# do you wear a helmet?



## Guest (Dec 4, 2007)

seems like about three quarters of the riders i see out here do, how about you?


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## Unknownrash (Sep 22, 2004)

which head? Just kidding. Seriously, who cares. The helmetless will weed themselves out. It's called natural selection.


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## RideStrong (May 4, 2007)

Most any sport that requires or recommends the use of a protective helmet is cool. So I actually enjoy the opportunity to protect my lid.


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## ebineezer (Sep 6, 2007)

i try to always use a hemet...better safe than sorry


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## tunelvision (Oct 1, 2007)

Always wear it......I have about a $100k worth of edumacation up their..... I have to protect some of it


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## EliM (May 6, 2006)

I always do, I've heard too many "helmet saved X's life" stories, and seen a few firsthand.


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## fishbum (Aug 8, 2007)

You can recover from a broken arm, pelvis, wrist, ankle, rib....

One crack of the skull could put you in wheelchair for life if it doesn't kill you. Just seems stupid not to wear one.


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## benlineberry (Jul 26, 2007)

I've personally cracked 2, so yes, I where a helmet religiously.


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## Clutchman83 (Apr 16, 2006)

Tis a silly question! Only time my helmet comes off and I'm still on the bike is on those 100+ degree days on the fireroad climb which is like .005% of my riding time.


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

I see a fair number of helmetless commuters and first timers in the mountains.

I do the wife told me she ain't looking after no half brain dead husband.


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## kaboose (Oct 27, 2005)

riding w/o a helmet is plain stupid.

this helmet saved a friend's life. as you can see it completely shattered. the non-shell part was in 4+ pieces.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2007)

i still see plenty of riders without them, though. most of the places i ride require a helmet (el corte madera open space preserve comes to mind) and the rangers will cite you for not wearing it. yes, even if you have the helmet on your handlebars during a hot, dry climb.


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## Gary H (Dec 16, 2006)

Around the neighborhood, no! On the trails, definitly!


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## Caffeine Powered (Mar 31, 2005)

Even with a Giro Prolite (1990) I woke up on a CT table a couple hours after a crash. Back then I was wearing a helmet 25% of the time. Ever since it's 99.9%. With my daughter the rule is if you get caught riding without a helmet you lose the bike for the day. She's caught me twice in the driveway but I abide by the rule and that bike gets hung up for 24hrs. I've only caught her once. It helps that I had a rather nasty motorcycle crash but had all my gear on to protect again everything but the impact... that example is a graphic reminder to us that safety gear helps.


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2007)

every time i've crashed so hard it required medical attention, i hit my head. even though i broke my fingers, i hit my head. i dislocated my shoulder, i hit my head. 

yep, wear the old helmet for yourself and the loved ones!


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## f3rg (Aug 29, 2007)

Some kid with an Asian car stole my natural kevlar covering to wrap his shiftknob in, so I'm wearing a helmet most of the time these days.


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## mtnbiketodd (Sep 19, 2005)

On the mtn bike or road bike yes, around the hood with my daughter most of the time no but I make her wear one.


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## The Yetti (Dec 22, 2005)

All I have to do is feel the scar on my head from when I didnt wear a helmet to remid me to wear it all the time now!


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## Timeless (Mar 23, 2007)

I only been on the trails once with out my helmet and that was only because I forgot to put it on. I was a fair ways into the trail when I relieze something felt strange. Then it click I did not have a helmet. I road to a point where I knew where I could get off the main trail onto a dirt road. Headed back to my car and got my helmet out of it. Then I got back on the trail and finished my ride.


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## sgltrak (Feb 19, 2005)

Always. Broke one with my head in it once, and had a friend do the same thing within a month of my crash. Besides,it sets a good example for our kids. We even wear them when riding around town on the townies or cruisers.


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## Iggz (Nov 22, 2006)

the worst is when you go out for a ride and you forget your helmet and then you are like well I don't really feel like driving back so you kinda just sit and watch everyone else....


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## Clutchman83 (Apr 16, 2006)

No, the worst is when you tell your NewB first timer buddy that you have a helmet that will fit him/her and then their melon turns out to be way too big when they try to put it on...

I had that happen to me earlier this summer and felt soo bad, no way I could let them come riding without protection. Had to head home and feel like a complete a-hole.


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## emptybe_er (Jan 15, 2006)

. . .um, yeah. . . kinda like asking, "Do you wipe your ass after taking a dump?"


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## Joe Poulsom (Nov 10, 2007)

On the trail i do, riding around the local area I dont even though my friend cracked his head open (on my bike) and i should really but im confident i wont go flying over the handlebars in the local area.


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## Xenotime (Jun 1, 2006)

Rock = Yes
Road = Yes
Footpath (slow riding) = Maybe...


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

I voted yes, but then realised that sometimes I have verified my gear adjustments by riding in front of the house without a helmet. Also, during the summer I had a major brain fade and got a couple of kilometers from the house before I realised I did not have a helmet on.


