Mark, for the record, I wear a helmet ever since I was hit by a car (hit and run driver). I was not wearing a helmet at the time. The driver ran right through a stop sign and directly into my left side in the middle of the intersection. I was thrown up onto the hood of the car, and rolled off, ending up far from where I was hit. I had no "serious" injuries, luckily enough. I was taken to the hospital, where the medics pulled shrapnel from my back. I was concussed, had cuts and bruising to the forehead, sustained severe contusions, and tweaked my neck.
However, I think it's inappropriate to suggest that "the standard Rivendell line" is no helmet. From what I recall (could be wrong), Grant has instead suggested that we riders think about helmets, and if they are appropriate for our use, and how effective they are. He has suggested thinking about risk compensation, and so on. I don't remember him ever saying: "don't wear a helmet", although I imagine he himself most often chooses not to wear one. Incidentally, the main reason I wear a helmet is for a good place to mount my "take a look" mirror. After being hit, I wanted to see everything behind me (although I was hit from the side in this case) as well as in front of me. As a safety device, I value my mirror at least as much as my helmet. It took quite a while to get used to riding with a mirror, but now that I am accustomed to it I find it invaluable. I highly recommend its use for commuters. On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 7:37:00 PM UTC-7, Mark Schneider wrote: > > Good evening, > > A recent experience has made me curious on everyones opinion of wearing > helmets. To some, it seems against the standard Rivendell ethos to wear a > helmet. In this case as in others (clipless pedals)I stray from the > standard Rivendell line. I believe in them, I won't get on my bike without > one for any meaningful ride. Last night, I had an experience that made me > damn glad that I do. I was riding eastbound on Pescadero Road right at rush > hour, Butano Creek has been flooding the road for some time now so when > traffic coming from both directions approaches the flooded area both sides > form a cue. I was riding faster than I normally do as it had just started > to pour and I was headed home, as I followed a car across the flooded > section because of the small wake, I couldn't see the fog line which I try > to stay to the left of, also I was watching the cars much closer than I was > where my front tire was going.Well as you probably guessed I crashed hard > when my from tire hit the lip of a pothole at an angle that thru me > sideways off the bike. My helmeted head hit the pavement hard, and while I > didn't loose consciousness I wasn't able to stand on my own or get up for a > minute or two despite laying in 4-5 inches of cold water. There's no > question that I'd have been injured far worse than I was had I not had a > helmet on. I ended up in a ambulance and was taken to the ER. Today, I'm a > bit foggy, and my neck is killing me. I was concussed and have a whiplash, > the doctor told me I was lucky I had a helmet on, I did not go over the > handlebars but fell sideways and hit the side of my head. > I guess my point is I think this accident could happen to anyone, I've > been riding bikes since the early 1960's and I haven't crashed this hard in > decades. I did make some errors, like not waiting for the traffic to pass, > but I've crossed this spot many times this winter as well as turning around > when there's too much water. I'm usually cautious as injuries heal slowly > at my age. > So my question is, helmet or no helmet, and if no helmet why? > > Thanks > Mark > Pescadero Basin > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
