SSAFA Ride to the Somme helmet policy

[700c]

No helmet no ride – that’s an order!

Wear a turban. Sorted.
Wear a bandage, telling them you fell off your bike the day before, now your helmet simply won't fit. Sorted.
Wear a helmet & take it off 1m after the start. Sorted.
Get a doctors note for your itchy scalp. Sorted.
You get the idea...


Wear a WW1 helmet just to show them what fools they are.
A firemans helmet? A gladiator helmet? A childs play helmet? You get the idea...

Are they going to stop you? Of course not, at least not if you are not a mouse.
If they do, tell em to sling their hook and carry on regardless.

[meic]

mmm, the view that non wearers/skeptics should simply swallow their pride and being "on a crusade" is a bit rich. The organisers of this are using an unrelated charitable to push a political agenda. It's not as if the skeptics are refusing to ride with anyone else choosing to wear a helmet is it? Yet it is the skeptics you're portraying as unreasonable

It's their event. They can require everyone to ride in pink tu-tus if they so pleased. I doubt for a moment that they have the slightest iota of political intent in what they are doing.

The Crusaders were earnest believers in what they did, but we know what happened, as it was always destined to. The poster has put their point of view, the charity has replied very politely, and are now labelled as liars, playing politics, and writing laughable drivel. Sometimes it's time just to walk away.

They made two untrue, incorrect and unsubstantiated statements to justify their stance... it simply shows a lack of integrity

One of which was irrelevant, the ride is in France and Belgium and the Highway Code is for the UK.
It would be a very interesting and perilous ride for anybody who chose to use the Highway Code as their rules while riding over there.

[Cunobelin]

It's their event. They can require everyone to ride in pink tu-tus if they so pleased. I doubt for a moment that they have the slightest iota of political intent in what they are doing.

The Crusaders were earnest believers in what they did, but we know what happened, as it was always destined to. The poster has put their point of view, the charity has replied very politely, and are now labelled as liars, playing politics, and writing laughable drivel. Sometimes it's time just to walk away.

They made two untrue, incorrect and unsubstantiated statements to justify their stance... it simply shows a lack of integrity

One of which was irrelevant, the ride is in France and Belgium and the Highway Code is for the UK.
It would be a very interesting and perilous ride for anybody who chose to use the Highway Code as their rules while riding over there.

I was more concerned about the fact the statements were untrue.

[Bonefishblues]

mmm, the view that non wearers/skeptics should simply swallow their pride and being "on a crusade" is a bit rich. The organisers of this are using an unrelated charitable to push a political agenda. It's not as if the skeptics are refusing to ride with anyone else choosing to wear a helmet is it? Yet it is the skeptics you're portraying as unreasonable

It's their event. They can require everyone to ride in pink tu-tus if they so pleased. I doubt for a moment that they have the slightest iota of political intent in what they are doing.

The Crusaders were earnest believers in what they did, but we know what happened, as it was always destined to. The poster has put their point of view, the charity has replied very politely, and are now labelled as liars, playing politics, and writing laughable drivel. Sometimes it's time just to walk away.

They made two untrue, incorrect and unsubstantiated statements to justify their stance... it simply shows a lack of integrity

That's a somewhat different characterisation than earlier comments, which is rather closer to the actualite, I suspect, unless by lack of integrity you mean that there is an attempt to deliberately deceive by misrepresenting something so easy to check.

[roubaixtuesday]

Wear a WW1 helmet just to show them what fools they are.
A firemans helmet? A gladiator helmet? A childs play helmet? You get the idea...

I once saw someone wearing a rugby scrum cap (if that's what they're called) on an organised ride - the Ardechoise. I've just received their brochure 2017 and sure enough helmet compulsion is #1 rule. I love the French.

I wouldn't miss out on the Ardechoise for the sake of avoiding a plastic hat, it's the best thing I've ever done on a bike ( highly recommended btw, totally mad, unique experience, 17,000 odd participants but only 130 from GB).

Equally if they were banned, that wouldn't bother me either. This summer I was the only rider on a long audax without a lid; it was hot and I fancied the wind in my hair. But if lids had been compulsory I'd have worn one.

I've done a triathlon where wetsuits were compulsory for no good reason. I don't like them and thought it was daft but wore the wetsuit so I could do the event.

I don't see what the big issue is. You don't like their rules, so you're found something else instead. No problem, surely?

[roubaixtuesday]

Postscript:

Ironically, turns out the Ardechoise are giving a free branded helmet to all participants this year.

A win -win

Book now!

[disclaimer: I have no personal financial interest in helmet sales or the Ardechoise ]

[mjr]

I've done a triathlon where wetsuits were compulsory for no good reason. I don't like them and thought it was daft but wore the wetsuit so I could do the event.

I don't see what the big issue is. You don't like their rules, so you're found something else instead. No problem, surely?

Now imagine that the wetsuit wasn't tested properly in real-world situations and there was a strong suspicion that it may be unsafe in some fundamental way because there's no epidemiological evidence that it performs according to its physical properties, plus compulsory wetsuits is basically the only safety measure the event takes apart from a thirty second announcement on the start line and some overzealous lines in the pre-event materials - can you see the big issue with forcing people to increase their injury risk through safety theatre yet?

If I recall correctly, helmet-forcing-but-no-education RideLondon is one of the few events large enough to measure easily (because cycling is basically pretty safe, so you need a really big event to get enough injuries) and IIRC the 2016 edition was roughly double the average Killed or Seriously Injured rate and that's with few motor vehicles on the roads.

And as for whether it's worth picking a fight with the dodgy defence of this harmful practice from SSAFA, I think that's up to the charity's would-be supporters.

[Cunobelin]

Postscript:

Ironically, turns out the Ardechoise are giving a free branded helmet to all participants this year.

A win -win

Book now!

[disclaimer: I have no personal financial interest in helmet sales or the Ardechoise ]

Not "Win-Win" if you are now forced to wear an ill fitting helmet that can in fact increase your chances of a head injury, and its severity

I also wonder what quality and standard they are