On Mon, 2012-10-01 at 15:08 -0700, Joe Broach wrote: > > Brewster, I guess I rationalize it the other way around. In my sample > of one, I ride more carefully the (10%?) of the time I don't wear my > helmet. Specifically, I ride more slowly on quieter streets, leave > more escape room, and rarely ride in the dark or rain without a > helmet. Out of the city, I pretty much only ditch the helmet for > climbs, and if I do descend, I don't push it. It may be unsupportable, > but it's the internal bargain I've made with myself.
Just for fun, let's examine a few accidents I've had, and see if "being more careful" would have helped. - front wheel gets caught in a crack between two lanes of concrete pavement, front wheel washes out, bike crashes. 10 mph at the time, if that much. - JRA and ride into an invisible, paved-over pothole. I couldn't see the depression after the crash when I was standing right next to it. - I come over the crest of a roller the day after a big thunderstorm, and there in defilade just beyond the crest, out of sight, is a large tree branch. I don't see it until I am almost on top of it, can't stop before I run over it and crash. - The wet spot I thought was water running across the bike trail turned out to be black ice. Soon as I hit it, the bike flips sideways and down I go. - The Mt. Vernon Trail detour under the Wilson Bridge routes you up onto a sidewalk at about a 15 degree angle. I don't see that just before you get to the newly cast concrete curb-cut there's a section of dirt immediately adjacent to the curb cut that's washed out, so instead of a level transition up the curb cut, it's a 1" ledge, and I hit it at a very shallow angle. Front wheel washes out and down I go. - I'm riding down the bike trail and there are two joggers ahead of me. I yell and ring my bell; they acknowledge and one jogger moves to the right and one moves into the left lane. I tell them I'm coming up the middle. As I am a couple of feet from them, the guy on the left crosses over to the right and steps right in front of my bike. I run him down. - I'm riding down the bike trail and my front tire blows. (Turns out there was a sharp metal edge inside the rim that cut the sidewall.) I'm not sure which wheel blew out, so I coast to lose speed rather than hitting any brake. The bike suddenly loses all directional stability and rolls right over, augering into the ground. Now, what was that you were saying about being more careful? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
