Cycling post

Re: Cycling post

Neil Wheadon — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:35:52 GMT

[quote user="Robin Grimmer"]I'm pro wearing a helmet, but don't think it should be made compulsory[/quote]

This is how it should be. After all why not make a law to keep all cats in, after all they have more chance of being injured outside

[quote user="Robin Grimmer"]anti-helmet brigades [/quote]

This is a really unfortunate term. I've never met anyone who is antihelmet, my wife and children wear one, I'm pro-choice. Life would be pretty dull if we were all forced to walk about in bubblewrap I wore a helmet tearing around Manchester Velodrome last year, seemed a sensible thing to be asked to do.

[quote user="Robin Grimmer"] their other argument (pretty feeble IMO) is that making helmets compulsory would put so many off cycling[/quote]

Australia. It does I'm afraid[quote user="Robin Grimmer"]James Cracknell would not be alive today if he wasn't wearing a helmet.[/quote]

He was hit from behind by a wing mirror of a truck on a main US road. This goes to risk avoidance (and yes it does exist) He was on this road as he wanted to go as fast as possible. In the States the danger of geriatric men driving RV's with wide mirrors is well known.(I specifically warn my US clients about this every time I take a tour in the USA) If I hear one coming I pull over. Better still use a quieter route.

Neil

Re: Cycling post

Robin Grimmer — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 08:31:10 GMT

I'm pro wearing a helmet, but don't think it should be made compulsory. One of the anti-helmet brigades reasons is they reckon that you have more chance of having a head injury in a car or as a pedestrian. And their other argument (pretty feeble IMO) is that making helmets compulsory would put so many off cycling, that their health would suffer and would be more likely of dying from obesity-related illnesses! I'm sure James Cracknell would not be alive today if he wasn't wearing a helmet.

Re: Cycling post

Tricia Goulden — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 21:56:54 GMT

Two points re bike helmets

1) They need to fit properly. They need to be adjusted so they don't move about on your head, be placed far enough forward to protect your brain & have the chinstraps adjusted correctly.

2) I asked the paramedic from the East Anglian Air Ambulance who attended the lad I mentioned previously after his accident what her views were on cycle helmets. Her response was "people need to think about the strain it will put on their friends & family if they suffer a serious head injury and need constant care afterwards"

Re: Cycling post

Mark Holmes — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 20:50:35 GMT

The arguments against compulsary helmets are the same as those against compulsary seat belts. People object to them simply because they don't like being told what to do. They are prepared to cough up all sorts of dubious arguments simply to object. I do not buy the argument that people do things in a helmet they wouldn't without one. The invincibility argument needs some evidence to back it up. I certainly don't feel invincible wearing one. The arguments about life saving miss an enormous point. That there are degrees if head injury. A helmet may mean the difference between independent living and having your food cut up for you. The difference between degrees of disability.

Re: Cycling post

Tricia Goulden — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 20:36:07 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

[quote user="Tricia Goulden"]

I would strongly recommend everyone to invest in hi-vis kit & have a good rear light on at all times.

[/quote]

Except if your son saves up and buys you some 'Bicygnals' for Christmas so you can even have indicators when riding in to work. Then what you do is smile politely, say you'll put them on the bike next week after he goes back to uni, then hide them in a cupboard somewhere because 'They're not very cool'

Not bitter, not bitter at all. *sniff

[/quote]

Hi Ant

Very kind and thoughtful gift.

Mwah !

Re: Cycling post

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 15:58:56 GMT

BTW One of the first things children are taught in Pony Club is always to thank motorists who slow down.

Wynne

Re: Cycling post

Hannah Wynne Richards — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 15:57:27 GMT

Neil.I agree with you on the participation theory. If more drivers/cyclists rode, then they'd be more likely to treat horses as sentient beings.

Wynne

Re: Cycling post

Anthony Dennison — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 23:33:46 GMT

[quote user="Tricia Goulden"]

I would strongly recommend everyone to invest in hi-vis kit & have a good rear light on at all times.

