Trikki Beltran's bad concussion and his helmet

On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 17:45:38 -0400, The Wogster
wrote:

In the last 40,000 kilometres of riding, I have had three crashes, one
resulted in a little road rash, the other two had no injuries. Most of
those kilometres are without a Magical Foam Hat, including the times of
the three crashes.

In something like probably 10.000 km or so over a lifetime of commodity
cycling (My bike is still my primary form of transport, and I don't have a
car license), as far as I can remember, I have had 2 crashes against cars,
one while nearly standing still (from braking) against a 6 year old girl,
and half a dozen or so times a semi-crash from things breaking or the gear
train slipping under load. Something like probably 8000 km of those 10
grand were on undermaintained pieces of crap, which neatly explains the
breakages.

Both times at cars were when I was going faster than perhaps advisable
(30-35 kph, where most bikes do 15-20, in fairly heavy traffic), with
crappy (hub) brakes, and a car was suddenly in the way because the ****er
didn't see me (in one case, pulling out of a parked position and in
another case turning off, so I'd have priority over him). In both cases I
was pretty much all right, modulo maybe a scraped knee or something,
despite flying through the air very nicely on at least one of those
occasions. One of them, the bike was fine, the other one, the front fork
and fender were damaged beyond repair because the fork blades were bent
far enough back that the fender was cought directly between the tyre and
the downtube.

The 6 year old girl was when I was 13, just started going to "the Big
School", and while I was passing fairly slowly by a line of parked cars
since I saw some people standing on the sidewalk clearly waiting to cross.
About a car length before I was going to pass them, she suddenly sprang
out onto the road, and I didn't have time to brake to a complete stop any
more. She was invisible behind the parked cars because she was so short.
No damage whatsoever to me or my bike, for obvious reasons, and there
didn't appear to be any serious damage to the girl either, despite being
knocked on her ass. The father then started verbally abusing me, which
added a lot to the traumatic nature of the event.

All the breakages and skips (especially when the Sturmey Archer was
maladjusted) resulted in semi controlled crashes, at worst, with maybe
again a scraped knee here or there.


Jasper

On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 17:53:42 -0700, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:


5) Front wheel washes out on mud, canted wet tree root, slippery stone or
whatever. Operator goes down hard, sort of sideways/face-first, slapping head
sideways on hard ground - hard enough to lose conciousness.

Been there, done that. The several-inch-high pyramid shaped outcropping that
was a few inches from where the side of my melon slapped the ground completed my
little attitude adjustment.

That would have killed you *with* helmet nearly as easily as without.
Helmets are a *lot* better against flat surfaces than against points.

Jasper

On 18 Jul 2005 11:22:24 -0700, wrote:


This has got to be the stupidest, most inane argument against helmet
usage I've heard. It boils down to the following:

"You can greatly reduce the probability that any head injury you get
will be from bicycling by spending more time driving in a car (or less
time using a bicycle)."

No, it boils down to "you can greatly reduce the risk of head injury by
spening less time in a car, or you can decrease it a very little by
wearing a helmet".

Jasper

On 18 Jul 2005 10:30:27 -0700, wrote:

You need to understand, I've met people who were unmistakably helmeted
handwringers. That is, they were helmeted themselves, and they were
VERY concerned that anyone would EVER ride a bicycle without such an
obviously essential piece of equipment! Once in a while, I put up the
quote "Why, if only _one_ life can be saved..." Trust me, that _is_ a
quote!

"if only one life can be saved" they should be pushing for helmets while
driving. That could save at least 40 lives compared to that one.

Jasper

Jasper Janssen wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 17:45:38 -0400, The Wogster
wrote:


In the last 40,000 kilometres of riding, I have had three crashes, one
resulted in a little road rash, the other two had no injuries. Most of
those kilometres are without a Magical Foam Hat, including the times of
the three crashes.


In something like probably 10.000 km or so over a lifetime of commodity
cycling (My bike is still my primary form of transport, and I don't have a
car license), as far as I can remember, I have had 2 crashes against cars,
one while nearly standing still (from braking) against a 6 year old girl,
and half a dozen or so times a semi-crash from things breaking or the gear
train slipping under load. Something like probably 8000 km of those 10
grand were on undermaintained pieces of crap, which neatly explains the
breakages.

