Recovering addict

So...

.... prompted by the discussions going on around here I decided to leave
my helmet at home this morning for my commute to work.

What a difference!

The wind in my hair ... freedom.

Usually when I get to work my hair is wet with sweat, but today it was
dry despise the rain when I started.

On the way home the rain was continuous but it was not less of an
inconvenience than when I used to wear a helmet. The one big difference
was that the water dripping into my eyes no longer stung. I was getting
fresh water rather than salinated.

My non-helmet meter reads:

I last wore a helmet 1 Day and 5 hours ago.


--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

"So tell me, just how long have you had this feeling that no one
is watching you?" (Christopher Locke: Entropy Gradient Reversals)

Don Whybrow wrote:
So...

... prompted by the discussions going on around here I decided to leave
my helmet at home this morning for my commute to work.


My non-helmet meter reads:

I last wore a helmet 1 Day and 5 hours ago.

And the next step is to choose appropriate headgear for the weather,
which in my case is just changing from wooly hat to cloth cycle cap.
When the weather gets better it could be nothing or a buff in pirate
mode.

...d

Don Whybrow wrote:
So...

... prompted by the discussions going on around here I decided to leave
my helmet at home this morning for my commute to work.

Glad you had a nice ride! I perceive such a difference in the way cars
treat me when I'm wearing a helmet that I'm now quite reluctant to wear
one on my commute. Plus as you found it's much more comfortable of
course.

By the way, on the topic of helmets, I recall someone posting a list of
steps to take from a safety point of view, I think H&S type stuff. In
that list, the use of safety equipment such as helmets comes almost
last and least effective. Can anyone point me to a link?

LSMike wrote:
Don Whybrow wrote:
So...

... prompted by the discussions going on around here I decided to
leave my helmet at home this morning for my commute to work.

Glad you had a nice ride! I perceive such a difference in the way
cars treat me when I'm wearing a helmet that I'm now quite reluctant
to wear one on my commute.

as is often said here, perception and anecdote often are not in accord with
the realities - is there any objective evidence on this?

pk

LSMike wrote:

Glad you had a nice ride! I perceive such a difference in the way cars
treat me when I'm wearing a helmet that I'm now quite reluctant to wear
one on my commute.

That's what I found too. I was surprised by the effect but it was so
large it was impossible not to notice it - and that was in London traffic!


--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

p.k. wrote:

as is often said here, perception and anecdote often are not in accord with
the realities - is there any objective evidence on this?


AFAIK it is only anecdote. There is some research ongoing at the
University of Bath at the moment and I am awaiting the results with
interest.


--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

in message , Tony Raven
') wrote:

p.k. wrote:

as is often said here, perception and anecdote often are not in accord
with the realities - is there any objective evidence on this?

AFAIK it is only anecdote. There is some research ongoing at the
University of Bath at the moment and I am awaiting the results with
interest.

I have heard mention of a TRRL report which found that motorists perceive
helmeted cyclists as being protected and consequently are prepared to
pass closer to them. I don't have a reference. Guy?

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

I shall continue to be an impossible person so long as those
who are now possible remain possible -- Michael Bakunin

David Martin wrote:

When the weather gets better it could be nothing or a buff in pirate
mode.

It took me ages to work out how to do that, but now it's the only way I
wear one. Incidentally, Buffs are far better than Hedys (the copy sold
by Halfords) because Hedys don't really wick properly and you get a cold
clammy head.