Soft in the head

A word on helmets. I wear one. Here it is, a bit battered and bruised, but rather it than my swede

I have fallen off twice and hit my head not wearing one. The first time (Cheapside) I was on the outside of a group of cyclists and the lights went green. I was probably a bit too far on the right, the white van which hit me was probably too far towards the kerb. I was doing about 2 mph and pitched off. Lucky escape. Don't get me started on righteous cyclists who think they can bosh about the place with impunity while all other road users swerve to avoid them, more on that in a different post. The second time, I was waiting for someone outside a gated group of houses. Thought they might be at the other end, jumped on the bike and straight away got the front wheel jammed in a storm drain I didn't see and flew over the handlebars. If I had been wearing a helmet I'd have laughed it off. As it was there was not even a chuckle. I landed heavily on my side, and the top of my head smashed into the tarmac of the road. Very very sore, and I sported a shiner for the weekend - lovely. My point is that on both these occasions, I was doing less than 3mph. If I'd been going faster, who knows. 

Here is a list of common occurrences while cycling:-

• A fly goes in your eye
• A dog runs out in front of you
• Someone just walks into the road in front of you without looking
• You are cycling up a cycle lane inside a queue of stationary traffic, someone crossing the road walks out from in between two buses from the right
• A pigeon attacks you (Kudos to @karmacycle, who blogs about it and other cycle related activity here)
• Vehicle door opens into your path
• It's just started raining after a dry spell. The road is oily.
• A car does not see you

This is off the top of my head. There are probably others but trust me, if any of these things happen, you stand a good chance of falling off your bike. It goes with the territory If you cycled at a snail's pace, you would probably be unaffected by many of these tribulations, but you don't. Don't even pretend that you do. One of my most passionate beliefs (right up there with NEVER wearing brown shoes with black trousers) is that generations have fought for us to live in a society where you can choose how you behave, so I have made my observations and leave you to make your own mind up.

I sometimes don't wear one myself - especially if it's hot in the summer and I'm only nipping round the corner. Kind of feel superstitiously that it is sod's law for me to crack my skull open on one of these jaunts, but I was ever the contrary one. 

In any case, you might feel you look a bit silly in a helmet which is an excellent reason not to bother. Not as silly, perhaps, as you will look dead or being fed through a tube and wearing a nappy, but to each their own.