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## .40AET (Jun 7, 2007)

I put my helmet on every time that I ride. We have a ton of kids in the neighborhood and some of them need a good example. My 7yr old puts his on when ever he takes his bike out of the garage. I'm sure that "but dad doesn't" would be the first thing heard if I left my helmet behind now and then.


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## bsdc (May 1, 2006)

A couple of rides ago I crashed and plowed the top of my head into gravel. I picked quite a bit of gravel out of my helmet. I sure am glad I wasn't picking that gravel out of my head.


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## Sinker (Feb 3, 2007)

I never ride my mtn bike without a helmet, but oddly enough I'll occasionally go lidless on my motorcycle.


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## earl06 (Jun 13, 2006)

Anytime I put on the camelbak, I put on the helmet. So, for townie rides/trips to the store I don't. 

In my town, you'd have to be pretty freaking cool to get away with wearing a bike helmet in the grocery store.


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## Flyer (Jan 25, 2004)

Always wore one on my motorcycle (full face) and I always wear one on my bike. I would rather not have to re-learn how to walk and eat.

The other day, I saw this guy coming down this rocky trail completely out of control. I though- what an idiot this guy is, and then I saw his 8-9 year old son following him with no helmet or gloves and even more out of control and screaming is fear basically. They both made it and I was just left there wondering why a father would expose his son to potential head injury like that.

In fairness, they were not mtn bikers but on the typical "family bike" and the dad was wearing a loose cotton t-shirt and these awkwardly short and wide grey cotton shorts (from the early 90s maybe). Still, watching that kid flail his way down freaked me out a bit.

oh well, thin the herd and raise the average IQ I guess.


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## rockcrusher (Aug 28, 2003)

for those that don't ride with a helmet on "easy riding" areas like bike paths here is a little story:

_
A bicyclist died after he struck a telephone pole while riding on the sidewalk near Belmont and 34th in southeast Portland.

The incident occurred on October 1st and according to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office, the victim (who was homeless) succumbed to head injuries on October 8th. He was not wearing a helmet._

how did he lose control? A dog darting out, he was drunk, he lost attention for a moment, looking over his shoulder to get off the side walk, does it matter? What if he ran into you on the bike path?

The truth is that the place we are most in control of our environment is off road. There are no errant cars or people. We decided where to place our bikes and at what speed, we can choose to walk through dangerous sections.

The place that we are least in control of our environment is in public areas. Dogs, kids, homeless, telephone poles, hot babes, cars, bikes, you name it, all these things we cannot control.

I believe that the moment you take to your bike in public areas without a helmet is the moment you begin to gamble with your life.


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## arnijr (Jun 21, 2007)

earl06 said:


> Anytime I put on the camelbak, I put on the helmet. So, for townie rides/trips to the store I don't.
> 
> In my town, you'd have to be pretty freaking cool to get away with wearing a bike helmet in the grocery store.


Maybe you could try starting a trend?  Me, I'd rather be alive/not braindead than cool. Besides, it's cooler not to give an eff about what the other shoppers think, but I guess that attitude comes with age.
I wouldn't dream of doing my commute, which is mostly on bikepaths, without a helmet. I've eaten asphalt a couple of times trying to make turns at the bottom of the hills on that route and been glad for the helmet. A 30mph+ crash hurts even on bikepaths. Yeah, I see the commute as competition.  
At my age, when I was a kid they didn't have bicycle helmets. For me it was having kids that did it, they'd pick up on it in a second. Can't expect them to wear a helmet if I don't.
If I put on the camelback, these days I want more protection than a helmet. I ride rocky trails and an endo is going to cut up your forearms/knees/shins/whatever. If you're not crashing, you're not riding hard enough. :thumbsup: I already have all the scars I need to be cool. Elbow/forearm and knee/shin pads are definitely on the short list of things to get.


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## bikeperson (Aug 23, 2007)

When my and my "biker gang" as we are now known as in my
village community... Forgot his helmet when we were at the skate board 
park (not on skate boards, mtbs) and we came back and it was smashed into pieces
hanging from a tree. It saved his life. If he didn't have a helmet, he would have forgotten
to go on his bike and cycle off and it would have been his head hanging from a tree.
See my point. If he didn't have something to forget, he would have died.


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## tunelvision (Oct 1, 2007)

my friends were out riding the other night most of us wear helmets others dont ??? anyway one guy wasnt paying attention swerved into another guys path which caused him to swerve and hit a light pole giving him a mojor concusion no helmet it ended his ride for the day......dipshats


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## Dwight Moody (Jan 10, 2004)

jeffscott said:


> I see a fair number of helmetless commuters...


Drives me crazy here in Seattle. Around the UW campus or SU campus you just see hundreds of college kids with no helmet. I know it would mess up their hair, but a traumatic brain injury would be much uglier. I want to show them all that picture of the guy with the straw in his head, the poster here who went without a helmet on a ride around the block and ended up headbutting a curb at fairly low speed.


