Here is a picture from this mornings commute. It was a stunning day and the ride was most enjoyable. But while I ride I tend to think about all sorts of stuff. I got to thinking about why more people don't want to do this. I mean, I feel so much better after my ride in the morning I have a hard time believing other folks don't want to experience this also. When I arrived at my destination and I got a look at myself in the windows as I rode past the store, I started to understand a little. Let's face it, I look pretty ridiculous in my Cycle Craft team kit and riding the Salsa Fargo with the blue and yellow panniers on the back along route 46. Now, me personally, I don't really care how ridiculous I look but I can understand that this might be one of barriers people create for themselves. Most are not very comfortable with the idea of seeming odd to the rest of world. In fact, most of the people I encounter on bikes out on the road actually are pretty weird! Am I turning into one of those nut jobs that people point at and wonder out loud if my parents dropped me on my head when I was a baby? Anyway, I still feel like I am pretty normal and my goofy appearance is part of my defense shield on the road. I also find that bike clothes are very comfortable to ride in.
Over in Copenhagen over 40% of the people use bikes as transportation. They don't use helmets and they ride in their regular clothes. Check out the link at the side of this blog to Copenhagenize.com to get the flavor. The fellow that writes the blog contends that there is no need for special clothing to ride a bike and people in the states would be more willing to use their bikes if they didn't have to wear a costume. Hmmm...maybe, maybe not.
So, as an experiment, I will do my ride on Thursday in my regular work clothes and forego my post ride shower. Oh yeah, that's another barrier people in the USA have created for themselves. A little bit of pre-work sweating is un-acceptable and most people assume that their is no way to overcome that problem so there's no sense in even considering it.
But no worries, I will do it and report back with my findings.
Until then, keep the rubber side down.
My father has a small race car (formula V) that he takes to tracks and races wearing a helmet and flame retardent jump suit. When he and my mother drive to work together every morning in their normal car they wear normal clothes and no helmets. There is a chance they could be in an accident and suffer fatal head injuries that would be prevented with helmets but most people don't think the risk is big enough to warrant wearing a helmet. The kind of helmet you wear on the bicycle is designed to protect you if you fall off on your head which could happen at very high speeds or on steep descents. They are not designed to protect you in a collision with a motor vehicle. Motorcycle helmets offer much better protection in that kind of accident but they aren't practical for cyclists for many reasons. Studies of mandatory helmet laws in Australia show that the number of cycling head injuries were reduced significantly but the number of hours that people spent cycling was also reduced by the same percentage.
ReplyDeleteAnyway please feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Good points and exactly why I do not advocate helmet laws. I think each person should assess the risk and make their own choice. Same thing for seat belts. Personally, I wear the helmet and will continue to do so having actually had the experience of being struck by a pick up truck moving at about 40mph. The impact actually broke the connector cleats off of my shoes and sent me about 20 feet including the second bounce. On the first impact the front of my helmet hit the ground first and cracked. I am glad it was the helmet and not my head!
ReplyDeleteYou are right though. For a person noodling along at 10mph on flat ground a helmet is probably not necessary. On most of my rides however, my average speeds are between 16 and 20mph and I regularly exceed 40mph on downhills.