Should You Wear A Helmet?

[Loafer]

Do as you wish, but I think I'll continue to wear mine.

[Top Cat]

And also watch where your going.

[Loafer]

Yeah, that would help, wouldn't it.

[cactusjack]

Damn, that had to hurt!

[crazygene49]

One stupid, but lucky dude.

[galax83061]

Holy s&*#*#(*%

[ringadingh]

Thats an oh shit moment for sure!

[cnc]

Guess the red car was a standard and in neutral, did it ever get pushed back.

[Top Cat]

The guy getting out of his car didn't get hurt but the guy who got out of the passenger side is limping pretty bad. I wonder if that happened when the bike hit the car?

[Loafer]

I believe it did. I thought that when he limped over to the biker he was going to pound him one.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

He should have been watching where he was going and his speed should have been for the conditions. Thought he was going a tad fast.

[schoeney]

Looked like he came around a corner earlier and then fixated on the car. Cars were parked odd....one in each direction?

[lw]

As a safety geek by training and occupation I choose to wear a helmet even when pursuing the tame sport of bicycling. On 9/11/12 that decision paid off by saving my life. I have been preparing over the last year for a long distance bicycle ride as part of the BIKE MS series benefitting the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. I have logged thousands of miles on mountain, stationary and my hybrid bicycle and had progressed to the point that I thought I had the distance/endurance aspect down fairly well. To improve my performance I planned a training session in Bastrop State Park south of Austin, and a waypoint on another of the BIKE MS series rides from Houston to Austin (come ride with me next April!). We drove up to Bastrop the morning of 9/11 and unloaded on reachng the park. Looking at the maps and gps it looked like a 30 mile day under perfect skies and cool temps lay ahead of us. Well, we alllmost made it 30 miles. The first half of the ride took us from Bastrop SP through the park that had been ravaged by wildfire in 2011. The sections the fire burned still bore scars but the regrowth is in progress. We rode the connecting road between Bastrop and Buescher SPs and stopped at the Buescher entrance for pictures and hydration break. Mounting back up after the break I cranked on the pedals propelling myself up the hill and was feeling pretty good to be starting the last half of the ride that would return us to the truck and then a good lunch somewhere on the way back to Houston. We had backtracked along park road 1C when at a hydration/shade stop I posted a picture of an address marker nailed up in a tree beside the road. In the post I said that should I not post up in about an hour, to look for me between that marker and the entrance to Bastrop SP "under the circling buzzards". That turned out to be a little too prophetic. With only about three miles left on the journey I topped a hill and geared up to top end for the descent. It didnt take long to reach the point where pedalling was pointless and I settled down into the saddle and hung onto the bar ends pointing my ride in the direction I wanted to go. That worked out OK at first until I realized I was riding the left side side stripe on a two way roadway that was open both ways. I corrected to ride at the center of the roadway hoping that that would keep me from becoming lodged in the grille of any vehicle coming up the hill toward me. Unfortunately I also neglected to apply enough braking as I barrelled down the sloping roadway and accellerated up to at least 36 mph without a tranny to downshift and slow me down. Uh oh.... I made the first of two left handed curves and was headed for the second when I realized the second was tighter than the first and that this could get dicey. I did my best to prevent the death wobble that tried twice to get going and rear braked a bit to slow my sleed to what I thought was reasonable. I hadnt pedalled since the first part of the down slope.... and realized that centrifugal force was working hard against my middle lane position as I was getting pulled farther and farther toward the shoulder. Rear braking was not having much effect and I was reluctant to hit the front brake much for fear of locking it up. I almost made it. ... between the boulder and the sign that is, when I couldnt hold onto the asphalt surface and my front wheel left the roadway. I remember the sound change and the feel of a slight rise followed by a drop of nearly a foot onto the gravel shoulder. Mercifully I have no memory of the actual impact of the left side of my helmetted head into the 5-high, two by eight plank park direction sign, but I do know the lights went instantly out and my training partner said I crumpled like a wet dish rag on the ground. I was unconscious for long enough that my first memory was of being rolled under the helicopter and loaded for the flight to UMC Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. Fortunately I was helmetted and survived the ordeal with "only" two fractured vertebrae at C6 & C7, fractured Left radius, ulna and thumb, and a couple ribs that bring tears to my eyes and make me invent new words when I have the misfortune of sneezing.
I know that in some places the helmet choice is yours to make and Im sure it feels great to have the wind blow through your hair (or whats left of it in some of our cases) but I will remain a helmet wearer as long as I choose to ride two wheels, be they motorized or pedal powered. The benefits definitely don't outweight the risks of riding bareheaded, at least in my opinion; but I respect your right of choice.

Ride safe, ride often.

I'm still waiting to get the bill from the parks and wildlife folks for the sign I broke. It seems I took the sign off at the ground breaking at least one of the 4x4 posts.

[Top Cat]

Damn LW,
Heard you had a bike accident, thought someone ran into you in the city though.
Thanks for the info and glad you are still here to post
hope you heal quickly.
What is the prognosis on the back injury?

[glwilson]

Glad to hear you are doing better Larry. What a scary experience!

I had my motorcycle accident, and fortunately was wearing my helmet... otherwise as you... it would likely have been a story with a different ending.