Do you wear a helmet?
Apparently that cyclist off the olympics Chris Boardman doesn't and isn't afraid to speak out against the subject of 'safety gear' on our roads
in a recent appearance on BBC Chris appeared without a helmet or any reflective clothing riding a bikes around the streets of manchester, to give tips and advice on cycle safety, while his co-presenter was head to toe in bright yellow and fitted with the appropriate head bumper.
This resulted in a massive backlash from 'road safety' campagners and general busy bodies who branded him A FOOL for such shenanagans, but he has now hit back and explained his reasons in this article
its all interesting stuff
Now I must admit Ive been a cyclist for years (since school days) and the only time ive ever worn a helmet was to do my cycling proficency test aged 11, since then the most protection ive had on my noggin was a bobble hat and i will explain my reasons.
I also don't won't and never have worn bright yellow or for that matter any specialist cycling clothing, almost every mile on a bicycle ive covered has been in jeans and a t-shirt. im not hard core cyclist and its always been a mode of transport to me, so I ride as im comfortable. I suppose I see lycra shorts cycling shoes and jerseys as the cycling equivelent of putting on a full motor racing fire proof suit to drive to work?
which brings me neatly back to helmets, I don't wear one of those while driving either and neither do i/would i wear a cycle helmet (including suicide missions down oxford street on a boris bike)
my reason for this is three fold, the first one being I bloody hate them, there stupid straps and bits of sticky felt they still never fit properly and wobble about uncontrolably even the expensive ones, i swear a hard hat would offer more protection. secondly there is plenty of research about that shows if you are wearing a helment although you are less likely to recieve facial injuries as well as cuts and bruises, there is a much greater increase of basal skull fractures as the helments leave this area at the back of the head/top of neck region exposed, combined with the extra volume of your head while wearing a helmet it means you're also more likely to recieve damage to your vertebre in the top of neck region (C1, C2, C3 cervical spine, and as the saying goes C3,C4,C5 keep the diaphram alive, without which you can't breath), as your soft squishy face is replaced with a hard polystyrine lip that amplifies any sudden forces placed on your head that then tranfer through your neck.
thirdly and finally there is again plenty of reasearch that suggests motorist take greater risks if they percieve you to be a 'safe cyclist', so psycologically those with helmets and high vis are less risky to pass and tend to be passed much closer than those without safety equipment.
another view of mine is that high vis doesn't really help you be seen, if you're riding with lights and flashers and these drivers still need high viz before they will see you then chances are high viz isnt going to help and they are still going to hit you.
our bright red punto driving along with lights on in snow and a driver pulled into the side of us without seeing us, i don't think a small yellow high viz waist coat will help
I suppose then what i'm saying is I kinda agree with Chris Boardman, I would rather be comfortable, have my witts about me and prefer to champion safer roads than safer riders,
if you've bothered to read this far congrats, its been a fairly long ramble, but hopefully the cyclists of the forum will have something interesting to say on the subject as well as the non cyclists
Apparently that cyclist off the olympics Chris Boardman doesn't and isn't afraid to speak out against the subject of 'safety gear' on our roads
in a recent appearance on BBC Chris appeared without a helmet or any reflective clothing riding a bikes around the streets of manchester, to give tips and advice on cycle safety, while his co-presenter was head to toe in bright yellow and fitted with the appropriate head bumper.
This resulted in a massive backlash from 'road safety' campagners and general busy bodies who branded him A FOOL for such shenanagans, but he has now hit back and explained his reasons in this article
its all interesting stuff
Now I must admit Ive been a cyclist for years (since school days) and the only time ive ever worn a helmet was to do my cycling proficency test aged 11, since then the most protection ive had on my noggin was a bobble hat and i will explain my reasons.
I also don't won't and never have worn bright yellow or for that matter any specialist cycling clothing, almost every mile on a bicycle ive covered has been in jeans and a t-shirt. im not hard core cyclist and its always been a mode of transport to me, so I ride as im comfortable. I suppose I see lycra shorts cycling shoes and jerseys as the cycling equivelent of putting on a full motor racing fire proof suit to drive to work?
which brings me neatly back to helmets, I don't wear one of those while driving either and neither do i/would i wear a cycle helmet (including suicide missions down oxford street on a boris bike)
my reason for this is three fold, the first one being I bloody hate them, there stupid straps and bits of sticky felt they still never fit properly and wobble about uncontrolably even the expensive ones, i swear a hard hat would offer more protection. secondly there is plenty of research about that shows if you are wearing a helment although you are less likely to recieve facial injuries as well as cuts and bruises, there is a much greater increase of basal skull fractures as the helments leave this area at the back of the head/top of neck region exposed, combined with the extra volume of your head while wearing a helmet it means you're also more likely to recieve damage to your vertebre in the top of neck region (C1, C2, C3 cervical spine, and as the saying goes C3,C4,C5 keep the diaphram alive, without which you can't breath), as your soft squishy face is replaced with a hard polystyrine lip that amplifies any sudden forces placed on your head that then tranfer through your neck.
thirdly and finally there is again plenty of reasearch that suggests motorist take greater risks if they percieve you to be a 'safe cyclist', so psycologically those with helmets and high vis are less risky to pass and tend to be passed much closer than those without safety equipment.
another view of mine is that high vis doesn't really help you be seen, if you're riding with lights and flashers and these drivers still need high viz before they will see you then chances are high viz isnt going to help and they are still going to hit you.
our bright red punto driving along with lights on in snow and a driver pulled into the side of us without seeing us, i don't think a small yellow high viz waist coat will help
I suppose then what i'm saying is I kinda agree with Chris Boardman, I would rather be comfortable, have my witts about me and prefer to champion safer roads than safer riders,
if you've bothered to read this far congrats, its been a fairly long ramble, but hopefully the cyclists of the forum will have something interesting to say on the subject as well as the non cyclists
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