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## Dwight Moody (Jan 10, 2004)

earl06 said:


> In my town, you'd have to be pretty freaking cool to get away with wearing a bike helmet in the grocery store.


I have this trick for taking care of that. I run the bike lock through the helmet straps as I lock up my bike. Or I strap it to my backpack. Or I just hang it off the handlebars since it's a $10 helmet which smells like a gym locker.

Seriously, that is the lamest excuse for not wearing a helmet I've ever heard. Even if you do wear your helmet around the grocery store (which plenty of people do in Seattle) what does "not getting away with it" mean?


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2005)

Only if I'm alone or with somebody.


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## monogodo (Apr 26, 2005)

I always wear my helmet when I ride.

I've crashed 4 times over the years. I hit my head in 3 of those crashes.

Fell 20' at 15mph, landed on my head and my right wrist. Was knocked unconscious for 5 minutes (according to the guys I was with). Crushed the wrist, knocked a fist-sized chunk of the helmet loose. The helmet did its job.
The bike slid out from under me while I was crossing a stream bed at speed. When I went down, the helmet went into a depression in one of the rocks on the stream bed, while my skull made contact with the high point of the rock. The helmet took no damage. I also took no damage, other than pain in the spot where my head hit. Wearing a helmet wouldn't have mattered.
Bike got taken out from under me by the road while doing 19+ MPH on my Single Speed Colnago. I had just enough time to put my elbow out, but my face hit the road. The prescription insert in my Smith glasses cut into my eyebrow and the lenses flexed enough to pull hairs out. I also sheared the end off of the upper end of my humerus. The helmet never touched the pavement.
So in 4 crashes, I hit my head 3 times, and the helmet did its job once. Even with that history, I will still always wear my helmet, because I never know when I'm going to crash, and when I do crash again, it might be one where the helmet will have to do its job.


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## windhoar (Oct 24, 2005)

*Do you have a brain?*

If you have a brain, you wear a helmet whenever you ride your bike. If you do not have a brain, you do not wear a helmet and you may end up validating a theory postulated by a guy named Darwin.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

Unknownrash said:


> which head? Just kidding. Seriously, who cares. The helmetless will weed themselves out. It's called natural selection.


Even in the 21st century, with all our technology, life is still and will always be, survival of the fittest and smartest.


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## jabpn (Jun 21, 2004)

I know a commuter who has never worn a helmet....going on 30 years now. He's had falls but never once has he had a serious head injury beyond a scrape. 

I personally wear my helmet except for around the neighborhood riding. I also don't ride like mad around the neighborhood either. Nice, relaxing, and slow. 

The point is that there is no right or wrong to this decision. It is a personal decision. You can not tell the guy who has not worn a helmet for 30 years you need to wear a helmet because this or that might happen. He is living proof that this or that isn't inevitable, nor is it probable.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

who are the 4 clowns that said they don't wear the one protective device designed to protect one of the most important parts of the human body? i'm sure studies have shown that even a low impact crash can cause sever brain trauma, seizures, paralyzsis, or even death....

so go head, you don't have to wear it, i prefer being able to ride another day

" DUMB ASS'S"
- Red Forman
That 70's Show


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## WadePatton (May 10, 1999)

How much brain surgery can you get for $100? 

I voted yes, but I used to ride campus without--very flat and slow. And I'll take it off on a brutal climb in the summer heat on the road. Never comes off in the woods. And I've crashed plenty, but only hit my helmet once--that was three or four helmets ago.

WISH LIKE HELL I'd had a helmet on when we flipped a car recently. Wound up with a couple of gashes (on my head and elsewhere) and being knocked out and about 7,000 in medical bills.

So I was doing a very tentative shakedown ride after a couple weeks recovery from the car crash and a neighbor kid started tagging along--barefoot and barecranium. I know the 8-year old was checking out my duds...gotta set an example.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

jabpn said:


> I know a commuter who has never worn a helmet....going on 30 years now. He's had falls but never once has he had a serious head injury beyond a scrape.
> 
> I personally wear my helmet except for around the neighborhood riding. I also don't ride like mad around the neighborhood either. Nice, relaxing, and slow.
> 
> The point is that there is no right or wrong to this decision. It is a personal decision. You can not tell the guy who has not worn a helmet for 30 years you need to wear a helmet because this or that might happen. He is living proof that this or that isn't inevitable, nor is it probable.


I know a kid, very first time riding his little bike without the training wheels, his dad watched him fall, hit his head on the curb: Can you spell vegetable? Well his kid can't and he never will be able to!


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

monogodo said:


> I always wear my helmet when I ride.
> 
> I've crashed 4 times over the years. I hit my head in 3 of those crashes.
> 
> ...


You may want to wear a helmet around your whole body!


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## EMFC (Aug 22, 2004)

Of course I wear a helmet. You only get one head, no prosthetic for that.


