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My helmet saved me, and broke



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 27th 05, 02:28 PM
steveyo
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Hey all -

I was out in front of the house yesterday, practicing a bit of hopping
on my KH29. After a UPD I mounted up again, and, as I'm sure everyone
has experienced, I placed my second foot a bit too far back on the left
pedal.

Now when this happens, I just unweight that foot and jiggle it forward a
bit. Getting cocky, however, I tried to FLIP the pedal backward under
my foot to reposition it. Too cocky.

I think what happened was I stopped the pedal, but anyway, I slammed to
the ground MUCH faster than I ever have. Too fast to really get my
hands up, and the thing that took the impact was the front, right edge
of my bike helmet.

The helmet's foam got compressed and cracked up the middle. If I hadn't
been wearing it, my forehead/nose/right cheekbone would have smashed on
the pavement.

As it was, the tip of my nose barely touched the road, and I walked
away with a bruised thumb and a scraped knee.

I used to wear the helmet just as an example to my kids and other
neighborhood kids. From now on I'll be wearing one and telling the
story of how a helmet saved my face and head.


--
steveyo - Last will be first

steveyo

"I complained I need new shoes, until I met a man with no feet." -
unknown

"Do whatever steps you want if
you have cleared them with the pontiff"- Tom Lehrer


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  #2  
Old August 27th 05, 02:34 PM
Brian MacKenzie
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Wow, good work.

Argue with that!


--
Brian MacKenzie - Herc tamed him! Tamed him!

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  #3  
Old August 27th 05, 02:46 PM
Just zis Guy, you know?
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke

I submit that on or about Sat, 27 Aug 2005 08:28:21 -0500, the person
known to the court as "steveyo"
m made a statement
ist.com in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

The helmet's foam got compressed and cracked up the middle.


In other words, it failed. If it had done this on test it would have
failed the test. You do know that polystyrene foam absorbs very
little energy in brittle failure, don't you?

It never fails to amaze me the number of people who hold up helmets
which have conspicuously failed to work as designed as some kind of
example of how wonderful they are!

Strangely, the number of "helmet saved my life" anecdotes vastly
outweighs the number of people who have ever suffered serious head
injury...

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken
  #4  
Old August 27th 05, 02:50 PM
UNIquelyCanadian
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Glad to hear you are ok. Good thing for the helmet; I'll continue
wearing mine but now with a unicycling story to back up it necessity.
Thanks.


--
UNIquelyCanadian - 8~)[==)--O

There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive
idiots.
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  #5  
Old August 27th 05, 03:34 PM
Mikefule
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
*
Strangely, the number of "helmet saved my life" anecdotes vastly
outweighs the number of people who have ever suffered serious head
injury... (Mikefule adds: presumably, in a unicycle accident?)
*



It also vastly outweighs the number of "helmet made things worse when I
banged my head" anecdotes.

If the helmet was damaged and the head wasn't, then it is reasonable to
assume that in the absence of the helmet, the head would have been
damaged. That has to be a result.

No one has to wear a helmet, so why some people argue so strongly
against their use mystifies me.

(Arguing against compulsory helmet use is a valid stance to adopt.)


--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

"As it was, the tip of my nose barely touched the road"

(Steveyo, philosophical in the face of near disaster.)
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  #6  
Old August 27th 05, 04:03 PM
U-Turn
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
*I submit that on or about Sat, 27 Aug 2005 08:28:21 -0500, the
person
known to the court as "steveyo"
m made a statement
ist.com in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

The helmet's foam got compressed and cracked up the middle.


In other words, it failed. If it had done this on test it would
have
failed the test. You do know that polystyrene foam absorbs very
little energy in brittle failure, don't you?

It never fails to amaze me the number of people who hold up helmets
which have conspicuously failed to work as designed as some kind of
example of how wonderful they are!

Strangely, the number of "helmet saved my life" anecdotes vastly
outweighs the number of people who have ever suffered serious head
injury...

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken *

This helmet did its job by absorbing the impact and saving Steve from
serious injury, as it was designed to do. This type of helmet (assuming
it is the normal bicycle helmet) is designed to perform just as it did;
and is for one-impact use only. It is supposed to crack! Steve may be
able to get a free or discounted replacement through the shop where he
bought it or through the manufacturer, since some of them have programs
for just that purpose.


--
U-Turn - Cool water for the flame

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  #7  
Old August 27th 05, 04:06 PM
steveyo
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
*I submit that on or about Sat, 27 Aug 2005 08:28:21 -0500, the
person
known to the court as "steveyo"
m made a statement

The helmet's foam got compressed and cracked up the middle.


In other words, it failed. If it had done this on test it would have
failed the test. You do know that polystyrene foam absorbs very
little energy in brittle failure, don't you?

Guy
--
*



With all due respect, and perhaps more so, you're wrong.

Bicycle helmets are designed to protect one's head from a SINGLE impact,
and it did. That's a success, not a failure.

It absorbed a huge amount of energy, not "very little". If it had
absorbed "very little" energy, I'd be in the hospital right now awaiting
facial surgery, or worse.


--
steveyo - Last will be first

steveyo

"I complained I need new shoes, until I met a man with no feet." -
unknown

"Do whatever steps you want if
you have cleared them with the pontiff"- Tom Lehrer


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  #8  
Old August 27th 05, 04:28 PM
Brave Sir Stupid
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:


[foolishness elided]

I am going to forego my usual polity and circumlocution, getting
straight to the point.

Hey, you bicycling anti-helmet fanatic. Please to keep your irrational
parascientific foaming at the mouth antihelmet ravings over on
rec.bicycles.misc where they are appreciated.

I am serious about this. Your audience here includes about 50X more
kids, earnest impressionable youngsters under 18 -- under 14 even, than
r.b.m. It is unconscionable for you to come over here and spew your
nonsense. You are a menace.

This is not a debate, and i'm not going to get into an
rec.bicycles.misc-style 500-post point-counterpoint about it. Just shut
up and Leave.

Thamk ewe sew mutch.

Kids, ignore this guy, he is clazy in the head. Brave Sir Stupid says
so, so it must be true. Wear your helmets.



..max

aka
"what doe THIS button do?!"


  #9  
Old August 27th 05, 05:01 PM
Ian Smith
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 14:46:47 +0100, Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

It never fails to amaze me the number of people who hold up helmets
which have conspicuously failed to work as designed as some kind of
example of how wonderful they are!


Keep calm Guy - he only does it to annoy, he knows that it displeases
(and if that's not teh case, he's not going to understand).

regards, Ian SMith
--
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  #10  
Old August 27th 05, 05:03 PM
Carey
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Default My helmet saved me, and broke


Hear, hear!!

Wear your helmet--and your wrist guards!!

I just got my new Harbinger wrist protectors so I won't have to wear the
brace they gave me when I fell off and landed on my wrist without any
protection. A lesson I never intend to learn again--I will never ride
without both a helmet and wrist guards in the future, for any reason.
And, I don't even try some of the crazy stuff you guys are doing. Take
care of yourself so you can continue to stretch the limits of
unicycling!

Carey


--
Carey
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