Yesterday, I was forced to think about bike helmets again.
Many times my wife and I attend an event together, but one of us
needs to leave before the other. When this happens, I stuff a bike in
the car and I get another chance to ride. This happened today, but I
forgot my helmet. That's not a problem for me. I rode home anyway, but I
had the recently flaring helmet debate going through my head and wondered if people who
saw me were the types who want to yell, "Get a helmet!"
I
have a friend or two in that category.Their first reaction upon seeing
bicyclists without helmets is to comment about the lack of helmet. I
rarely notice and instead notice the bike brand or some aspect of the
rider's style.
I guess I'm more interested in bike gear. Anyway, in this situation would the strong helmet proponents chose to not ride home?
Subscribe to 3-Speed Blog
Posts
Comments
3 comments:
I'm in the same boat as you. If I forget my helmet, I ride without my helmet. Also if I start to overheat, I ride without my helmet. Or if I don't feel like wearing my helmet, I ride without my helmet. I don't usually mind my helmet, and I'd say I wear it the majority of the time, but don't worry about not wearing it unless the type of riding I'm doing lends itself to more falls. I definitely know people who have an immediate reaction to a helmetless cyclist, but that's their crusade, and I leave them to it. My wife is sometimes like that, and a certain percentage of my helmet wearing is to put her mind at ease. Curiously, when we go to the beach each year, she never packs her helmet. Somehow the risks on those streets don't merit helmet use, but the local streets do. I'm not going to say she's wrong. She's an adult and makes her own choices. I just find it interesting that other adults are not afforded the same courtesy.
I always wear a helmet. However, I have been in a similar situation, and I chose to ride. Which probably invalidates my first sentence.
Helmet, no helmet, I don't particularly care. I'm not a big fan of them, but that's my deal. I wouldn't say anything as IT'S NONE OF MY F'N BUSINESS.
I wish others would remember that.
Post a Comment