Helmet

 

        At the end of last year's riding season, C fell off his bike. It happened when the front wheel of his bike tapped the back wheel of mine tipping him off the edge of the trail into the grass. It was scary for me as I didn't know in the moment what had happened. I was scared he had a stoke or other serious medical issue.  Fortunately he was able to get back up with assistance and ride the last mile to the car. His bike had some minor damage and a few days later his shoulder started to ache. Nothing was broken and it healed slowly over the winter.

        We are not sure why it happened. C never rides behind me and never directly behind me. That is a rule that we have. How he managed to be directly behind me is something he has pondered for weeks. It's still a mystery.

        C decided, because of this accident, that we are going to get helmets and wear them when we ride. Until now we hadn't worn helmets as we only ride on well paved trails. After the accident, C decided that we needed to wear them anyway.

        You'd think as a health care provider, I'd be on board with something like this. However I have mixed feelings. On one hand I know that it's good to wear a helmet. There have been a lot of studies to prove this. Helmet design have also changed. On the other hand I'm not sure how I feel about having extra weight on my head. I'm also concerned that in certain situations a helmet might cause or worsen an injury. This is true, but the chances of such things happening are pretty rare.

        Many years ago, a guy that C knows was biking alone in a park. I'm not sure exactly what he hit, but he landed on his neck. He was found by others that were biking and got medical help. Fortunately he was not paralyzed but he does have a bit of trouble remembering things. The helmet didn't help him. The one time I fell of my bike, I fell sideways like C did. While wearing a helmet might help a little, they are designed to protect your head from frontal impact.

        C dragged me into the bike shop to get a helmet. I was hoping to get one in a pretty colour, but the helmet that C thought best came in yellow or white. I picked white even though I know I will have to wash it after every ride so it won't look dingy. You can paint them, but that requires a lot of work and several coats of paint. I'll just have to live with it and hope that it is easy to clean.

      I may try wearing a cotton scarf on my head under the helmet so my hair is  covered. Normally I wear a ball cap, but am concerned that it might compromise the helmet. I'm also hoping that I'll get used to the helmet weight. When I tried it on, it felt heavy and uncomfortable. It could have felt that way because I went in with a bad attitude. I don't think anything would have felt good. 

        We'll have to see how this goes.....