<font color="blue"> when I was a kid I never knew anyone who injured his head riding a bike but now everyone (except me) seems to wear those silly bike helmets . . .
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Bob, I'm going to jump on this comment because I don't want it to influance ANYBODY not to use safety equipment of any type, becaue they perceive it as looking silly, simply because you never know when it might help you.
Now let me share a little personal experience with one of those "silly bike helmets."
I started bicycle commuting to work when I was 47. The round trip was 32 miles over western PA hills. It was a good workout and I enjoyed it year round. I don't think I rode in any sub zero temps, but I did ride a lot in below 32F temps. The first hill I went down was a 42 MPH hill in winter (with a windshield on the handlebars) and 47 MPH in summer. Most of the time on the slight down grades the speeds were between 15 and 25 mph. Up hills I might only do 3 or 4 MPH, so don't get the impression I was a Charles Atlas or anything like that.
Anyway, about 6 years later, just before I turned 53, I met Ralph. Ralph was not a mean dog. He just like to chase cars and my bicycle. He lived at a small barge landing about a mile from the plant where I worked, and was never tied. I used to laugh as he ran behind me, never really seeming like he was a mean dog. He was just a BIG brown dog...young enough to want exercise.
One morning I was coming down a grade and going to pass Ralph's place. I could do about 25 mph easy at that point. It was the slope, not the physical ability. So Ralph for whatever reason greets me early. I'm sure he did not mean to do it...but he ran smack into my front wheel, and I think his legs actually may have got tangled up in the spokes...
As I struggled to get up off the ground and see through the gray/black that was in front of my eyes, a coworker came along and saw me walking in circles and stopped. Ralph's owners came out as well. I went tot he hospital in an ambulance. I missed a month of work. I hurt real bad for two weeks. Real bad. 3 broken ribs do that I guess...You would have called me MR. purple if you saw me then...
The most intersting thing was that my "silly helmet" fell off my head in two pieces. I have pictures...
Somehow I flew through the air and impacted on the back of my head, crushing the helmet on the back and breaking it in half.
I am confident that without the helmet Henro would never have become a henro, but would have been planted about four years ago, dust in the wind, or whatever.
The point is, and I really know you agree with the importance of safety items and have to agree with you as well, those helmets look silly, but they are not silly when called upon to save one's head...just like a ROPS may look silly, but silly is what we want if we are on the tractor when it rolls over or flips.
I can't help but want to agree with Dave...reading between the lines I hear him saying "common sense makes sense most of the time..." /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
