Wear Your Helmets!

[Matt_Thibeau]

I was out riding yesterday and i was just front to rearn a picnic table and my back wheel slipped off the egde between the seat and table causing me to fall backwards head first. I hit my head real hard, but thanks to my helmet all i had was a bit of a headache, i think if i didnt have a helmet i would have been in some trouble :$ .

i just wanted to share this with you guys, any stories of how helmets may have saved you from big injury or even death?

[TomR]

Manualled off a 1ft high ledge and my back wheel popped out from under me spitting me straight on my back and head. My mate sidehopping off a 3-4ft high ledge and getting his front wheel stuck on it, back end went down still throwing him off the back, split his helmet right in half, i think it was only helt together by the velcro on the visor.

I'd never ride without a lid, since riding dirt and seeing all them trees whizzing past me kinda made me stop and think about it a bit more.

[Ash-Kennard]

gapping to front onto a thin wall, so had to swing the back end round to land on it. front wheel landed, back wheel swang over it. i tried to put my foot down, missed the wall i was on and fell onto the ledge i had take off from. raping my helmet.

[Greetings]

Tapped a ~4ft wall to rear wheel, and when on the edge while still tucked both my legs slipped off the pedals and landed ahead of me on the wall, causing me to fall back onto the ground head first. The helmet broke in several places, possibly saving me from a very serious injury.

[psycholist]

Landed on my forehead/face on to concrete from back wheeling off a 2 and a bit foot drop when my freehub jammed, preventing me from kicking forwards off the wall. Put a flat spot along the front edge of the helmet, got away with a black eye, no headache even . It would have been a very bloody injury at the very least and more likely a concussion without the helmet taking the shock of the impact.

[tris]

Manualled off a 1ft high ledge and my back wheel popped out from under me spitting me straight on my back and head. My mate sidehopping off a 3-4ft high ledge and getting his front wheel stuck on it, back end went down still throwing him off the back, split his helmet right in half, i think it was only helt together by the velcro on the visor.

I'd never ride without a lid, since riding dirt and seeing all them trees whizzing past me kinda made me stop and think about it a bit more.

Keep your finger on the back brake when manualing and then if you go too far back you can bring the front wheel back down. Also, you know you can jump off the pedals and land safely on the ground!!!! Thats what i do......

[Dan S]

once was riding through a busy street (Nevskiy prospect). Everything was good untill i saw a strange guy. Probably he hated all cyclists, but anyway....he hit me in my shoulder real hard and i wall down. As my speed was pretty high, i slided on the ground and hit the nearby summer caffe fence with my head.....thank god i was wearing a helmet. I stood up and my head was going round a bit...i sat down and was sitting for about 3 mins and only after that i could stand up.

That guy escaped(and was lucky because otherwise i'd have beaten him hard!_)

[CC12345678910]

When I was learning I tried to bash this ~ 3ft high rock which was sitting on a 1.5ft rock making the drop ~6ft. I got on it, lost my balance, fell backwards and bounced 2/3 times on my head. a new helmet was deffanately (sp?) needed.

[spartan]

was doin a 6 foot pedal gap and took off way to early, my back foot slipped off the pedal and landed on the edge of the wall and my rear hit about 3 inches down right near the bashring. My head and chest were speeding forward and i hit my forhead right on the stem cap. Left a big dent in my helmet and almost broke some ribs (i think it sure felt like it).

Yeah ive been riding once or twice without a helmet lately and i sure feel way less confident.

Sidehops, gaps anything to front wheel are all really scary without a lide.

Mines just so damn ugly lols.

[aener]

~ 3ft + 1.5ft = ~6ft.

Hahaha.

[psycholist]

If his head was more than 1.5 feet above the higher of the rocks it would have fallen 6 feet before hitting anything...

[Adrian]

Tapped a ~4ft wall to rear wheel, and when on the edge while still tucked both my legs slipped off the pedals and landed ahead of me on the wall, causing me to fall back onto the ground head first. The helmet broke in several places, possibly saving me from a very serious injury.

iv done this far too many times, good pedals and a helmet for the win

[Village Idiot]

Gapping from 1 rock to another, back wheel must've got stuck somehow as I went to gap, sending me over the bars head first into the rock I was going for. Helmet ended up with a nice big scratch along the side. Dread to think what might have happened if I wasn't wearing it.