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## JSumner13 (Apr 26, 2006)

I always wear a helmet but I always see Idiots out on the trail without one:nono:


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## vintagemtbr (Jun 6, 2004)

Always. That wasn't always the case back in the '80s and early '90s but these days,yes I'll wear one even if I ride around the block to go to the store to buy Cheesy Poofs.
Helmets today are nicely styled,well ventilated,light and well protected and are priced low enough to afford one,like the ProTec bmx helmets so there's really no reason to not wear one.
I'm not going to judge someone who does not wear one though.I see many riders wearing helmets doing stupid things in traffic.If you going to ride like a dumb-ass,a helmet isn't going to help you.


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## FloridaFish (Mar 29, 2004)

If you don't wear a helmet you are putting the trails you ride, and the mtbing in general in danger. Do you really want to be the person who screws up, cracks their skull, and has their family/S.O. bring suit against anyone entity that supports trails. I know I've been a little more exposed to the sue-happy folks down here in S. FL, but just about all of the decent trails down here have been in legal trouble because people have gotten hurt and expect that it was someone else's fault. 

there is no excuse for not wearing a helmet.....period.


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## corec (Jul 29, 2007)

Personally, I've never crashed hard enough to damage my helmet, but I wear it anyway. However, I have caught a few low hanging branches that near cold cocked me even with the helmet.

But here's a funny story (kind of). We had just put a new suspension fork and a major brake upgrade on my girlfriend's rigid bike. I warned her that it would want to throw her over the handlbars if she wasn't careful, so she took it pretty easy. Then at the bottom of one hill, she thought she was in the clear and didn't see that last 10" drop . . . face plant in the middle of the trail. I was in front and looked back just in time to see her bite it. She had just picked her face up to see what the hell happened and that bike came down on the back of her head. The rear derailluer wedged right into the helmet. That would have left quite a mark if she didn't have the helmet on.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

shwinn8 said:


> who are the 4 clowns that said they don't wear the one protective device designed to protect one of the most important parts of the human body? i'm sure studies have shown that even a low impact crash can cause sever brain trauma, seizures, paralyzsis, or even death....
> 
> so go head, you don't have to wear it, i prefer being able to ride another day
> 
> ...


my mistake... i ment, " WHO ARE THE 10!!!!..."


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## lawndart (Nov 8, 2004)

on the trail and when riding the roadbike, yes. Putzing around town to my friend's house or to the post office and local bike path more than likely, no.


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## johnnyelohssa (Jun 13, 2007)

earl06 said:


> In my town, you'd have to be pretty freaking cool to get away with wearing a bike helmet in the grocery store.


Yea its like there just about every where. What i have noticed though, is that you have to really to be cool to sport a smashed to f*** head in the grocery store.

I know what you mean, you do get some funny looks. But if someone really gets outta line with you just make sure its clipped on and then head butt 'em that'll shut 'em up:madmax:


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## jalopy jockey (Jun 7, 2007)

emptybe_er said:


> . . .um, yeah. . . kinda like asking, "Do you wipe your ass after taking a dump?"


Actually that is a tougher question and the answer to that is not always yes as well, at least for some people. There are those who are either stupid or just haven't learned yet. My 3 yr old isn't dumb but he doesn't always wipe his ass, or flush, etc. But he won't let anyone ride without a helmet.

What I love is the parents who are hypocritical. At what age is apropriate to ride without a helmet?

My neighborhood is scarrier than rail trail (lots of teens in cars), so even when I take the kids to the park 300 yards away we wear our helmets. I feel it sets an example for my kids, so that when they are old enough to rdie on thier own they don't ditch the helmets.


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## reecelean000 (Oct 1, 2007)

funny storie fellas. i stacked on sat pretty bad, normally dont wear a helmet. now to start i went to the backyard attempted the largest step down i have. bike sorta left me and a "whip" happend, landed, slided 2 metres cutting all my elbow open and knee open, wasnt bleeding i had just basiccly burnt off a few layers of skin and was stinging like hell. oh and did i forget to mention how i stopped????well while sliding i hit the side of the fence and gawd im glad my helmet was on because i belive the force would have been enough to fracture my skull. next day wasnt to keen to go riding with my mates but they insisted. i was having a great time going down the biggest slope UNTIL my wheel slid out causing me to jump the berm, land and hit the tree log, me do a full flip, bike 180's and slams into my head. went out later that day same slope going down, i was at the back of the pack friend suddenly slows down and i had about a second to think slam into the back of my mate or bale. bale it was. it fin drilled. worst ride of my life. and the moral of the storie is wear your helmet


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## BKnight (Mar 27, 2005)

if it weren't for a full face, i would've need some major reconstructive face surgery more then once, plus god knows how many hard blows i've taken to the head, never ever do i ride with out one


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## Fuelish (Dec 19, 2003)

mikeb said:


> ... how about you?