You should learn to do a little wrenching, it's amazing what can be
done, with my typical bike maintenance kit:

3 tire levers, 3 allen wrenches an adjustable crescent wrench, a flat
blade screwdriver, a spare tube, a patch kit, a pair of cable cutters,
and a spare BRAKE cable, the tube goes in a plastic bag, then gets
wrapped up in a rag with the other tools, a couple of velcro strips, or
big rubber bands holds it together, goes neatly under the back of the
seat. You could add a small tube of waterless hand cleaner as well. A
mini pump gets attached to the bike as well.

Add to that, the home kit, a bottle of degreaser, chain lube, a chain
brush, a chamious, some automotive soap, a pedal wrench, a cone wrench,
a chain break, some extra spokes, a 12 inch ruler and a good book on
bike repair. A big foot pump is a good addition, along with a tire guage.

Once a week, clean the chain and deraileurs, then wash the bike
throughly. Lube the chain, always lube the bottom, never the top, it
stays cleaner that way. Inspect the tires for wear and embedded glass
or other debris, inspect the brake pads, and adjust the brakes if
needed. Run through all the gears and make sure that everything shifts
properly. Check for any broken spokes, operate and lube the quick
releases or check the wheel bolts, to make sure they are tight.

Once a month, after washing, before lubing, check for chain stretch, 12
full links should measure 12 inches, if they measure more then 12 1/16th
inches, replace the chain. Check ALL bolts and screws to make sure they
are tight. Flip the bike over, and lightly spin the wheels, to make
sure they are true, it should not move side to side, or up and down.
Listen for any noises, wheels should turn silently, except for the tick
tick tick of the deraileur pawls. Check the headset and bottom bracket
for any play.

If you learn how to do basic bike maintenance, then there is no reason
why a good bike, can't go 20 - 30 years.....

As for cars, remember one thing about cars, a car is a black hole, that
you will spend your life pouring money into, it never stops. Once the
payments are done on a car, your into maintenance, replacing a set of
brake pads for a bike is about $25, for a car it's $250 for the same
number of wheels......

W

The Wogster wrote:

replacing a set of
brake pads for a bike is about $25, for a car it's $250 for the same
number of wheels......

I replaced a set on a Honda Civic this year for around $25, so I'm not
sure where this $250 figure comes from.

Rich wrote:
The Wogster wrote:

replacing a set of brake pads for a bike is about $25, for a car it's
$250 for the same number of wheels......


I replaced a set on a Honda Civic this year for around $25, so I'm not
sure where this $250 figure comes from.

Lets see, pads, getting the rotors done, labour, taxes, $250.....

W

The Wogster wrote:

Lets see, pads, getting the rotors done, labour, taxes, $250.....

That stuff doesn't usually need to be done, although it's "recommended"
but the brake shop because it's easy money for them.

And did the $25 you quoted for the bike pads include labor?

"Rich" wrote in message
...
The Wogster wrote:

replacing a set of brake pads for a bike is about $25, for a car it's
$250 for the same number of wheels......

I replaced a set on a Honda Civic this year for around $25, so I'm not
sure where this $250 figure comes from.

I sure don't know what sort of tires you have on your car but mine cost more
than $50 each on my Ford Escort. My bike tires normally cost less than $25
each and last with my oversized body about 1,500 mile before they require
replacement. I do about 6,000 miles a year.

"Jasper Janssen" wrote in message
...
On 18 Jul 2005 10:30:27 -0700, wrote:

You need to understand, I've met people who were unmistakably helmeted
handwringers. That is, they were helmeted themselves, and they were
VERY concerned that anyone would EVER ride a bicycle without such an
obviously essential piece of equipment! Once in a while, I put up the
quote "Why, if only _one_ life can be saved..." Trust me, that _is_ a
quote!

"if only one life can be saved" they should be pushing for helmets while
driving. That could save at least 40 lives compared to that one.

This is almost precisely correct. There were some 700 bicycle fatalities
last year and some 42,000 motor vehicle traffic fatalities.