The Importance of Wearing a Bike Helmet

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I was, for a long time, a guy that didn't wear a bike helmet as I rode. The only time I wore a helmet was while mountain biking or riding at night. Now I wear one everytime I get on the bike. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, while bicycle fatalities are down overall, they do have some interesting statistics: in 2014, 429 cyclists died while not wearing a helmet (60% of all cycling deaths,) while 118 died while wearing one (16%.) Being a guy riding sans helmet, I eventually changed my mind. One day, I was in the middle of a 35-mile training ride, and for some reason, I chose to wear a helmet that day. I went down, hard. My head slammed onto the bike path, so hard, that had I not been wearing a helmet, I would have gotten, at best, a concussion. Thanks to the helmet, nothing happened to my noggin. I still hadn't learned my lesson, and continued to ride without a helmet. But on another training ride, not too far from that crash, I got lucky that I chose to wear a helmet that day, too. About halfway through my ride, I got caught in a severe hailstorm. My helmet saved my head a pounding from quarter-sized hail as I rode home. I was still getting punched in the mouth by the stuff, but my skull was safe. Finally, back in the 90's, one of the Denver TV stations did a piece where they dropped a melon from the top of a ladder. It splattered all over the place. Then they dropped one that was in a bike helmet. That melon survived. I now feel naked without wearing my helmet, even if I'm just riding to the liquor store. Basically, while I ride I see lots of kids wearing helmets, I see a lot of the adults without them. Yes, it's important that kids wear helmets, but you should too. We don't want your head to end up like that first melon. We also don't want to see you end up as a statistic. Don't be like younger me. Wear a helmet when you ride. (Photo by me. My friend is not wearing a helmet as he endo's over the bars. Luckily, he was ok.)