 Absolutely always - I'd feel naked without it


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## jmzd4 (Nov 16, 2007)

after 3 concusions I never get on a bike with out one


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## AshZiPPY (Oct 30, 2007)

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. Let me tell you guys a story. 

Fathers day 2005. Dad decides to get up early and go for a ride. Work has been rough and he needed some alone time. He figures he can go ride for a few hours and have plenty of time to take the family to the amusement park that afternoon. That relaxing but fast paced ride turned into an all day affair at the ER. 

At this point of the story most people are thinking, "he screwed up father's day because he didn't wear a helmet. But you would be wrong. Because He was wearing a helmet. So what happened? Some dumbass on the trails wasn't.

The 2 riders were going opposite directions on a fast trail and going around a blind corner. The helmetless rider ducked his head faster than the one with the helmet. The top of his head hit the other between the eyes. Cracked the front of the helmet. The helmet pushed back (It was snug, but apparently not enough so) and the incoming head got into the forehead. The end result was 3 ti plates in my head. borken nose, fractures of both orbits, sinuses shattered (which is why i have the plates) and now I take allergy medicine daily because my head has never been right since.

Dont wear your helmet for you, wear it for someone else. Because if I see you without a helmet, and you so much as bump into me...I will beat you unconscious with a rock. (ok, maybe not...but I may key your car)

In a car if you dont wear your seatbelt, you arent going to hurt anyone else. If you are on your road bike odds are you arent going to hurt anyone else. But in the woods, you never know. How many time have we argued about who has the right of way the person descending or the person climbing? Do it because it may save someone else from an injury, not just yourself.

Oh yeah, I have a huge scar across the top of my head form the surgery. I'm still a little bitter if you can't tell


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## Daffunda (Aug 26, 2005)

I had several occasions where helmet saved me. If going off-roading (not riding your mountain bike with your 5 yo son on a sidewalk) then helmet is your lifeline. 

Sure, everyone forgets to wear them once in a while, but if you intentionally ride without a helmet on the trail, you gotta be pretty retarded. 

Common excuses I've heard from these retarded people are:

1. My helmet makes me look gay. (You are gay for not wearing one.)
2. It doesn't fit right. (Go to a bikeshop and have them sell you the right one.
3. I can't concentrate on mountain biking with it on. (You probably have attention deficit disorder.)
4. It feels heavy. (I don't know what you're wearing.)
5. My helmet makes me look like a retard. (Well, you probably are.)


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## EclipseRoadie (Oct 7, 2007)

I always ride with a helmet. I've seen some really gnarly motorcycle accidents being a motorcyclist before a MTB'er.... skid lids save lives....


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## Harp (Nov 26, 2007)

I think ya gotta be pretty dumb not to especially on singletrack. After I had a wreck and bounced my head off the ground a couple times I'll never go out without one.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

*Here is my story!*



EclipseRoadie said:


> I always ride with a helmet. I've seen some really gnarly motorcycle accidents being a motorcyclist before a MTB'er.... skid lids save lives....


