the world needs organ donors.

I see this time to time worse yet is the folks riding w/ a helmet on their handle bars like they'll stop and put their helmet while they are crashing. I was suprised on another site the # of folks who ride w/ headphones. simply amazing.

I got caught up in (or possibly caused...) a crash at a local crit last night. 2 laps to go, leaning hard into a 180 deg left turn in 3rd wheel and got hit from behind. My bibs are trashed and I'm missing about 10% of the skin on my left leg, but all in all, am fine. The guy who went over my bike after touching wheels wasn't so lucky. Well, he had less rash, but also a trashed helmet. He hit the deck pretty hard after going over the bars, whereas I just slid out.

Sure this was in a race, but people go down on bike paths/lanes too, and you never know what can happen.

Glad you're OK. Is it common to put a 180 degree turn on a crit course? Sounds beyond dangerous.

Ya, I might have stayed out of that argument too...

I'm +1 on the helmet crew, and find it difficult not to say something to people to encourage them to wear helmets.

Last summer, my bud would have surely sustained critical injury and possibly died when he crashed out riding with me. He just got caught in a rut on the side of the road that flipped him over the front end and into a large-stone gravel parking lot. He broke his clavicle, ok, but his helmet had four 3/4 inch dents in it from the impact of the rocks and several smaller ones.

Woodda cracked the ol' coconut right open.

I didn't wear them in my teens, but have always worn one and encouraged riders with me to do that same for the last 15 years or so.

-C

I'll occasionally wear my ipod on the road (never on a trail) and I keep the volume low enough that I can still hear everything around me. Frankly I find the sound of the wind blocks out more than my actual music. It's really a preventative measure to keep an annoying song out of my head on long rides.

I got hit by a truck too. Helmet cracked, but was home from hospital by supper.

A picture

Another picture

I show those to my kids when I tell them how important wearing a helmet is. Seems to get the message across more than all the blah blah blah in the world. :)

jono

My job is to see the folks in Emergency following the crash. I always emphasize, especially with kids, that I can fix a broken arm pretty easily, but for a squished brain there isn't much I can do. With young kids it's really up to the parents. If it's got wheels, you need a helmet (the number of head bonks I've treated because of those silly "heely" shoes..)

1+ on ideas and organizations to raise awareness and funds for helmets. I went to Sri Lanka for relief work following the Tsunami and I was struck that the typical transportation for a family of 5 was a motor ycle (kids on handles, shoulders, hanging off the back, wherever) and the only person wearing a helmet was the father. Always thought a good project would be awareness/helmets there.

"All I was thinking was dont drop the bike." - runningfool

Too funny, it's surprising how protective we are of our bikes. I was riding out in Moab and didn't make my front wheel over a big rock, I fell forward and to the side. I pretty much rolled over the rock and managed to cradle the bike with my body during this and it never got a scratch. Somehow neither did I. I guess I've gotten pretty graceful at falling considering how often I do it.

This past weekend I was taking on a mtb cross training session and hit the deck so hard (after having apparently too much confidence in my xtreme mtb'n skillz) that I cracked my helmet right above my left eye... had I been a moron I would most def have been d-e-a-d right now. IMO, people that don't wear helmets are asking for it.

That's good to know. Here I'm the mean ol' mom who won't let her daughter wear anything with wheels without a helmet. She wants heelies but I'm not budging on that rule and she doesn't want to walk around with a helmet on all day, LOL.

I got passed on a backcountry highway not too long ago by a mom on a 4-wheeler with four kids hanging off of it, ages 1 - 8-ish (she was holding the baby in her lap), none of them with helmets, traveling about 40mph.... my kids eyes about bugged out of their heads at that one... then she turned off of the road onto a dirt path and caught some air, I swear I saw all four kids leave their seats, thought we were going to witness a multiple fatality darwin award right there.

+1 for the Darwin award. Those folk will eventually all die out and leave just the intelligent people to cycle...............................................................................................................

people here do it on motorised machines.....so I am not even gonna start on them about helmets + bicycles.