wearing it)

Comment by Velosopher — 22 August 2005 @ 15:41


www.velorution.biz/?p=950#comments



I'm not saying, as some do, that wearing a helmet actually makes cycling more dangerous; I'm saying that for me it isn't worth the bother.

Now that we've got that nasty little bit of business out of the way, are you going to tell us why you don't wear a chamois? Don't you realize you could chafe???

[david]

Hmm, interesting discussion. I've never impacted my head in any of many crashes before or after I started wearing a helmet habitually -- at least not that I can recall . . . sorry bad joke. But I'm not persuaded by the Velosopher's comments -- who is he, anyway? I wouldn't like to see helmet use legally mandated, but I'm convinced that even the vented ANSI/SNELL helmets decelerate the head slowly enough to at least lessen the impact of the brain against the skull. I've formed this opinion while speaking with a physiologist and doing quite a bit of reading, of course the physiologist (as a health profession) may not be totally unbiased.

I admit, as you say cootie, that helmets seem a bit of a bother, at least at first. It's just not the same as simply hopping on a cruiser and pedaling along the waterfront (one of my favorite activities in Burlington) or zipping over to the grocery store or post office. But nowadays I hardly notice the helmet step.

Really, I feel that car drivers especially, as well as other bicyclists, in general respect my place as a cyclist more since I've gone with the helmet. That's worth it to me, even if someone calls it a suck-up. But again, just like flu shots, I don't think helmets should be legislatively mandated.

[the weiner posse]

well...

i don't buy that whole 'increase the diameter of your head' argument...

and this is why...

it seems the reason behind the 'increased diameter' is mainly because it supposedly results in an increase of neck injuries since the 'head' would be hit more often due the larger overall size...

ok...

so then...you'd be telling me that you don't wear a helmet due to the very small chance of being in a fall that has _just_ the right force to hit _just_ your helmet but not enough to continue through the distance of roughly one inch(the thickness of a helmet) to hit your head...?

because that seems to be the only situation where wearing a helmet would cause unnecessary injury...
if unavoidable...i'd rather have some slight neck injury for having a saved head thunked against the pavement/a car/etc...

for me...not wearing a helmet based on one situation that seems rather highly unlikely seems pretty dumb when there are myriad other situations where it would help...
and not wearing a helmet for the one reason that they 'are designed _only_ to provide protection for non-life-threatening surface abrasions and wounds' is just stupid...

'yeah i only plan on wrecking to die...so if i don't have something that will save me only in a death situation...then what good is it...?'
he'll make a good vegetable...


and to answer your question of the non-wearing of cycling shorts...here is my answer...

it's part of my regression in cycling...

i used to wear cycling shorts whenever i'd ride...now it seems to be only when riding more than thirty miles...
although i did do the first two days of ragbrai last year in my boxers...
i can even tell you when it started...when i first started riding to the shop to remodel...i'd throw on my cycling shorts...ride two miles...then change back into my boxers once i got there...this got annoying so i just started riding to the shop without my cycling shorts...

oh and i don't find myself chafing...i guess if you ride your bike enough...then your body just tends to get used to things...
it reminds me of some bike shop profile that _bicycle retailer_ had of some high end shop in california...
it listed their top ten items sold...and they had chamois butter as either the number one or two item...
that got me thinking about all of these rich doctors and lawyers out in california that only ride on the weekend and how they don't ride everyday and such...so they need extra 'protection' in the form of chamois cream...

a few other example of my regression include the following...

- using water bottles again instead of a camelbak®...
- no more wearing gloves(only in the winter to keep my hands warm)...
- no more use of bar ends on my mountain bikes...

i think i owe it all to my voodoo nzumbi single speed mountain bike that i got in may of 2002...that bicycle taught me the 'simple is better' philosophy of things...



ps...i was going to say something about having nuts of 4130 chromoly steel...but that's pretty crass and not my style...so i won't say it...

[gpickle]

Gosh Weiner, you are going to stir a hole right through the bottom of this pot and have wet feet if you are not careful! The helmet issue has been debated since, well, the invention of the helmet I would think. I myself do not engage in discussions of this topic and do not be fooled, I am not engaging you. Just pointing out that when you say what you were not going to say you sound an awful lot like Bob Dole and Captain Armstrong.

gpickle

ps: Dumb? Stupid? Hardly the words of healthy debate.

[cootie]

Woo-hoo!! We're cooking now, hey boys??

I suppose I should've just said this in the first place, but I don't wear a helmet because I choose not to. I don't think it's anyone else's business, the why-fors. How many smoke detectors do you have in your house? Do you wear sunblock when exposed to harmful UV rays? Do you brush your teeth after each meal and floss every day? Do you drink filtered water? Do you walk on chemically treated grass? Do you watch TV?

There are so many sides to this debate... no, sir, not just two. I like to hear what people have to say, even far out views like Velosopher's (david -- I don't know who he is... just a guy posting on the velorution blog). He claims helmets have the potential to increase risk of injury, and he's got whatever so-called evidence to back it up. But, so does person with a polar opposite opinion. Everybody's got their evidence. Then, there are people like me that meander in the middle... sometimes actually wearing a helmet but not really caring much to do so. And, I don't care who wears one and who doesn't.

Having said that my life will soon be changing as the AmeriCorps volunteer at the Bike Library. I must take the stance of the ICBL and encourage all patrons to wear a helmet, which means I may be required to wear one when riding to & from any ICBL-related errand. But, I love the ICBL, so I'll do what I must.