I haven't told this story much, because I still get chocked up thinking about it.You can screw yourself up pretty good even with a helmet. I landed short on a double jump on my CR 500, did a face plant, split my nose in half and ripped the cartilage out. The double was only about 25 to 30 feet, but it was raining, sandy and the face was grtting really rutted. There was a tight corner about 20 feet before the double, so you had to come out of the corner, pin it and seat bounce over the jump. I had been over the jump hundreds of times, but this time I came out of the corner all wrong, I pinned it and thought I could make it, I was wrong. I was lucky enough to have a friend who was a nurse at the time and she called the best plastic surgeon in So Cal. He was on Catalina Island on vacation and came back right away. The same friend took me to the hospital. She had a baby and she gave me a diaper to put on my face. I knew it was bad but I didn't really know how bad it was. When I hit the ground my face instantly puffed up, I saw a squirt of blood and then it stopped and didn't bleed anymore. When I got to the hospital they took me in to x-ray my chest and head because of the damage to my nose and because I had some pain in my chest. My nose didn't really hurt. When they x-rayed my head I was laying on my back. They swung the x-ray machine over my head, I looked up into it, it was a peice of glass and black inside, so it was like looking in a mirror. I thought I was looking at a horror movie. I thought, " oh f#ck, this is bad and Im never going to look the same". I was very affraid! The Dr. came a couple hours later to see me, I asked him, "can you fix this"? He didn't say anything at first, then he said, "I don't know, Iv'e never seen so much damage to someones nose and them still be alive". he said, "usually with this much damage, your nasal bones get pushed up into your brain and you die, but I'll do the best I can". At this point in am scared beyond belief. I am thinking to myself that I may not have a nose, I'll never get layed again and life is just going to suck. So they take me to a room to for me to wait, and this really cute candy stripper (that's what they call the young girls who aren't nurses, they just help out) comes in, she says that I have to pee before surgery, I told her that I couldn't pee. So she pulls my robe aside and startes playing with my pee instrument and after a couple of minutes I said something to the effect, "If you keep doing that, it's not pee your going to get". I think I was molested in that room. So then they take me into surgery, it's cold, it smells funny and I just want to be out with my friends chasing tail. Oh, I almost forgot: After the molestation a couple of nurses come in to put an IV in my arm. One nurses is teaching the other how to do it, actually I don't think she was a nurses yet, because she tried 4 times to find a vein and she couldn't and it hurt more then my nose did. Finally the nurse had to do it and she got it the first time. Ok, back to the surgery. They take me into the room and a nurse sets a big heavy stainless steel skin graph machine on my chest like I was a table or something. The anethesiologist plugs a bunch of stuff into me, gives me a couple shots, and asks me some important questions. Then he put a mask on my face and asked me to hold it on. That's the last thing I remember. twelve hours later I wake up, and holly hell, I am more uncomfortable then I have ever been, Im sore, croggy, tired, confused, my nasal passeges are stuffed with stuff, it's hard to breath, no one is around. And guess what, I have to pee like a race horse! That damn candy stripper, I should have let her finish. So I hold it for, I think about an hour before a nurse comes. She helped me to the bathroom and held me up so I could pee, that was really fun. I don't know why they just didn't hook me up to a hose. The next day the Dr. came to see me and he said things went really well. He explains to me what he did. New cartilage, new skin, a deviated septum (he said he couldn't fix it then, but he can later if it's a problem) and a little hole between the right and left side, I could wear one of those bull rings. So I go home for 2 weeks with pain killer in hand and every hole in my head filled with gauze. I had to drink everything I wanted to eat because it was hard to chew. My teeth hurt, the underside of my upper lip is all stiched up, along with over a hundred other stitches in my face, some inside and some very small tiny ones, and it's really hard to swallow when you can't draw air in through your nasal passages during swallowing. Two weeks later I go back to the Dr., he takes the bandages off, he pulls like 10 feet of gauze out of me, I feel like a magic trick at this point and he took the stitches out with a magnafying glass. He had a big smile on his face and he gave me a mirror, I was scared to look, but I did and I went OMG, I really can't tell that anything happened, If you look really really close in good light you can see a scar going down the middle of my nose and one across the middle thing where it was seperated. My surgeons name is William H. Davis and he performed a miracle, I am so grateful for what he did. Im lucky the accident didn't kill me and I'm really, really lucky to escape virtually scar free. I have a little nerve damage, but I can live with that.

The moral is: Get over yourself, and all your hang ups, don't be stupid and wear a helmet, no matter what! It's not a sure thing that a helmet will save you, but it will never hurt you. What happened to me happened because I was stupid enough to remove the removable full face piece on my helmet because I had a hard time seeing in the rain and mud that day. A HELMET WILL NEVER HURT YOU!!

Please forgive the poor writing, I usually take more time to write better, but I just threw this together really fast. I really should sit down and do a better job, because I am a part time writer, but I really hate thinking about it for a long period of time. When I think about it this hard, it's almost like being there again.


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## transient (May 6, 2006)

ok, I figure I should add my 2 cents to the thread.

I actually saw a guy with no helmet on the trail on sunday, totally freaked me out a first, it's been a while.

I refuse to ride with anyone who doesn't wear a helmet, just because I know first-aid doesn't mean I want to use it. Besides, once your brains start leaking out it's pretty much over anyways.

I wear my helmet 99.9% of the time. The exception being if I'm just cutting across the neighbourhood to a friends house.

I've been riding for around 16 years now and have had at least one friend or acquaintance per year take a dirt nap as a result of a cycling related injury. Few of them have been a result of mountain biking, but I also attribute that to everyone I know wearing helmets.

That being said, I only know so many people, so I need any help that I can get when my time comes........

To the "not wearing your helmet in the store" guy, the solution is simple: take your bike into the store with you. People will then know that you are wearing a bicycle helmet and not a hockey helmet, and arrived via bike and not on the short bus. You may also find a serious reduction in the number of bicycles that you have stolen from outside the Piggly Wiggly.


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## 7hz (Feb 1, 2007)

Always.

I have cracked my helmet of off a rock twice this year in fairly slow falls. With a helmet, I pick myself up, check me and the bike over, and go on my way. Either time, without a helmet, I would have cracked my skull open.

A friend broke his helmet when he had fall a month ago.

I have a spare helmet in the car just in case.

I would refuse to ride with anyone who didn't have a helmet. I'm not scooping your brains off the trail.


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## ljsmith (Oct 26, 2007)

Back when I was a kid riding bmx (in the 80s) me and my friends never wore helmets. It just wasn't cool. Also keep in mind that back then helmets were those big white helmets that looked like what handicapped people wear. I will be the first to say how stupid that is, I have several scars on my head to prove it. Now as an adult I always wear a helmet and at least now helmets look cool.


