No Bike Helmets up Here

8/21/2016

6 Comments

Roy Groesbeck

8/22/2016 03:20:13 pm

My daughter lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and she says that most days she is the only cyclist wearing a helmet.

Dave Simon link

8/22/2016 03:39:11 pm

Those dang Americans.

chuck stanley

8/22/2016 07:44:04 pm

I cycled D/FW roadways and Texas highways on a custom ROMIC road bike for 20+ years and wore a helmet because there are no BIKE LANES in this state! Cycling and sharing narrow outside asphalt zones between the yellow line and abyss of Bluebonnets and Crab Grasses (weeds) just off the road's edge leaves little room for operator error with crazed motorists speeding alongside. Cyclist's getting run off the blacktop while peddling TX's Farm to Market Roads (thanks to President LBJ) during spring bloom have been known to get lost for days in Bluebonnets taller than 3' Rio Grande Turkeys. You'd think for all the space in TX the DOT would included cycling lanes when building expansive roadways. Plus as motor vehicle operators become ever more obsessed with texting and driving, cyclists are crazy not to wear a helmet.

Now, if I lived in a cyclist friendly region such as Colorado with BIKE LANES out the wazoo, then I'd ride helmetless. CO civil engineers used their noggins designing cycling lanes with amble room for autos and spinners to share byways. Additionally, CO weeds are not as tall as TX weeds, nor my late 70's afro, so if I got run off the road cycling CO without a helmet, odds are I'd be found by the next passing motorist eyeing bar ditches trying to spot elk, bear or chipmunks. Not in Texas! Wear a helmet and ride safe.

PS - I am 57 year old baby boomer and survivor of a gang of kids that rode banana seat with sissy bar bicycles in the neighborhood every day of summer from sun up to sun down without a helmet, shirt or shoes. I wrecked and still survived because riding fearless made us men! Now I ride a Harley Road King - hee, hee!

Dave Simon link

8/23/2016 01:56:31 am

I thinking texting car drivers are the biggest danger today.

GLENN TROESTER

8/22/2016 07:46:01 pm

In the late 1980's, my daughter and I were involved in a wreck on a Colorado interstate. We ended up at Colorado General.

It happens that in the emergency room, a young guy was on the gurney next to me. He was only able to moan. His mother was hysterical. The nurse told me later the kid hit a curb while he was riding his bicycle, without a helmet. She said he had a devastating brain injury and would probably need constant care for the rest of his life. He also broke his arm.

This is a real story! I did not make it up. Michele and I were avid bicyclists, so this tragedy got our attention.

My wife grew up in Wisconsin, and we lived there for several years. The helmet dearth is due to the Harley Davidson Effect: only real men and real women ride Harleys, and real men and real women don't need no stinkin' helmets! Wisconsin folks have a fatalistic attitude about riding anything with two wheels. If you buy the farm while riding, c'est la vie. The price of freedom.

Even a very small accident on a bicycle can produce major brain damage. It only takes one little mistake to change your life forever. I don't know for sure how he broke his arm, but there's a decent chance that kid at Colorado General probably thought his arm would protect his head.

So, if you think your brain is worth nothing, then nothing is needed to protect it. C'est la vie!

DaveSimon link

8/23/2016 01:57:51 am

Good points, Glenn.

No Bike Helmets up Here

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