[Milford Cubicle]

I was riding in switzerland on my own in a car park on this ledge bout hip height. Was doing wheelies off it and i think my chain stopped moving which it had done before a few times. This then pivoted me forward and my front wheel went down just over the edge of the ledge flipping me down into the floor. I was knocked out for 3 hours, had concussion, broke my collarbone and ripped up the side of my face. I got found by somone and was taken to a hospital in another valley was 4 hours before i could make enough sense to let them know were my parents were. I cracked my tsg and me tinks would of been seriously screwed if i had not been wearing me helmet, was only meant to be going to the shops so almost didnt take it . Shows however good you are your bike can still screw up and screw you up.

billxxx

[mountian goat]

i sooo agree

this is why i bought a helmet :

happened on a 4-5 foot drop and yes it hert

[Barbara Logan-Price]

i was walking down the street one day and there was some oil on the floor with no warning

i slipped and hit my head, if only i was wearing a helmet

so i phoned claims direct and a few months later i received a cheque i was quite happy

Edited November 9, 2008 by Alex_Davies

[bikeperson45]

i was walking down the street one day and there was some oil on the floor with no warning

i slipped and hit my head, if only i was wearing a helmet

so i phoned claims direct and a few months later i received a cheque i was quite happy

Best story by far

I fell off my bike once and landed on a bit of wood with a nail sticking out, managed to go through the helmet but not through my head.

Stopped myself with hands before it could go any further

Lucky lucky

Edited November 9, 2008 by bikeperson45

[spartan]

i sooo agree

this is why i bought a helmet :

happened on a 4-5 foot drop and yes it hert

wait im counfused.

Where you high or somin, it didnt hurt??

LOL

Yeah riding without a helmet, yes i do it sometimes, is way scarier.

[Jaffacakes]

I find not wearing really sketches me out, I loose so much confidence. Exactly the same way as I cant drive without my seatbelt on. Makes me feel really insecure.

[Smoby]

Yeah man, what he says!

[Henrik Y]

I got to hear a few times when we where on a biking trip with school in the age 14-15, "haha, you wear a helmet... ohh are you afraid of falling".

And I just looked at him and thought to my self. You f***ing idiot, just wait until you get hit by a car or your front wheel fails, who is the silly little boy with a helmet then.

I don't know how it is now days but when I was a kid it was this macho attitude to not use helmets.

I've crashed a lot through my days but not in trials. I remember a few crashes where my helmet saved me.

This was in the ages 10-12 years. I was riding on a downhill trail and rode right into a large pine and hit the front wheel and hit the head right into it, I was lucky to have low body mass so I didn't brake my neck.

An other time I was trying to stand on the parcel carrier without holding the bars and it went straight down the asphalt hitting my head with the helmet.

The same day the front fender had got a hit and was touching the wheel and I was angry and kicked it while riding in full speed and got my foot in between the spokes and got flying over the bars head first into the asphalt and the bike over me still stuck with the foot in the front wheel. If I already was angry guess what I was now.

My helmet did survive until I grew it out but the polystyrene inside was cracked in many pieces and was held together by the plastic shell.

When snowboarding I've seen stars a few times but nothing more then that thanks to my helmet.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Henrik Y

[Captain Scarlet]

Always bring this one up.

That was me 4 years ago, and the picture was a week after having a blod clot removed from my brain, which was caused by a fractured skull. (From not wearing a helmet).

I always wear my helmet now, even though your more likely to hit your head in the beginning stages of riding, you just never know when its going to happen.

And its not that I wear a helmet because I'm more at risk to head injury after my ordeal, I am all fine and normal and share the same risk of head injury again as anyone else.

It only takes one mistake to cause a little fall, which may have great consequences.

And you don't have to worry about doing your hair if your wearing a helmet.

[Ashley-Wood]

Always bring this one up.

That was me 4 years ago, and the picture was a week after having a blod clot removed from my brain, which was caused by a fractured skull. (From not wearing a helmet).

I always wear my helmet now, even though your more likely to hit your head in the beginning stages of riding, you just never know when its going to happen.

And its not that I wear a helmet because I'm more at risk to head injury after my ordeal, I am all fine and normal and share the same risk of head injury again as anyone else.

It only takes one mistake to cause a little fall, which may have great consequences.

And you don't have to worry about doing your hair if your wearing a helmet.

f**k me!

that must of beeen some crash/bail! i would not be riding if i had anything like that happen to me