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Thunked my helmet a fourth time
I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) -- cheers, John B. |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On 9/2/2015 7:04 AM, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) If people would take the "Always wear your helmet!!!" advice more literally, we'd enjoy LOTS more "My helmet saved my life!!!!" stories. Wearing it on a playground slide is a step in that direction, all right! Oh wait... the CPSC is disagreeing: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...n-Playgrounds/ Shame on you, Joy! ;-) -- - Frank Krygowski |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On 9/2/2015 9:42 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/2/2015 7:04 AM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) If people would take the "Always wear your helmet!!!" advice more literally, we'd enjoy LOTS more "My helmet saved my life!!!!" stories. Wearing it on a playground slide is a step in that direction, all right! Oh wait... the CPSC is disagreeing: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...n-Playgrounds/ Shame on you, Joy! ;-) While I don't doubt that a helmet, at times, can indeed keep your noggin' intact, I think mostly it doesn't. Would one really have had a head bashing event without one? If so, what else would have been bashed? Ribs, heart, spleen, et al.? Depends what you've run into I guess. By all means wear a helmet if you feel you are otherwise defying death while riding a bicycle. And if it gets someone riding a bicycle, then it has been at its most effective to my mind. I used to ride a motorcycle and would feel naked without a helmet. Even though neighboring states of NH and RI didn't require them, I would never ride without one when in those states. But I don't feel that way about riding a bike. My knees, shins, hips, elbows, wrists and shoulders would be more likely to take knocks than my head. Of course wearing one can't really hurt. But will one apply such same reasoning to driving a car or walking? It's all a matter of danger perception and how effective you believe a helmet is. Not wearing one isn't a case of stupidity or death wish as some helmet zealots often seem to say or imply (not that you are saying such things). SMH |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On Wed, 2 Sep 2015 12:53:12 -0400, Stephen Harding
wrote: On 9/2/2015 9:42 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 9/2/2015 7:04 AM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) If people would take the "Always wear your helmet!!!" advice more literally, we'd enjoy LOTS more "My helmet saved my life!!!!" stories. Wearing it on a playground slide is a step in that direction, all right! Oh wait... the CPSC is disagreeing: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...n-Playgrounds/ Shame on you, Joy! ;-) While I don't doubt that a helmet, at times, can indeed keep your noggin' intact, I think mostly it doesn't. Would one really have had a head bashing event without one? If so, what else would have been bashed? Ribs, heart, spleen, et al.? Depends what you've run into I guess. By all means wear a helmet if you feel you are otherwise defying death while riding a bicycle. And if it gets someone riding a bicycle, then it has been at its most effective to my mind. I used to ride a motorcycle and would feel naked without a helmet. Even though neighboring states of NH and RI didn't require them, I would never ride without one when in those states. But I don't feel that way about riding a bike. My knees, shins, hips, elbows, wrists and shoulders would be more likely to take knocks than my head. Of course wearing one can't really hurt. But will one apply such same reasoning to driving a car or walking? It's all a matter of danger perception and how effective you believe a helmet is. Not wearing one isn't a case of stupidity or death wish as some helmet zealots often seem to say or imply (not that you are saying such things). SMH I have no doubt that if you bash your head on the ground that a helmet might help. On the other hand it didn't help me when I crashed hard enough the break my pelvis. In fact, as I believed that I might have lost consciousness in the fall, I examined my helmet very closely after getting out of the hospital. Not a mark or scratch on it anywhere. -- cheers, John B. |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On 9/2/2015 9:15 PM, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 2 Sep 2015 12:53:12 -0400, Stephen Harding wrote: On 9/2/2015 9:42 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 9/2/2015 7:04 AM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) If people would take the "Always wear your helmet!!!" advice more literally, we'd enjoy LOTS more "My helmet saved my life!!!!" stories. Wearing it on a playground slide is a step in that direction, all right! Oh wait... the CPSC is disagreeing: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...n-Playgrounds/ Shame on you, Joy! ;-) While I don't doubt that a helmet, at times, can indeed keep your noggin' intact, I think mostly it doesn't. Would one really have had a head bashing event without one? If so, what else would have been bashed? Ribs, heart, spleen, et al.? Depends what you've run into I guess. By all means wear a helmet if you feel you are otherwise defying death while riding a bicycle. And if it gets someone riding a bicycle, then it has been at its most effective to my mind. I used to ride a motorcycle and would feel naked without a helmet. Even though neighboring states of NH and RI didn't require them, I would never ride without one when in those states. But I don't feel that way about riding a bike. My knees, shins, hips, elbows, wrists and shoulders would be more likely to take knocks than my head. Of course wearing one can't really hurt. But will one apply such same reasoning to driving a car or walking? It's all a matter of danger perception and how effective you believe a helmet is. Not wearing one isn't a case of stupidity or death wish as some helmet zealots often seem to say or imply (not that you are saying such things). SMH I have no doubt that if you bash your head on the ground that a helmet might help. On the other hand it didn't help me when I crashed hard enough the break my pelvis. In fact, as I believed that I might have lost consciousness in the fall, I examined my helmet very closely after getting out of the hospital. Not a mark or scratch on it anywhere. -- cheers, John B. I totally agree. And that head bashing might be due to tripping on the sidewalk, falling down some steps or even an airbag going off in your car from an accident. There are definite times when some sort of head protection would have mitigated a serious injury. But just as we don't wear helmets or flame retardant suits in automobiles (except racers of course), a helmet on a bicycle, IMHO, isn't really a necessity either. It just bugs me when bicycling advocates *themselves* sometimes paint a picture of riding a bicycle without a helmet as a death wish. You're riding a bicycle, not a Formula I around Monte Carlo! SMH or wear |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On Thu, 3 Sep 2015 09:33:01 -0400, Stephen Harding
wrote: On 9/2/2015 9:15 PM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 2 Sep 2015 12:53:12 -0400, Stephen Harding wrote: On 9/2/2015 9:42 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 9/2/2015 7:04 AM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) If people would take the "Always wear your helmet!!!" advice more literally, we'd enjoy LOTS more "My helmet saved my life!!!!" stories. Wearing it on a playground slide is a step in that direction, all right! Oh wait... the CPSC is disagreeing: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...n-Playgrounds/ Shame on you, Joy! ;-) While I don't doubt that a helmet, at times, can indeed keep your noggin' intact, I think mostly it doesn't. Would one really have had a head bashing event without one? If so, what else would have been bashed? Ribs, heart, spleen, et al.? Depends what you've run into I guess. By all means wear a helmet if you feel you are otherwise defying death while riding a bicycle. And if it gets someone riding a bicycle, then it has been at its most effective to my mind. I used to ride a motorcycle and would feel naked without a helmet. Even though neighboring states of NH and RI didn't require them, I would never ride without one when in those states. But I don't feel that way about riding a bike. My knees, shins, hips, elbows, wrists and shoulders would be more likely to take knocks than my head. Of course wearing one can't really hurt. But will one apply such same reasoning to driving a car or walking? It's all a matter of danger perception and how effective you believe a helmet is. Not wearing one isn't a case of stupidity or death wish as some helmet zealots often seem to say or imply (not that you are saying such things). SMH I have no doubt that if you bash your head on the ground that a helmet might help. On the other hand it didn't help me when I crashed hard enough the break my pelvis. In fact, as I believed that I might have lost consciousness in the fall, I examined my helmet very closely after getting out of the hospital. Not a mark or scratch on it anywhere. -- cheers, John B. I totally agree. And that head bashing might be due to tripping on the sidewalk, falling down some steps or even an airbag going off in your car from an accident. There are definite times when some sort of head protection would have mitigated a serious injury. But just as we don't wear helmets or flame retardant suits in automobiles (except racers of course), a helmet on a bicycle, IMHO, isn't really a necessity either. It just bugs me when bicycling advocates *themselves* sometimes paint a picture of riding a bicycle without a helmet as a death wish. You're riding a bicycle, not a Formula I around Monte Carlo! One of the