Headcase

The other day I was relaxing at a cafe when I found myself eavesdropping.

Headcase

Why did he feel the need to speak to the bicyclist and why did he assume the cyclist was somehow ignorant? Would this guy similarly attack other people doing things that he viewed as poor judgement? Or is it just bicyclists?

Headcase

I’m sick of the helmet hype. It’s time to hype up infrastructure until “cycle track” is in everyone’s vocabulary. I dream of the day this guy will ask the city what’s up with the street design that makes cyclists feel like they need to wear helmets.

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93 comments

  • Cuter Commuter November 21, 2014  

    RFLOL!! You hit the nail on the head!!

  • Steph VW November 21, 2014  

    Huhn. In my province (Nova Scotia, Canada), we are required by law to wear a bicycle helmet while cycling. I had never really considered that part of the reason for wearing a helmet is because infrastructure makes cycling unsafe. The cycling coalition in my city (Halifax) is fighting hard to have proper (protected and/or designated) bike lanes to make cycling safer here. It’s an uphill battle, but they are fighting hard.

  • Jack November 21, 2014  

    while I definitely see an issue with a stranger coming up and harassing a cyclist like this, but I always encourage use of one to my friends who bike in the interest of their protection (some of them can be idiot riders)

  • anniebikes November 21, 2014  

    I’m sooo with you on this one. I long for the day when cycling is viewed as viable transportation and everyone can ride on segregated lanes. The helmet debate will go away.

    Yet, I will always wear a helmet. Some of us are prone to falling!

    More folks would ride if they weren’t eviscerated for their lack of headwear.

    • TJ November 24, 2014  

      I’ve lived in the midwest of the US all of my life but I worked and lived in a city in China for two years. I was in heaven because of the infrastructure for riding. I imagine the Netherlands to be similar. Everyone rode a bicycle so it was thought of as normal activity, no helmet no lights, no worries about parking. It was so peaceful and without stress to go to work or travel anywhere within the city. Its like a dream for it to be that way in the US.

  • UncleRobot November 21, 2014  

    So I used to be one of those guys but stopped because of how the biking culture and infrastructure has changed across the US (I bike in Boston). The change came after my son asked what I thought about bike sharing people riding w/o helmets” and I answered I am glad they are riding because the more bikes on the road the more traffic slows down. I became a helmet evangelist because: 1) urban biking in the 70s to 90s was dangerous; 2) I am typing this note because I wore a helmet (going slow, hit a rock, head whiplashed to the ground – minor concussion & 2 inch crack in helmet), and 3) as a registered nurse I have cared for paraplegics ex-motorcyclists that were not wearing helmets. I have been an urban biker for 42 years, I commute by bike everywhere, I race cyclocross, and ride in pace lines. I always wear a helmet except on leisurely bike path rides and always will even when we have bike infrastructure like the Netherlands. From a stop on a bicycle in an uninterrupted fall a head can hit the ground at 15-20 miles per hour – enough to cause serious damage. For those who say they can do what they want I ask who pays for your hospitalization and long term care when you do get hit, are you sure you can prevent everything bad from happening to you? If so, why do you wear a seat belt? I restrain myself now, except when I see a rider on a busy street helmetless but with earbuds in listing to music. That’s too dangerous to not say something.

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