And, I agree with gpickle that "dumb" & "stupid" aren't very nice words for a healthy or friendly debate.

[1eftcoastgrave1]

good disscusion and one that i tend to hear a lot of critizism about. one interesting fact to consider regarding the statistic of "helmets save lives" is that most of the people hit by cars while wearing helmets are "alive" but in some sort of vegitated state. having known many people who have died via bicycle car collisions, both wearing helmets and not, i feel like if i'm gonna get into a accident on my bicycle big enough to put me in the hospital forever, i don't want to come out of it.
aside from this, i think i don't wear a helmet sometimes just to spite those facists that look down on us, nonhelmet wearers. there are so many sides and everyone has their own soapbox to stand on. unfortunatly if everyone is telling everyone else how to live their lives and ride their bikes we all forget to ride bikes and live life. oh, and hello to g pickle, cootie, and wiener posse.
peace
portland

[helpingfrendlybook]

helmet: sometimes
brush: habitually
floss: trying to become habit

[themostlyreverend]

how curious is this! g pickle convinced me, before leaving my home this morning, to come to this place, and help liven it up. so i did, and here i am, and i had just decided that my first post would be by way of introduction, i'm so and so, and i don't wear a helmet, and that's that.

so what do i see? this thread. hmm. serendipity? nah, just inevitable.

i'll have to come back to finish my post, as g is getting ready to leave, and we must go eat, but be forewarned--I'LL BE BACK.

and i WON'T be wearing a helmet!!

hey, leftie and cootie.

[themostlyreverend]

and we're back! g's on his way back to riverton, and i was telling you why i don't believe in helmets:

i've ridden bikes--helmetlessly--for over 50 years--get that, FIFTY YEARS--and by golly, if i don't want to wear a helmet, you're not gonna make me.

and, yes, i do want to wear helmets while racing. and the first group ride of the year, and generally, but not always, the first day of ragby.

but on a training ride? no.
while riding to work? no.
cruising around town on any one of my silly bikes? no.
while touring? no.
riding while pulling a trailer with my granddaughter in it? no.
just about any other time? no.

i've spent my entire life learning to ride "safely": paying attention to my environment, enjoying the environment, being aware of hazards and riding defensively and aggressively, and letting OTHER cyclists ride as they define "safely" for themselves.

helmets and religious beliefs are similar to me: i have them [helmets, and beliefs about religion], and i don't try to force mine upon you. do me a favor, and treat me the same.

curiously, i raised my daughter with that philosophy. when she rides, she doesn't wear a helmet. she used to race; she's done the ragby. she's crashed. she is a very good and safe cyclist. she's not afraid to ride with her daughter helmetless. i will continue to ride safely with little nyla, and teach her how to respect her life and how to do things which reasonably will enhance her personal safety.

i might spend eternity in hell, but i don't think i will.
i might die as a result of not wearing a helmet, but i don't think i will.

try to prove or disprove either one if you must,
but leave me out of the discussion, please.

[1eftcoastgrave1]

Amen sista!! great analogy between religion and helmets. fanatics on both sides. i don't always wear a helmet but i went for a group ride once and a friend pointed out that if i were to get hurt to the point where someone on the ride would have to deal with me, they would have to deal with me and as a courtasey to them i should wear a helmet. i am often driven to don a helmet out of guilt on group rides now. if my number is up, it's up. on the flip side, i was out for a ride with my helmet (and tight clothes) on and a punk looking kid on a old clunker bike riding the other way yelled "Helmet wearers!!" at us and we we're both very confused. we have never been on the other side of the helmet "war." in the meantime, i think people shouldn't tell others what to do.

[dsg1966]

I used to be one of those that thought that wearing a helmet for short rides was useless and bothersome. Now I wear mine all the time, and this is why. I was on an organized fun ride in june of 2004. It was a fairly nice day and there were about 30 of us going on a 30 mile ride. We came to an intersection to head out of town and as I was coming around the intersection my bike went out from underneath me and I crashed, and no I wasn't going fast, but anyway my body took the brunt of the impact inparticullary my hip, shich broke, but also my head impacted the pavement hard enought for it to break and me to see stars. I had surgery on my hip and I had my head checked out with no apparent ill effects. But I fully beleive that without a helmet on I wouldn't be able to respond to this today. But wearing a helmet is a choice and each of us has to make there own, but when I tell people of my accident they are now wearing a helmet.

[themostlyreverend]

dsg said: <<But I fully beleive that without a helmet on I wouldn't be able to respond to this today. But wearing a helmet is a choice and each of us has to make there own, but when I tell people of my accident they are now wearing a helmet.>>

and, with all due respect [and what i mean, dsg, is this: you have every right to feel as you do, and say what you did. i am adding this for the sake of further discussion], i say this-- you can't PROVE that. just like religion. and as i said earlier, when i go out riding with 30 to 50 or 70 riders on an organized training ride, i still won't wear a helmet, and i'll be just as happy as you. as i have been for a LONG time.

and i don't care whether the person next to me is wearing a helmet.
what i care about is WHETHER THAT PERSON KNOWS HOW TO RIDE A BIKE!!

and i think THAT makes a h**l of a difference.
[and that's why i generally stay away from fun rides, because often they aren't!!]

[the weiner posse]

media.ebaumsworld.com/wmv/payattention.wmv

[themostlyreverend]

ahhh...just as i expected!!