Caution on descents
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Caution on descents
Here we go again......
While out on a group ride yesterday, two of us took a tumble on a very steep and greasy hill. Apart from other issues, both of us scraped and cracked our helmets. In the ambulance the paramedic commented:
"it was probably a good thing you were wearing helmets, unless you want to go back to being spoon fed by your mother again..."
Wonder what he meant.....
While out on a group ride yesterday, two of us took a tumble on a very steep and greasy hill. Apart from other issues, both of us scraped and cracked our helmets. In the ambulance the paramedic commented:
"it was probably a good thing you were wearing helmets, unless you want to go back to being spoon fed by your mother again..."
Wonder what he meant.....
Re: Caution on descents
I had a front wheel blowout the other day on a steep decent. I was fully loaded with camping gear for a 4 day tour, fortunately my speed was such that I was able to stop the bike without crashing.
It made me think the how much faster I would have been going had I been wearing a helmet, maybe I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it.
It made me think the how much faster I would have been going had I been wearing a helmet, maybe I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it.
Re: Caution on descents
It's one advantage in going tubeless, tubeless road tyres are safer in the event of rapid pressure loss as they're so tight on the wheel that they won't come off.
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Re: Caution on descents
Good to see that despite the budget cuts you can still get patronising comments on the NHS
Re: Caution on descents
As the title says caution on descents is what is required. Not helmets. I've never crashed on a descent because I match my speed to the prevailing conditions and if following another rider stay far enough back that were he to crash I could avoid hitting the fallen bike or rider.
But of course taking less care and relying on a plastic hat is a valid personal choice.
But of course taking less care and relying on a plastic hat is a valid personal choice.
No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?
Re: Caution on descents
Lighting fuse............
And maybe if you hadn't worn a helmet it wouldn't have contacted the road. Either because you were going slower or because you effective head diameter would have been a lot less.
...stands back with fingers in ears!
And maybe if you hadn't worn a helmet it wouldn't have contacted the road. Either because you were going slower or because you effective head diameter would have been a lot less.
...stands back with fingers in ears!
"I thought of that while riding my bike." -Albert Einstein, on the Theory of Relativity
2007 ICE QNT
2008 Hase Kettwiesel AL27
2011 Catrike Trail
1951 engine
2007 ICE QNT
2008 Hase Kettwiesel AL27
2011 Catrike Trail
1951 engine
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Re: Caution on descents
byegad wrote:Lighting fuse............
And maybe if you hadn't worn a helmet it wouldn't have contacted the road. Either because you were going slower or because you effective head diameter would have been a lot less.
...stands back with fingers in ears!
+1
You don't say but was the crash due to sliding out on a greasy wet corner, generally my largest part hits the ground first in those sort of crashes, and dampens the impact of anything else, ie thigh/hip/derriere......
I stand and rejoice everytime I see a woman ride by on a wheel the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. HG Wells
Re: Caution on descents
Mark R wrote:It made me think the how much faster I would have been going had I been wearing a helmet
Why? Don't you base your speed on road conditions and your ability to stop? Your head isn't the only thing that might get hurt if you fall!
Re: Caution on descents
Better still, use a recumbent trike!
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Bacchetta Corsa 26 ATT (The Mad Weeble)
Cube SL Team Cross (Rubberduckzilla)
Homebaked tourer (The Duck's Dream)
MTB mongrel (Harold the Flying Sheep)
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Re: Caution on descents
stewartpratt wrote:Good to see that despite the budget cuts you can still get patronising comments on the NHS
Re: Caution on descents
Wildduck wrote:Better still, use a recumbent trike!
+1
"I thought of that while riding my bike." -Albert Einstein, on the Theory of Relativity
2007 ICE QNT
2008 Hase Kettwiesel AL27
2011 Catrike Trail
1951 engine
2007 ICE QNT
2008 Hase Kettwiesel AL27
2011 Catrike Trail
1951 engine
Re: Caution on descents
byegad wrote:Wildduck wrote:Better still, use a recumbent trike!
+1
Agreed - those precarious structures some people travel on look far too dangerous for me
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Re: Caution on descents
alicej wrote:Mark R wrote:It made me think the how much faster I would have been going had I been wearing a helmet
Why? Don't you base your speed on road conditions and your ability to stop? Your head isn't the only thing that might get hurt if you fall!
Ah but helmets are aero, doncha know Half the air resistance, twice the speed (er, check maths on this)..
Re: Caution on descents
alicej wrote:Mark R wrote:It made me think the how much faster I would have been going had I been wearing a helmet
Why? Don't you base your speed on road conditions and your ability to stop? Your head isn't the only thing that might get hurt if you fall!
Thanks for the advice but I stand by my point. There are more ways to get hurt in a car crash other than going through the windscreen, but people still feel able to take more risks whilst wearing a seatbelt; I reckon its exactly the same for cycle hats.
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Re: Caution on descents
You were talking specifically about your own behaviour, though; not that of people in general. If you reckon that wearing a helmet would cause you to ride so much faster that a blowout would be lethal even with the protection of a helmet then that's not a comment about helmets, it's a comment about yourself. You have the power to ride as cautiously with a helmet as you would without. If you don't then that's your call, but it's not a helmet debate.