Wear a helmet...on your bicycle NGC

[hooah54]

Two and a half weeks ago I was in a bicycle accident that resulted in spending two nights in the trauma center.  Few recollections since I was knocked out and only rememer getting in the ambulance.  Due to the concussion and surgery to clean me up and repair my scalp, it was a two day stay.  Cracked patella, stitches in both hands and knees and the worst was having the right side scalp torn away from skull.  I was not wearing a helmet or gloves since it was just a five mile training ride.  Adding insult to injury, the hospital bill just about gave me a coronary.  Needless to say I nw have a bike helmet. 

[Arizona Wayne]

Well, you found out the hard, expensive way just how delicate your head/brain is.  Maybe your experience can stop someone else from learning this lesson the hard way too.  Most people I see riding bicycles nowadays do wear a helmet.   Some protection is better than none.

[oldbike54]

 Damn brother , glad you are healing . Us 54 boys are tough , but a good whack to the head is never fun .

 Dusty

[Sasquatch Jim]

  So how much is the driver who hit you suing you for?

[Zinfan]

I always wear a helmet when riding my bike, even for the one mile trip to the beach.  So many drivers not paying attention out there.

[unclepete]

I cracked my helmet once when I fell off my bike , wear it every time .
Around here a bicycle helmet is mandatory under a certain age ( 14 or 16 ) .
Why would a child think a helmet is a good idea if he/she sees adults riding without ?

[tazio]

54, thanks for stepping up with the reminder. Credit given for sharing details.

[not-fishing]

Wow, I've been wearing a helmet & gloves every time since '70 when I first got a real ten-speed with sew-ups.

I feel naked without them.

Funny thing is my 1 mph fall in '92 busted my helmet and my left collar bone. 

It's not how fast you're going it's how hard high you fall from and how hard you hit the ground.

That's why I can't understand why people would ride a motorcycle without a helmet.     So what is this '54 thing?  Birth year?

[oldbike54]

     So what is this '54 thing?  Birth year?

 Old family name , we think it is either Western plains Indian , or Polish 

 Dusty

[hooah54]

Fuzzy recollections but I had to brake hard to avoid a car that pulled out in front of me by a few feet.  Surgeons said I was lucky, CT scan was negative with no TBI.  first time in 56 years i wnt over the handlebars on a bicycle.  Anyway, learned my lesson ...experience is a cruel mistress...thanks for all the well wishes

[steven c]

Yikes glad your going to be alright. Heal quick. I have been hurt more on bicycles then motorcycles,I always wear helmet and gloves. I just put some thrones through my ears last weekend falling off my MB. ouch.
And if you think cars can't see you riding your motor try a bicycle, every year I have a close call, usually someone blowing a stop sign.

[Demar]

Good advice. The original bike helmets didn't have the shiny plastic skin covering the foam core and they found the foam would grab the pavement and not slide and could snap the neck. I saw that thin skin and thought what good is that. The skin allows the helmet/head to slide on concrete or pavement and lets the foam absorb impact without injury to the neck.

[Rough Edge racing]

  Some of you guys ride fast enough so a typical bicycle helmet is probably inadequate...I see them the same way I see the shorty motorcycle helmets....

[Triple Jim]

first time in 56 years i wnt over the handlebars on a bicycle.

You must not do much serious mountain biking then.     

[toaster404]

Excellent news on lack of TBI.  TBI no fun.  I have multiple impacts and mild TBI effects, have learned to adapt. 

Can't find right now, but helmets more important for bicycle wrecks.  My issue is risk compensation.  Without a helmet I am so naked that I ride very carefully.  I have had a no helmet concussion, skull crack etc long ago before there were helmets.  With a helmet, I just go go go go. 

Bicycling is actually more scary than motorcycling for me!!

[charlie b]

Which is why I quit riding a bicycle a long time ago.  Thought about it again a couple of years ago.  Tried a friends bike and almost got creamed.  No more.  If I am going to be on the road I will be in the traffic lane riding at same speed or faster than the traffic.

Yep, around here on downhills the bicycles are going as fast as the cars.  Can't imagine what it feels like to fall off at those speeds.

[Triple Jim]

Can't imagine what it feels like to fall off at those speeds.

It hurts like Hell.  I was in a race when we crashed just before the finish line on a slight downhill.  We were probably going close to 40 when it happened.  It was around 1975, and the other guys were wearing the little leather covered foam strap "hemets".  I had a CCM hockey helmet on.  I almost slid across the finish line, and came to a stop with my shorts melted into my warm-up top, and plenty of scrapes and road rash.  The medical guys on duty ignored me and spent their time with the other guys who couldn't remember their names.  No joke.

[not-fishing]

You must not do much serious mountain biking then.   

Mountain Biking -- Good Lord!  For downhill mountain biking I used to wear knee, elbow, full face and a Leatt neck brace at Northstar Park.  Now after my last "dismount" I've added torso body armor.  Bruised ribs at my age are painful and take a very long time to heal.  X-Country mountain biking/racing I go regular helmet, no Leatt and no body armor so the impacts really hammer you but you have to body-roll out of the way or get run over.

[Triple Jim]

Not-Fishing:  When I did a lot of mountain biking, we used to say that if we didn't come back bloody, we didn't have a good time.   

[HardAspie]

seems like you made it through, hooha, i'm glad to hear it. glad you've decided to wear a helmet.
bike helmets...long ago there i was headed down a long enough and steep enough hill, paved, on the paved shoulder, road speed limit was 55. i don't know how fast the cars were going, but i do recall that i was passing them. mt campagnolo side pulls were useless at that rate of speed. but i wore a helmet - one of those fluff filled leather tube basket affairs. i felt better for its being there!

[tazio]

6 miles on the mountain bike today, 1+hour of great exercise and spending time in the woods.
Haven't had a tree cut me off and try to run me down yet!
Helmet gloves and eye protection always. 

[steven c]

 I have a friend who is 68 and last year built himself a $7000 MT bike, he has broken his thumb so often it bends off at a 45 degree angle. He's not normal.

[tazio]

Yeah, me neither. 

[BigDave in PA]

I always wear my helmet. Back in my younger days [about 40] I built a road bike from the frame up. It was a short wheelbase, pretty light and fast. One morning on a steep down hill I was hauling butt laying across the bars, knees & elbows tucked in. I stopped at the bottom and checked my max speed on the computer and it was 58.6 mph. My goal at the time was to break the 60 mph mark but I didn't quite make it and never tried again. Now almost at age 64 I don't care about speed anymore. I'm just happy to be able to take my cross bike out for a ride. 14 miles on the rail trail today with a max speed of 14 mph. No vehicles to contend with.