Flip your lid

A recent article in the Hitchin Nomads newsletter provided a bit of personal insight on the ups and downs of wearing a cycling helmet. The inspiration from the article was drawn from the author's recent destruction of their own hat due to rider-influenced, gravity assisted destruction, i.e. riding in to an inanimate object.

A good mate of mine (you know who you are) managed to not only ride in to a parked car but also, some weeks later, performed a tete-a-tete with a Wheelie bin. He got a ban for the former by the RTTC and I had to help him bend his tribars back in to shape to avoid a second strike. I'm pretty sure his lid got trashed in incident #1. He won't be the first nor last to have a tumble, my own riding history features a catastrophic smash, in which I got "totalled" by a driver (his fault, proven in court) who decided that the Give Way signs and the paint on the rode were indeed aesthetically pleasing but not something which gave rise to the use of eyes, brain or his brake pedal.

After I had skidded along for 10 metres and made a perfect connection with the kerb and regained consciousness I began to realise how lucky I was to be in one piece (more or less). I had the wit to keep my helmet on in case I had fractured the noggin or worse, but when Johnny Paramedic arrived on the scene and had gotten me to lie flat and remove my helmet I saw how much impact had been taken by Met's marvellous contraption and not my skull. I had a sore head for a few days but at least the "important bits inside" were in no worse state than when I set off (debatable I know for those who know me).

Insert head.

So the hat/ no hat debate is a clear one for me. What little brain I have, I'd like to keep thanks. Maybe there can be more of a focus on issuing Dunce's Caps to morons who have no MOT, Insurance or Driving Licence instead?



Ironically, I was wearing an accident insurer's jersey.