They See Me Rollin' ... They Hatin'

To helmet or not helmet

My grandma always told me there are two subjects one never brings up in polite conversation. The number has now been amended to three, so be very careful. These days, one should never mention politics, religion, or helmets.

For the Star Wars lover

The thing I've found with people who bike is that they are very opinionated. There is no middle road - there's usually my way or the highway. The topics of disagreement range from steel or carbon, rim brakes or disc brakes, cleats or no cleats, and helmets aren't exempt from things to have very strong opinions about. The first few subjects aren't for non-bikers. Bring up the topic of steel frame or carbon to a non-biker, and you either risk them falling asleep or desperately start to search for someone else to talk to.

This is true for most things bike. But the strange thing about helmets is that people who've never sat foot or ass on a bike, not only have opinions about helmets - but strong opinions. The arguments against range from nanny-states to comfort.

For the fashionista

For those of you who feel strongly against wearing helmets, I'd like for you to try this simple scientific experiment to determine for yourself whether or not helmets are useful. Put on a helmet, and have a friend/enemy hit you over the head with a bottle. If you're more daring, try a baseball bat or a frying pan. Now take off the helmet and try it again.

For the fruit lover

Biking is not the only sport that have helmets. Skateboarders, mountain climbers, skiers and snowboarders, football and hockey players, baseball and cricket batsmen, sky-divers, fencers, soap-box derby racers, polo players and horseback riders all wear helmets. Every one of these sports requires a helmet, and yet not one of these sports require you to be in traffic.

Helmet AND goggles

To me helmets say “I like my brain,” or if you prefer “I am a dork!”. I do like my brain, for what it is, and my friends will assure you that I am a world class dork, so if the helmet fits...

You see, the trouble is there aren’t enough spare brain cells rattling around up there that I can afford to sacrifice a single one of them to a head injury. If I ever should find that my brain cells have multiplied like rabbits, I could give up helmets, but in the mean time, I have to protect the few that are rattling around up there.