Comments on: Dublin’s Schemin’ Wheels

By: amsterdamize

amsterdamize — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:49:00 +0000

thanks for sharing, Craig. Yes to choice. The ridiculing that goes on has to do with the social blackmail and absolutely baseless fear-mongering that goes on.

Your points (regarding how you cycle) make my and others' point exactly. Urban/normal/everyday cycling doesn't need helmets. The whole point is that the push for helmets has proven to make cycling less safe. Cities and countries regulating its use are covering up for their failures to implement the necessary means to enable a safe environment.

By: craig

craig — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:39:28 +0000

I hear what you guys are saying about the helmet perhaps causing worse injuries than not. But like I said, I've hit my head with and without a helmet and it's always better to have a helmet pad the impact rather than feeling that sick thud as your head hits pavement. I might agree that old school hardshell helmets were heavy and clunky. But newer helmets are light and not so clunky and I'll take my chances, you just have to adjust if you're in the trees.

Personally, when I was bike racing in the 90's I had two friends die after hitting their heads during a crash. One was wearing an old style leather hairnet that were common in the 70's amongst bike racers. He was at the junior world championships in England on a veledrome just warming up when he fell, hit his head was in a coma for a week before he died at age 17. The friend hit a car that turned left in front of him, hit it at 70 km/hr went through the windshield - He also was in a coma for weeks, although it is questionable whether a helmet would have helped him.

To say that bikes don't go fast enough to warrant a helmet is relative. I regularly hit 70 km/h on steep hills where I live. And in my racing days we would get up to 105 km/h on mountain descents.

As I said in my original post, I'm not trying to convince anyone to wear a helmet who doesn't want to, but many slow cycling blogs tend to ridicule helmets as unnecessary, but my riding style even when I'm in slow mode dictates that a helmet is always a wise option for me.

By: lehommeauvelo

lehommeauvelo — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:54:52 +0000

That happened to me once in a Forest because I was wearing a Helmet. I misjudged the Distance between a Branch overhead and my Head because of the Clunky Helmet. The Branch caught the Helmet Nearly Choking me on the Neck Strap.
I always try to avoid wearing them and have only used them very occasionally in the past on Touring around the Countryside. I absolutely Hate them,they seem to Insulate you from the Real World Deadening your Sensations. I actually think they are very Dangerous to use.

Motorcycle use is a different thing than Cycling it is more High Speed and Dangerous especially when Turning. I would Advocate there use for Car Drivers they are always Crashing and Killing themselves especially in Ireland. Loads of cases of Cars Driving into Walls on Straight Roads in the Early Hours in the City and Countryside and no other Vehicles involved. Inspite of having Airbags it does not seem to be able to Protect them from being Killed.

By: MPersson

MPersson — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:43:27 +0000

I am not sure if it is just me but I have only hit my head in a crash when I have been wearing a helmet. Part of it is how much bigger it makes the area around your head (once I misjudged a low hanging branch because of a helmet).

I ride off road motorcycles too. I believe that the additional weight of a motorcycle helmet has also caused me to hit my head more than I would without one. Having said that, I would never ride a motorcycle without a helmet.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:01:37 +0000

While I think cycling is problematic throughout the country, Dublin is just a bit of a disaster in terms of cycling. We're catching up now, but the planning in the city has been geared towards cars and motorised transport. It's not a sprawling city so it makes sense to push bikes as the way forward, but this was never done as our economy grew. As such, we have a new focus on bikes, but without the infrastructure to cope yet (i.e. very few cycle lanes in the city center, etc.). Cyclists get to use bus lanes of course, but these lanes are often very dangerous because buses… well, the drivers think they own the roads!

Dublin Bikes is a huge step forward for us, and seems to be a real success so far. A friend of mine works in a bike shop and he's seeing a huge increase in “normal” people buying commuter bikes. Great!

By: Val

Val — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 05:21:31 +0000

Wow, what a weird feeling for me to think of Irish attitudes this way…my mental impression of Ireland must be left over from about 1948 (and Flann O'Brein), when everyone walked and cycled everywhere, and cars were rare. So sad to find that the country has transmogrified this way, and so encouraging to know that they are taking some steps to reverse it.

By: craig

craig — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:39:53 +0000

While I'm not one to get into the helmet debate as I think it's purely a matter of choice. For me cycling has always been about freedom and choice. Since the first days I remember pushing off on two wheels so many years ago it’s all about freedom and choice.

This story is my intent is only to relay some of the wisdom I have gained In my 39 years of life (with at least 36 of those years spent riding). I've crashed my bike enough (with and without a helmet) to know that I am much better off having helmet on when I crash.

This point came crashing (literally) down on me about three weeks ago. I rode to town with my daughter in tow on the chariot trailer to drop her off at 'kind art club'. Unhooking the trailer I left it at the art farm. I live rurally in the mountains of western canada and can leave it unlocked there for days. Now, without the trailer, I tend to get a little excited and ride faster. I can ride that cool single track that presents itself on the side of the road on the way home. Adrenaline getting the better of me, I sprint to the first section. I’m still in 'road' mode with thumbs not wrapped fully around the bars so, when I hit a big rut, my handlebars are jarred instantly 90degrees to the left. My right hand is thrown off the bar and up to shoulder level.

I have that matrix moment where time stands still, I look up at my right hand, down at the turned handlebars and realize that today is a good day to be wearing a helmet. Rushing back to the now, I hit the ground hard landing on my right shoulder and rolling onto the side of my head behind my left ear. My legs come crashing hard down as I finish this high g force rolling stop from about 25-30 km/h.

I lie there for a few moments looking up at the trees. I can wiggle the toes, hands okay, head hurts, but okay...

The helmet rolled a little bit as I impacted, and that back part of my head feels slightly numb at first. I take off the helmet and it has cracked in the back. It’s done its job. The impact that it absorbed is huge...the engineer in me will create a spreadsheet to estimate this later.

That’s my story, and no, I don’t work for Giro or Bell helmets. I’m just a guy that knows his riding style and the environment that I’m in. Whether it’s sprinting for a street light in the city and my chain breaks or taking a little jump by the elementary school, riding bikes is for me – at least sometimes – has always been about finding that edge. I know myself enough to know that I should be wearing a helmet because that edge presents itself in the most unexpected places.

craig.

By: lehommeauvelo

lehommeauvelo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:12:58 +0000

The Fietsberaad sent me a DVD about Cycling Infrastructure in the Netherlands it is very interesting. I could not use it on my Mac but instead had to put it in an Old Acer PC to view it. I watched some of it about shared space and also Infrastructure in various Cities and Towns ,it is good. Thanks Mr Vorknecker of the Fietsberaad for that.

By: lehommeauvelo

lehommeauvelo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:03:09 +0000

On the Dublin Cycling Campaign Site, www.cycling.ie I seen a Film on Dublin Community TV ,it was an interview with a Representative from Sustrans in the UK Kuy Hoon I think his Name is and Dublin Cycling Campaign and DC TV about Conditions in Dublin. The DCC took him around the City on a Bike and he said he thought it was worse than London with Traffic milling around Cyclists and he did not like the very narrow Cycling Lanes. I am sure this will be a part of this Series on Dublin Cycling you are Talking about. It was very interesting to watch.

By: Daniel M Perez, SlowBikeMiami

Daniel M Perez, SlowBikeMiami — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:17:07 +0000

Miami Beach is also supposed to be getting a new bike share program soon, though what does “soon” mean is up for debate. I know at least that the project is budgeted for in the new proposed City Budget for Fiscal Year 2009-2010. We'll see.