Don't Die.

[B Love]

This is a post from another forum.  Do you, your loved ones and friends a favor.

Wear a helmet.  Feel dorky, but live long.  Pretty good trade-off for me. 

Read below:

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Hey all, I know a lot of you have come across Mike....especially the guys on the Thirsty Thursday rides. I just found out that he was in an accident last Friday and is currently in the ICU at Cedars-Sinai.

Sorry for my poor details of what happened, but as he was riding, and a car made a right turn in front of him. He apparently hit the car and then went down hitting his head sustaining major head trauma. The driver of the car said that "he came out of nowhere".

He apparently was doing better but then started to get more swelling around the brain and needed to be operated on (craniotomy). He is currently in the ICU at Cedars-Sinai in a coma.

Sorry I don't have further details. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

[mihai]

Yea don't be a hipster who puts looks over safety.  A super duper fucking hooded sweatshirt provides zero protection for your noggin.  A cheap nasty ass helmet is $15-20.  Pick one up, paint, put stickers on it, customize it to your liking.  If you wanna live dangerously, pick up a decent mtn bike and hit the downhills in the mountains.

[david_f]

You could say that I'm a Dorker,

But I'm not the only one...



I don't give an F...

I dork all the time!

Get Dorked!

(icon with bike helmet, I wish)

[Jaz]

If I am meant to get hit by a car and caused a head injury, then there is no stopping such an event. I might as well live with the air blowing through my luscious locks.

[Alex Thompson]

If I am meant to get hit by a car and caused a head injury, then there is no stopping such an event. I might as well live with the air blowing through my luscious locks.

What a bunch of crap.  You're smarter than that.

BLove, how is Mike?  Do you have an update?

[Jaz]

If I am meant to get hit by a car and caused a head injury, then there is no stopping such an event. I might as well live with the air blowing through my luscious locks.

What a bunch of crap.  You're smarter than that.

lol, determinism is crap?

[Alex Thompson]

lol, determinism is crap?

Philosophically, I'm a determinist.  But if you act as if things are determined, then that's a pretty clear way of indicating that you are the suck, even if that was already determined.  On the risk that free will exists, I act as if I have it.

[mihai]

When I lived in Michigan, as a younger, more naive, yet still considerably monstruous individual, I used to hide my purple helmet in the bushes when I left home.  When I got back, I would take it out of the bushes and wear it into my apt as to fool my parents.

At some point between then and now I decided that all helmets are cool.  I think it was after spending the day at LA County Hospital and the night at UCLA Medical on morphine after my first collision with a car (ever) in LA.   

[paul]

[Jaz]

The ultimate body mod.

I mean come on, you can attack people with your head as if it was a bludgeoning weapon. It's awesome.

[buttrumpus]

well, i for one am planning on dying. i'm hoping it'll be badass. still, it'll be the experience of a lifetime.

[B Love]

Hey Jaz,
You could be like the Village People and wear a hardhat.

That would be sick.

BUT, you best grow a handlebar, Castro 'stache.

[ScottS]

If I am meant to get hit by a car and caused a head injury, then there is no stopping such an event. I might as well live with the air blowing through my luscious locks.

Working in a bike shop, I hear this argument all the time when I suggest a helmet. I also hear; "Helmets are uncool" and "I only ride on the bike path."

Personally, I operate on the assumption that IF I ride a bike, I WILL get hit and therefore choose to be prepared for that scenario. That means protecting myself in all ways possible, including wearing a helmet.

You don't have to be a racer or ride every day on Wilshire to need a helmet. I've been taken down twice on the bike path, once by a skateboader, another time by a roller blader. Both times my helmet hit the pavement. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet, my head would have hit the ground instead causing a good sized bump at the least. Another time I was hit by a car while STANDING over my bike at a stop sign. This time I was thrown into the air and landed about 50 feet away. This time my helmet smacked the pavement hard enough that the helmet split upon impact. Had I not been wearing a helmet, the injury would have been serious if not life threatening.

There was no stopping any of these events so I was glad in all cases that I was wearing my helmet.

Viewing helmets as "uncool" is just a matter of perception. I actually think they're stylish.

Try this experiment. Get a cantaloupe, hold it up head height and drop it on the ground. Get another one, place it in a helmet and drop them from head height.

Which resulting cantaloupe would prefer your head to look like after a fall/hit?

But to each his/her own.

FYI- Helmets should be replaced every 3-5 years. The sun and smog break down the structural integrity of the helmet over time and they are no longer safe. Also, any time you're in a crash and your helmet hits the ground, it should be replaced whether or not there's viewable damage. Helmets are only made to withstand a single impact safely. Some manufacturers have crash replacement policies to help defray the cost (although it's usually a minimal amount).

Ride safe out there.

-ss

[david_f]

"The ultimate body mod.
I mean come on, you can attack people with your head as if it was a bludgeoning weapon. It's super duper fucking awesome."


"Try this experiment. Get a cantaloupe, hold it up head height and drop it on the ground. Get another one, place it in a helmet and drop them from head height.
Which resulting cantaloupe would you prefer your head to look like after a fall/hit?"

Though the outside of your head is fairly tough (much more than a ripe cantalope), the contents are very delicate.  I understand that the brain has a consistency something like jello, if you smack the container around the contents will get smushed all over the inside.  Take a spoon of jelly and flick it on the ground...things will never be the same.

"Viewing helmets as "uncool" is just a matter of perception. I actually think they're stylish."

YOU bring the 'cool' to the helmet by being who YOU are.  Not the other way around.

[Jaz]

You don't have to be a racer or ride every day on Wilshire to need a helmet.

I actually ride everyday, and I do my best to race cars.

I've also been hit a few times. A couple of them I was able to roll out, and one I just slid.

I don't care about looking cool. However life isn't that high of a priority to me. The population is high enough as it is, and if I die, it's helping the environment. *insert more jokes*