[/quote]

Not bitter, not bitter at all. *sniff

Re: Cycling post

Ian Mostyn — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 22:42:26 GMT

[quote user="Tricia Goulden"]These devices are all about collecting data for measurement and motivation. I love facts![/quote]

If you can measure it you can manage it !!

I find the incessant beeping does make me concentrate on my workout and stops me from slacking off. The next best thing to Gillian acting as my coach

Re: Cycling post

Ian Mostyn — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 22:39:06 GMT

[quote user="karen jones"] Had garmin 910 for Xmas , still have to attach cadance meter to bike and then work out what it means !

[/quote]

I love my 910, it gets used every time I go out. The cadence sensor has realled helped my cycling and I have just got a footpod for Christmas to help my running. I have boosted my natural cycle cadence from 65ish to about 90 and I am trying to get my run cadence from 78 to 90 also. It is harder to fix the run cadence but after just 2 or 3 runs I am upto 82 and I am faster!! I was running my half marathon pace at a heart rate 20 beats less than the actual HM. With a bit of luck I can get 5 minutes off my 10k and 10 off my HM.

Ian

Re: Cycling post

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 22:03:20 GMT

Cyclists can certainly be their own worst enemy. I was waiting a fair while to overtake a parked lorry yesterday - I noticed a cyclist coming up the LHS, passing the line of waiting cars. As the road cleared, and I went to overtake, he squeezed between me and the lorry and overtook it in front of me. If I hadn't have been watching him, he would have been in serious risk of getting squashed as I was having to overtake very closely. Daft ha'peth!

Re: Cycling post

Neil Wheadon — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 19:33:07 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"] my opinion counts![/quote]

It certainly does, and this was one of the best laid out arguments I have ever read.

I'm heavily involved with the CTC, an organisation that campaigns for optional helmet wearing.

It's all about choice, racing/sportives are different to recreational cycling, British Cycling who licence many events insist on helmets and with due reason as cyclists go fast (up to 25mph) and in packs, so are a danger to themselves. The suggestion in this forum that we all wear high viz vests and helmets will only decrease participation and Australia have shown us that.

Participation is important as the more adults that cycle the greater the appreciation of road danger and there is a tipping point where if more motorists cycle then the roads are safer and we are getting to this point.

I do have 3 anecdotes

1) Helmets give cyclists a sense of invincibility. On a tour of America I was lectured for 10 minutes by an American for not wearing a helmet. We left together on separate tandems across a slippery metalled bridge. He rode it and skidded from side to side, I walked it.

2) I witnessed an accident 2 years ago. Group riders on a tour, a motorcycle came from the other direction and in a pack a member wobbled and fell and was hit by the motorcyclist, her helmet did save her life as the foot pedal hit her helmet. The reason she fell? She couldn't get out of her SPD's, so do we ban these? I chatted to a friend the next day, a similar non helmet wearer and asked if it had changed his view. As a seasoned long distance cyclist he replied no and we rode on.

3) Cycle safety with motorists is a bilateral relationship. They will be careful if we are careful with them. I have a friend who takes pleasure in banging on cars at traffic lights if he perceives they have cut him up...why? Some cross red lights which annoys motorists (I had a close relative killed by a cyclist this way 7 years ago - Bicycles are silent and fast) I saw a cyclist mouthing a bus driver yesterday as the bus dared to make him brake....why? It's fine for these cyclists but what about the next cyclist the motorist meets?

Compulsory helmet wearing is treating the effect not the cause.

Neil

Re: Cycling post

Julian Earl — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:45:32 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

[quote user="KathW"]all the children we saw on campsites in the UK last year were cycling around the campsite grounds (very quiet - cars 5 mph )with helmets on. It surprised me but maybe it shouldn't have done.[/quote]

As we all know, if you fall over your own feet and your head then hits a solid pavement/road you can get serious head injuries. A child could easily hurt their head very badly falling off a bike, regardless of whether another person or vehicle is involved. I suspect helmets are largely irrelevant in a serious collision with another vehicle, but will help massively if your head hits the ground for any reason!