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## FKMTB07 (Mar 29, 2007)

I crashed real hard off a drop during an urban ride when I was in school in Boston. I must have hit my head really hard because I woke up next to my bike a couple minutes (I guess) later. I was wearing a helmet (bmx style, nice 'n' sturdy) and it was still a hard enough hit to knock me out for a little bit. I got up, real dizzy and woozy and walked home. I may have had a concussion, but I have this thing where I have really poor judgment when it comes to going to the ER or not, so I went home. I probably would have went to the morgue if I wasn't wearing a helmet.

Wear your helmet, kids.

To this day, though two things surprised me:
1. Nobody asked if I was okay or did anything after the wreck. I woke up by myself, got up and left. It was in a pretty crowded area downtown and people were out and about, carrying on with their business.
2. Nobody stole my bike. Sweet.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

http://www.bhsi.org/stats.htm

http://www.health.utah.gov/lhd/tooele/Community_Health/Health_Education/Bike_Helmets.html

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bikeh.html

http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/watch/out/bike_safety.html


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

for those of you who have gone to the ER, what's one for the first things the Doc will ask you? when i broke my arm, 1st thing he asked was " were you wearing your helmet?"


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## BKnight (Mar 27, 2005)

about 2 months ago, i was riding a course prior to a race coming up in a week. since this was practice, i wasn't going full out, but wasn't waiting around for my buddies to catch up either. go over a small rock garden, then a drop, clip the rear tire on the ledge, some how recover, then carve straight into the hill, promptly launching me head first into another rock section. wasn't knocked out, got one hell of head ache, bruised my cheeks and cut my nose from the helmet moving. i don't even know how it would move, i keep it cinched tight, and it fits properly. never underestimate the power of a crash


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## Rover Nick (Jul 13, 2006)

BKnight said:


> if it weren't for a full face, i would've need some major reconstructive face surgery more then once, plus god knows how many hard blows i've taken to the head, never ever do i ride with out one


Me too. I had one that I'm pretty sure would have broken my jaw and I'd be eating out of a straw for awhile.

On the weekends I usually see one or two people without a helmet on, and usually these people don't look too competent on a bike to begin with. The only thing I can think of is if one of these people took a fall, who would be the person that have to take care of them, me. I'm all about personal choice, and if some yutz wants to go crack his head open, then, by all means, go crack your head open. But its no longer personal choice when I gotta call a resuce team and/or get him outta there myself. And I'm too good a person to just leave him to die


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

Bicycle Deaths by Helmet Use
1994-2005
Year 
No Helmet Helmet Total Num
------ --------------- ---------- ------
1994 776 (97%) 19 (2%) 796 
1995 783 (95%) 34 (4%) 828 
1996 731 (96%) 27 (4%) 761 
1997 785 (97%) 23 (3%) 811 
1998 741 (98%) 16 (2%) 757 
1999 698 (93%) 42 (6%) 750 
2000 622 (90%) 50 (7%) 689 
2001 616 (84%) 60 (8%) 729 
2002 589 (89%) 54 (8%) 663 
2003 535 (85%) 58 (9%) 626 
2004 602 (85%) 87 (12%) 722 
2005 673 (85%) 76 (10%) 782


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## transient (May 6, 2006)

shwinn8 said:


> for those of you who have gone to the ER, what's one for the first things the Doc will ask you? when i broke my arm, 1st thing he asked was " were you wearing your helmet?"


Same story when I broke my arm, then he told me I would have died if I hadn't been wearing a helmet.


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## bikeperson (Aug 23, 2007)

I have a poor judgement about the ER as well! I cut my chin really bad, apparentley 
I needed stiches, but if cavemen got a cut they wouldn't get stiches...
When I was trying to walk on my front wheel I flipped off, and was knocked out for a minute
I had a whole crowd of adoring fans around me willing to do CPR...
i wears helmet


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## Green_Canoe (Aug 18, 2006)

This helmet gave up it's life so my son could walk away with a slight bruise on the temple and a raspberry on the cheek.










The helmet was two days old. He had just trasitioned from the mushroom head helmet to a "cool" helmet. Mom wasn't pleased, but calmed down once she realised the $60 helmet cost less than the emergency room co-pay.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

Green_Canoe said:


> This helmet gave up it's life so my son could walk away with a slight bruise on the temple and a raspberry on the cheek.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i'm happy to see that your son was ok. i'm a huge advocate on helmet safety. one of the biggest pet peeves i have is children not wearing a helmet properly. so many children i see wear them but wear the helmet to high on the head exposing the forehead.


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## 7hz (Feb 1, 2007)

A famly friends daughter was playing outside a few years ago. She slipped and cracked her head on the edge of a stone step. It was touch and go for a while, but she recovered but with brain damage - she has bad trouble speaking etc.

This isn't a bike related story, but just a head injury one. Like others have said - you can get a prosthetic arm etc etc, but you f**k up your head, and nothing is ever the same again, if you live.


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## 7hz (Feb 1, 2007)

shwinn8 said:


> Bicycle Deaths by Helmet Use
> 1994-2005
> 
> 
> ...


