[fixedgearbob]

This is my commercial. Wear your helmet! I crashed in Forest Park tonight harder than I have ever crashed. I cracked my helmet and bruised my shoulder. The front fork appears to be bent and is headed to the bike shop tomorrow. If I didn't have the helmet on, I would be at Barnes right now. I appear to be okay. Well very sore but thankful that I made it home.

[djimgo reinhardt]

glad you're allright, bob. welcome to the club!

[mcompton]

I preach this to my kids and a bunch of scouts once a year at a bike rodeo. We used to have a Mom come and speak about helmets when a truck clipped her and broke the helmet. I replaced her after a bad transition to the side walk, head lined up with a landscaping rock. I am pretty sure I would be dead or on the feeding tube without the helmet. I didnt know who I was until the E.R. Make sure kids know to click the strap. It makes me nuts to see them balancing the helmet on their heds.

[Bike Fett]

Could not agree with you more. I just recently shattered my helmet, and shudder to think what my melon would have looked like if I had not been wearing one.

[John_Kuthe...]

Glad you are OK.

I always wear my cycling helmet. I did this morning when I rode down to STL Bread, and I will tomorrow morning when I ride to school.

[MugBan]

Count me among those who would be dead if I didn't wear one. It's the only thing that allows me to remember hitting my head when the truck driver took me down at a time and place not of my choosing.

[Trekguy5570]

I just never understand why people ride without helmets. It can save your life, the worst thing it can do is mess up your hair. The people who say they dont make a difference are nuts. When i was in 6th grade i was riding my bike aroudn a corner at school and someone else was going the opposite direction. We hit head on and i went straight up into the air and straight down onto my head. My helmet cracked and i was perfectly ok. Without a helmet i would have easily been seriously injured. Both our mountain bikes had bent rims and forks.

[jmeitz]

and i just saw a guy riding the other day in front of Rombachs pumpking patch with out a helmet and then the same guy on wildhorse creek. All he had on was a cycling cap as if that is going to protect his head. I guess he thought he looked pretty Euro.

[Dan Lawrence]

Haven t you heard!? Helmets make you look stoopid!...
But really, I would say 40% of the people I see on the MCT trails here are not wearing helmets. Of those 40%, 10% are on legitimate road racing bikes (usually older late 90's treks). The worst is the parent with the child not wearing a helmet at all. I even saw multiple people not wearing a helmet on a group ride a few months ago. That was a surprise. I will not ride with someone who feels it is their right to not wear a helmet.

[mec]

I used to do freestyle/bmx shows for the scouts back in the 80's. We always spoke highly of wearing helmets to the kids (and parents). Good times.

I crashed at castlewood last year (a few times) but the worst was going down hill too fast and I busted my helmet, right above my eye. And my eyes happened to be open on impact. Scarry stuff.

You should see my motorcycle helmet after what I put it through!

[BigBlackBag2]

fixedgearbob, on 04 October 2009 - 08:39 PM, said:

This is my commercial. Wear your helmet!

And a good commercial at that! I never tire of seeing people posting up to endorse wearing a helmet. We all have stories, and few of us understand those who choose not to don a lid.

I make policy of refusing to ride with anyone not wearing a helmet. I hate to be a jerk, but I just do not want to watch another life slip away during a ride...and I believe my policy increases my chances of success.

[McJohn]

It was probably about 15 years ago that I was going down the bike path in FP along Skinker when a mountain bike popped out from behind some trees and right in front of me. Grabbed some brakes, then slammed into the rear triangle. Did a superman flight over the impact site and proceeded to land on my upper forehead some distance further. Tumbled, had my bike land on top of me to add insult to injury. Realized that my helmet was now loosely hanging on the straps around my neck - it had broken into several pieces during the impact.

Aside from the normal assortment of roadie crash injuries (sprained fingers, road rashes, deep bruises) my head was OK. I had some scrapes on my face where (I guess) the helmet slid down over my face. Don't know what the normal outcome is from landing forehead first on a paved surface, but I'm sure it's not pretty. Worst part of the crash was having to walk all the way back around to the other side of FP, dragging the bike.

[The Man]

MugBan, on 04 October 2009 - 10:30 PM, said:

Count me among those who would be dead if I didn't wear one. It's the only thing that allows me to remember hitting my head when the truck driver took me down at a time and place not of my choosing.

I think that's the part people don't get - you never wake up and say, "Gee, what a beautiful day to stack my skull into the road/curb/rock/etc." I was once hit by a car on my way home to meet my gf. I ended up smashing my head into the pavement near 20 mph. The guy asked once if I was OK & squealed the tires when I said I think so. All I can tell you is he drove a green Chrysler. Thanks to my helmet I didn't have to re-learn my alphabet. Or walking. Or breathing. Helmets are more than a good idea - they're natural selection in action!

[live2beoutside]

The Man, on 05 October 2009 - 11:15 AM, said:

. . . you never wake up and say, "Gee, what a beautiful day to stack my skull into the road/curb/rock/etc." . . .

Ha.ha.ha.ha.ha.ha. . . . no kidding !! I crashed in the 1989 edition of the Waco (TX) Wild West Century ride. I can still remember the sound of the helmet scraping against the pavement as I slid down the asphalt at 25 mph. I also remember the thought that was running through my head at that time: "I'm glad that's not my SKULL scraping against the asphalt"!!! After that crash, I vowed to never ever get on my bike without a helmet.

Fast forward 14 years and change . . . to my next crash. 14 years of helmeted but crashless riding came to an end when a dog escaped his yard and, in running from his owners, ran under a hedge that blocked him from my view and out into the street. I T-boned him at 16 mph (according to later downloads of speedo and HRM) and was launched into the beginnings of an endo before I could complete my standard explicative phrase (G_D_ it !! for those who don't know me well - but I did finish it while airborne . . . ). The beginnings of the landing was rather smooth . . .palm . . . elbow . . . shoulder . . . but a rotational aspect of my endo had me rotate around to my back and whip-lash my helmeted skull backwards into the pavement. SMACK !!! I could actually feel the styrofoam of the helmet crush from the impact but it felt like slamming my head backwards as hard as I could into my pillow. Now, I'm not wiling to say I'd have been dead or a vegatable without the helmet but it certainly prevented what would have been a serious blow to the head, lots of bleeding and maybe a fractured skull. Indeed, you never do wake up and say "Gee . . . I'm gonna wear my helmet today because I haven't crashed in 14 years so today is surely the day I smack my noggin on Planet Earth.

[REX]

But has anyone noticed more and more people with out helmets?

This seems to be a cultural thing, if you are a certain style of rider it's not ok to wear a helmet. Not just locally, I stay up all night watching kids bust out tricks and the rarely ever have helmets on. Lame thing is I have been debating wearing mine. I always loose the debate and I have yet to ride without my helmet. It's a shame that some people go without their helmet in this day and age.