[quote user="KathW"] I did a tour of Northern Europe in the 1980's for a month and cycled to and from uni everyday but I don't think I possessed a helmet back then.[/quote]

I suspect there were plenty of people who were not so lucky. The fact that you escaped injury is no reason to decide it is safe!

[/quote]

As a survivor of a serious head injury about eighteen months ago, I flatter myself that my opinion counts! Anyway, the helmet saved my life apparently but didn't stop the multiple fractures when my head hit the kerb*. However, helmets are the rule when road-racing, which is sensible, because bunched riding creates more likelihood of a crash than solo-riding, even in traffic. But helmets are not designed to withstand the impact from a vehicle, they are only to create some sort of cushion against the ground, and also most cyclists killed by vehicles die of multiple injuries not solely head injuries. Don't get me started on compulsory use of helmets by cyclists, that's a big no-no to me, with the wrong target.

When there was the Hungerford shooting massacre, and then again in Dunblane, I don't recall an outcry insisting that we should all wear bulletproof vests. Nope, the case for cycling sfaety is to ensure we don't get mown down. I do always get my son to wear a helmet, especially off-road because as an inexperienced cyclist, and messing around off-road, he is more likely to crash by being daft, but forcing 80-years-old Mrs Smith to wear a helmet when she does her shopping is wrong. she won't fall off, but she might b e hit by a vehicle so stop that from happening nand do not force some polystyrene protection on her. Look I said don't get me on the subject of compulsification [!] of helmets.

*Michael Schumacher has my sympathy, I know just what he is going through. He gets in the papers but I got in the national Cyclng Weekly magazine [28th March issue 2013 if you're interested?!] I reckon I win the kudos points there.

Re: Cycling post

Neil Wheadon — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 10:52:27 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]You wouldn't go mountaineering in jeans - so why would you cycle in a cotton t-shirt? Simply a matter of functionality[/quote]

No you wouldn't but you've fallen for the classic Bill Bryson observation

When he visits friends in America, he checks their cupboards and squirrelled away is last years FAD, be it scuba diving, kiteboarding....or cycling. The Western economy is built on this.

I use Rohan T -Shirts which don't flap about but aren't cotton. On a tour I carry 2 short sleeved and a long sleved and with a walking fleece, buff and a RAB walking coat I can survive in any envoironment be it desert of high mountain passes (did a tour last year with 50.000 foot of climbing over 18 days) Combine this with weight allowances for planes of 21kg inc the bike and I have what I need.

So carry on buying the specific gear that Cotswold/North face tell you, you need for each individual activity. What I do is use high quality stuff across the disciplines.

Neil

Re: Cycling post

Tricia Goulden — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 09:11:50 GMT

True re price but not compared to other power meters Karen. The cadence sensor is straightforward to fit & the instructions are clear. Think it through before you start so you get the spoke & crank magnets in the right place for the sensor first time & test it before you tighten the cable ties.

These devices are all about collecting data for measurement and motivation. I love facts!

Re: Cycling post

karen jones — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 07:53:14 GMT

Just googled garmin vector , quite a price ! Had garmin 910 for Xmas , still have to attach cadance meter to bike and then work out what it means !

Re: Cycling post

Tricia Goulden — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 07:09:10 GMT

They were only available in September and bagged one of the first pair so no, not involved in last year's success but hopefully will help with next year's targets. That and resigning from the partnership to work part-time in a lovely practice in an area with beautiful cycling!

