Conference noted::bicycle

     I know this point has beaten with every know stick in the universe,
    but it is suicide to go out there without hear gear. I was lucky
    enough to survive a severe head-bounce off the pavement last year
    that probably would have had me (at the very least) learning to
    tie my shoes again. It was also the first year I wore a helmet.
    
     Pay close to heed to old Carl Malden, "Never leave home without
    it".
    
      Chip

>    (This is second hand from a Worcestor newspaper article...)
>    A Digital employee from the Hudson plant was killed over the
>    weekend in Charlton when his ten speed hit a bridge at the
>    bottom of a hill.  He was not wearing a helmet.

The article I read said they didn't know if he had a helmet or not (Worc. T&G).
But it did say the turn at the bottom of the hill was severe. The rider was 
pronounced dead at the scene due to chest and head injuries. I'm not going to
say a helmet isn't worth wearing but, it doesn't sound like a helmet would have
done him much good at the speed he hit the bridge abutment. This sounds like a
good place to sound off on riding responsible and in control at all times. I'm
the first to admit to rolling through stops and right on red as well as
drafting vehicles at speeds in excess of 45mph. I do wear a helmet but it's not
going to help me if I ride down a hill at 45 mph around a blind corner and find
a car in my face. Lets take this as a word of caution and wear our helmets and 
ride safe. We're not in the TDF we're out having fun.

Tom

re .2

Hear, hear........
There is a real danger of believing that a helmet gives one invinceability, the
motorcyclists around here certainly think so.  I can only quote that 2 of them
met in the middle of the Nice-Grasse road the other day and killed each other
outright - at a closing speed I suspect of more than 100 mph, wearing helmets
is neither here nor there.  I also suspect that motorists may begin to think it
is OK to knock you off because you are wearing a helmet and will come to no
harm!!
I agree with Tom, ride responsibly and be aware, ride a helmet if you want to.

Wearing a helmet gives a rider the feeling of invincibility?  Really?  Not me,
I still don't want to crash.

Auto drivers used to pay close attention to bikers before most riders wore
helmets, but now that most wear helmets drivers are more likely to ignore them
and run them down?  Hard to believe!

I consider myself a pretty good rider and yet I've had crashes bad enough to
break 3 helmets.  None of these crashes involved cars.

I simply don't understand it.  Styrofoam helmets weigh next to nothing and they
work.  They really do work.  Perhaps I shouldn't get worked up about it since
this argument is over, at least here in bike crazy Northern California.  Here I
would say to maybe 1 in 50 riders does not wear a helmet.

I'm inclined to say that it's your head, do what you want with it.  However
even in America, but much more so in many countries such as UK, it may be your 
head but it's everyone's hospital bill.  So maybe it's not the helmets that
give us the feeling of invincibility, it's the welfare/insurance state that
says that we are entitled to medical care whether we can afford it or not and
regardless of whether we could have prevented our injury.  Oh man, this is too
heavy!  Let's talk about something more fun.

I have an aunt who works as a nurse at a hospital in San Diego, and she
has some horror stories to tell about head injuries in cyclists and
motorcyclists.

I do feel that skillful and sensible cycling is proably more important
than wearing a helmet, but crazy things can happen even if you don't
race.  For example, I had the left hand side of a handlebar break when
I was out of the saddle sprinting - I pitched forward and it caught in the
front wheel!  There would have been hell to pay if that happened on a
fast descent, hitting a bump.  You never know...

It's strange, but for me to go out riding without my helmet would feel
like stepping out of the house without my pants on!  You get used to it.

- Jim

Living is dangerous, but I still think it's fun.

Most accidents occur in the home and the head is the most vulnerable, I think
I'd better put my helmet on as soon as I get out of bed.  Second thoughts I
could roll over and fall out of bed on my head, better wear it all the time....
Somehow this reminds me of a Monty Python sketch............

Never mind folks, the TdF starts in 3 weeks and then we can look forward to
some real controversy.

    I think Bat said all of the right stuff. I, too, am inclined to
    agree that personal choices are personal choices... period!
    
    Wearing a helmet demonstrates only one thing... you're smart. No
    matter how responsible YOU are, there's a dummy out there in a
    vehicle ready to take that blissful smile of your face.
    
    Then again, a helmet won't help you if a airplane falls out of
    the sky and lands on you either ;-).
    
      Chip
     

    Anyone see Maryland's new state law requiring helmets on bikers?
    Personally I'm against it... but not exactly for the "personal
    freedom"/Jerry Williams reason that got the Mass seat belt law repealed.
    I feel that if people are too stupid to wear a helmet, their genes
    shouldn't be passed on, and they should be given every opportunity
    to kill themselves off.  Don't introduce legislation to stop the
    natural process of improving the species.  _K

     Or reducing the population through unnatural causes... :-)
    
       Chip, again.

  
    
    
      Hail to Darwin, and .8 and .9.  Clever reasoning, good points.
    
    -Robin

    	Here's one for ya...
    
    	A friend rides a Honda Shadow 1100, wears a "half shell" helmet.
    
    	He's got a sticker on the back of the helmet that reads:
    
    		"I'm not wearing this helmet by choice".
    
    	There are scrape marks on the helmet, and the sticker, from
    
    	two different spills taken off a motorcycle. (Not the shadow)
    
    	He hates helmets, except when it rains.
    
    	Death is an inalienable right to some individuals...
    
    							Face

    My youngster (17) hated helmets.  He reckoned that they made him look  
    like a dork.  Recently he joined the local bike club intending to race 
    so he didn't have a choice.
    
    Yesterday he was out practicing sprints, stood up in the saddle,
    powered down on the pedals ... and the chain slipped.  Wipe out.  His  
    comment when he saw the dent and split in the helmet ... "gee, that    
    could've been my head".
    
    I wont have to worry about making him wear his helmet again.
    
    Bob

    I was once at a cocktail party where a UCBerkely medical school
    professor was sincerely (if ironically) lamenting the then-new
    California law requiring helmets on motorcyclists... because this guy's
    thing was organ transplants and brain-damaged cyclists were the perfect
    donors: keep them on the IV until you need the part.

I was never sure if they were serious but I've heard the same story.  Seem that
the average motorcyclist is a young man in his 20's and quite often in good
shape.  Couldn't ask for a better donor.

However California does NOT have a motorcycle helmet law.  Maybe it was passed
and vetoed.