Either helmets have got worse, or people are doing way crazier things on their bikes. I wonder if downhill has anything to do with this? Or are helmets flimsier than 10 years ago?


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

7hz said:


> Either helmets have got worse, or people are doing way crazier things on their bikes. I wonder if downhill has anything to do with this? Or are helmets flimsier than 10 years ago?


i'll take my chances wearing a helmet over not any day of the week. thank you for reposting it so it can be read properly. i was in a rush.. good old usaf


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## Green_Canoe (Aug 18, 2006)

shwinn8 said:


> i'm happy to see that your son was ok. i'm a huge advocate on helmet safety. one of the biggest pet peeves i have is children not wearing a helmet properly. so many children i see wear them but wear the helmet to high on the head exposing the forehead.


You and me both. I wonder what the parents are thinking or if they know any better.


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## Anonymous (Mar 3, 2005)

I just go all Glen Plake with my hair and I'm good.


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

Anonymous said:


> I just go all *Glen Plake* with my hair and I'm good.


Is that dude still ripping up the slopes? I would hope he has at least changed his *red mohawk* from 1991. Me, I wear a helmet for fear of becoming an organ donor.


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## monogod (Feb 10, 2006)

shwinn8 said:


> for those of you who have gone to the ER, what's one for the first things the Doc will ask you? when i broke my arm, 1st thing he asked was " were you wearing your helmet?"


that question (and many of the others asked in the e.r.) have nothing to do with your arm but rather to determine alertness/orientation as well as the possibility/severity of head trauma. in the e.r. we establish a baseline first so we know what we're dealing with, starting from greatest to least critical in terms of addressing. subdural hematomas, intracranial hemorrhaging/swelling, concussions, and other closed head injuries take priority over a broken arm or distal limb abrasions. even with a helmet head injuries are common, albeit generally much less severe.

personally i wear one. seems to me that anyone with something worth protecting up there should wear one, and that those who dont are making a loud and clear statement on the substance and worth of their cranial contents.


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## marks_bike (Aug 22, 2006)

I wear one! 

I have to laugh every time I go ride in either PA, DE. Neither state has a helmet law for motor cycles. "it's my right, it's my right!" yeah, and it's my right to not have to pay their dumba$$ when they become a drooling tard for not wearing a helmet.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

7hz said:


> A famly friends daughter was playing outside a few years ago. She slipped and cracked her head on the edge of a stone step. It was touch and go for a while, but she recovered but with brain damage - she has bad trouble speaking etc.
> 
> This isn't a bike related story, but just a head injury one. Like others have said - you can get a prosthetic arm etc etc, but you f**k up your head, and nothing is ever the same again, if you live.


it's terrible that such a thing like that happened...but it shows that even the smallest fall can cause such a life altering event....

i've heard so many times..." i fell, but i didnt hit my head..." i'm sure some statistics have shown that most dont even realize that they had hit their head.... better be safe the sorry...


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## rafdog (Jun 16, 2006)

only if I know I'm going to crash.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

rafdog said:


> only if I know I'm going to crash.


 just wondering how do you know when your going to crash? because i'm sure most can contest that they didnt know untill it was too late...


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

shwinn8 said:


> just wondering how do you know when your going to crash? because i'm sure most can contest that they didnt know untill it was too late...


I think he meant that as a joke.


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## precisedjs (Dec 17, 2007)

Definitely wear a helmet.. unless I'm going down the street and even then most of the time I do


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## Dwight Moody (Jan 10, 2004)

7hz said:


> Either helmets have got worse, or people are doing way crazier things on their bikes. I wonder if downhill has anything to do with this? Or are helmets flimsier than 10 years ago?


Or more people are wearing helmets.


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## rbrsddn (Dec 3, 2006)

In 1991, I went over the bars on my DB Axis, and landed on my head so hard I pulled muscles in my neck and back I didn't know I had. Totally crushed my Bell helmet. Ever since, I've worn a helmet while riding.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

I say if people are stupid enough not to wear a helmet, more power to them. It means fewer stupid people on this planet! And I like that!


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## kosayno (Sep 7, 2006)

Not trying to tell you how to raise your kids, but leading by example seems to work better than "do as I say not as I do" in other aspects as well. Back to topic, two broken helmets have saved my head, my hips and shoulders didn't fare so well. Do people not wearing helmets on the trail think they actually look cool? Look like friggin idiots to me.


mtnbiketodd said:


> around the hood with my daughter most of the time no but I make her wear one.


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## RTTR (Aug 8, 2006)

Unknownrash said:


> which head? Just kidding. Seriously, who cares. The helmetless will weed themselves out. It's called natural selection.


This is my view on motorcyclists in states that have no helmet law, if they are down right dumb enough to not wear one, that's just gods way of weeding out the dumb ones.


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## bikeperson (Aug 23, 2007)

"two broken helmets have saved my head, my hips.." 
You were helmets on your hips?


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