Re kit. We have had a few hideous cycling accidents in our club. One chap my son's age ( 24 at the time) had a serious head injury and was in a drug-induced coma for 4 weeks. He was wearing a helmet and it saved his life. Miraculously he went on to make a good recovery and is back on his bike. I would strongly recommend everyone to invest in hi-vis kit & have a good rear light on at all times. We can't change motorist's attitudes but making sure we are seen helps.

Re: Cycling post

Ian Mostyn — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 23:10:35 GMT

[quote user="Neil Wheadon"]Akin to wearing a football shirt, would you do that?[/quote]

As a Leeds fan I am going to abstain from that discussion but I would never wear a Team Sky kit. I have an Aldi special winter top, a plain white summer top from Decathlon and my personal favourite, a White Rose top from Planet X. So apart from advertising my Yorkshire roots (like any good Tyke should) I am boringly plain. A small manufacturers logo is the limit apart from a pair of Omega Pharma Lotto gloves that I got cheap after the sponsors parted company - I quite like the colours.

[quote user="Tricia Goulden"]Even better since splashing out on Garmin Vectors.[/quote]

Well jealous. Not sure I can talk Gillian into a pair of those. Did you get them before or after you started to beat everyone last year?

Ian

Re: Cycling post

Mark Holmes — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 21:30:05 GMT

http://www.hovding.com/en/ What do you think?

Re: Cycling post

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 21:26:45 GMT

I think we're all more safety concious.

I now wear a riding hat that's up to modern safety standards (and replace it regularly )

As a child I wore a beagler type hat, which would now be illegalfor anyone under 16 - but all riding hats were like that those days - it was all that was available.

My father (as a young man) hunted in a bowler, (as did my grandfather)

To be honest, I find the thought of cycling with shoes/pedals which could be easily trapped far more scary than no helmet. The keen cyclists will probably now explain exactly why I'm wrong, and I'll bow to their superior knowledge - it's just how it looks to me.

Wynne

Re: Cycling post

karen jones — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 21:17:27 GMT

Didn't own a helmet till sometime in nineties but now don't cycle without one! My parents took us on cycle tours all over uk when kids but don't think helmets existed then. I nagged my kids to wear helmets when young. I now own a helmet for skiing too even if my skiing is very sedate though probably wise as I'm certainly not an accomplished skier just like the outdoors .

Re: Cycling post

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 21:16:08 GMT

5 gears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're a technophile

Wynne

Re: Cycling post

KathW — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 21:09:48 GMT

That's correct Wynne. We were cycling in Belgium last year on sit up and beg bikes and no one had a helmet on - same in The Netherlands when we nipped over the border. still covered up to 60km some days though.

In continental Northern Europe everyone cycles and only the serious racers or people out doing serious training wear helmets ( or lycra) .

I must admit to having a 5 speed bicycle when I went from Denmark down to Calais. ;) (I can't get the smilies to work!)

Re: Cycling post

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:58:46 GMT

I think it is an age thing. I haven't cycled regularly for > 30 years, Back then no-one wore helmets, so it wasn't percieved as unsafe. Also most bikes were the "sit upand beg" types without (or 3 at the most ) gears, so cyclists didn't reach the same speeds.

Wynne

Re: Cycling post

KathW — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:44:02 GMT

I didn't say it was safe Gillian.

I wonder if any of us owned helmets in the 1980's I can't remember doing so. I know any of us can hit their head on a solid pavement and get serious head injuries. A very close family member has to take anticlotting drugs ( not warfarin) with no antidote and has to get out of bed everyday and decide to lead as normal a life as possible with a much bigger risk than the rest of us. They get on with it - including climbing caving mountain biking (not extreme!) rugby is now out of the question for them however as you set out to get "broken" in that game.

I was partly playing devils advocate with my post but Neil's comment caught my eye. I must admit that I did wonder how an insurance company would have reacted if I had fallen off and sustained a head injury. I bet they would have refused to cover me. I surprised myself as I am normally a person who has to follow every instruction to the letter but the children on the campsites did surprise me. Perhaps it's my age ............