problems is that it appears that many equate "might" with "will", as in "a helmet might save you when riding a bicycle". But then, if one looks into the matter a bit deeper one discovers that the important aspects of a bicycle, "safety helmet" appear to be, as described on this site a while ago, "lighter and cooler", thus seemingly emphasizing that safety apparently isn't part of the determining factors in selecting which helmet to purchase. In fact I recently read an advert for "the latest model" in a safety helmet maker's offers and the words, "safety" and "safe" did not appear at all and the emphasis was that this new addition to the product line was "cooler", "colorful" and lighter weight". In sort of makes one wonder whether helmets are actually purchased based on which helmet is actually a safer product, or simply as a fashion statement. -- cheers, John B. |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at 9:35:21 PM UTC-7, Joy Beeson wrote:
I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. -- joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ The above message is a Usenet post. I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site. Joy, that helmet was almost worthless after the first time it hit the ground. Since then it has been nothing more than a protection for the skin on your head. So as you can see, it's time to replace it. Break down and buy a new one. I would suggest a Giro Montaro for a hefty price but one that has a lot of the latest ideas some of which may actually work. We prefer to see your postings for a long time in he future. |
Thunked my helmet a fourth time
On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 9:53:16 AM UTC-7, Stephen Harding wrote:
On 9/2/2015 9:42 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 9/2/2015 7:04 AM, John B. wrote: On Wed, 02 Sep 2015 00:35:10 -0300, Joy Beeson wrote: I've had three helmet-thunking falls in the last fifty years. I think it was in the eighties that I touched wheels while on a multi-day tour. Got up and finished the ride. A couple of years ago I slipped on some rotten leaves concealed under what appeared to be a drift of dry leaves, and had the same exact fall. The muscles attached to my ribs were still feeling it two months later; I don't bounce like I uster. (I did ride home, but after stiffening up, I could just barely walk.) A couple of months ago I dropped a piece of paper while stopped to read a map, and thought I could pick it up without dismounting. Sense of balance ain't what it used to be; being tangled in the bike, I hit like a bag of wet cement and banged up the same ribs. But it was only one day before I could cough; the wet leaves took a week. Today -- clock just struck, make that yesterday -- I made a pit stop at a playground. It was the middle of a school day, so the place was deserted. I looked all around: yes, there are no witnesses. I climbed the spiral slide -- and failed to duck under a bar at the top that was meant for much shorter people. Worse, between my sweat-soaked clothes and my body occupying more degrees of the curve than the designer planned, I went down so slowly that I almost had to push. No fun at all. And the moral is? Wear a helmet on the slide ? :-) If people would take the "Always wear your helmet!!!" advice more literally, we'd enjoy LOTS more "My helmet saved my life!!!!" stories. Wearing it on a playground slide is a step in that direction, all right! Oh wait... the CPSC is disagreeing: http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...n-Playgrounds/ Shame on you, Joy! ;-) While I don't doubt that a helmet, at times, can indeed keep your noggin' intact, I think mostly it doesn't. Would one really have had a head bashing event without one? If so, what else would have been bashed? Ribs, heart, spleen, et al.? Depends what you've run into I guess. By all means wear a helmet if you feel you are otherwise defying death while riding a bicycle. And if it gets someone riding a bicycle, then it has been at its most effective to my mind. I used to ride a motorcycle and would feel naked without a helmet. Even though neighboring states of NH and RI didn't require them, I would never ride without one when in those states. But I don't feel that way about riding a bike. My knees, shins, hips, elbows, wrists and shoulders would be more likely to take knocks than my head. Of course wearing one can't really hurt. But will one apply such same reasoning to driving a car or walking? It's all a matter of danger perception and how effective you believe a helmet is. Not wearing one isn't a case of stupidity or death wish as some helmet zealots often seem to say or imply (not that you are saying such things). SMH Stephen - while you are correct that there isn't a shred of evidence that helmets do much of anything there is also no evidence that they do not do SOMETHING. Hence I wear a helmet despite knowing the technical difficulties of designing such a device. |
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