Helmet Story

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's

a

Quoted message said:

story about one of my helmet experiences.

I get it from kids all the time. They're like these little
brainwashed cult kids.."wear your helmet!!" I reckon it's an
insult to my intelligence when an adult tells me to wear a
helmet. Kinda like me telling them to make sure their burger
is cooked to well-done. Just shut up!!!

Cheers,

Scott..

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's

a

Quoted message said:

story about one of my helmet experiences.

I was at the Great Western Bicycle Rally. A group of us
had ridden down to Moro Bay and were coming back up Old
Creek Rd. It was cold on the coast

but

Quoted message said:

it must have been over 100 in that damned canyon and the
climb is steep! I would guess about 12% for a good part of
the way. The road is really

narrow

Quoted message said:

with a cliff face on one side and a drop off into a dry
creek on the

other.

Quoted message said:

The fall is about 10-20 feet for most of the road.

I had sweat pouring off of me and I put my helmet on the
handlebars as I climbed at 3 mph with my eyes bulging out
like a frog.

This guy came riding up beside me. He was wearing one of
those reject Freemont Freewheelers jerseys that were being
sold for $15 because Fremont was misspelled.

He says, "You should always wear your helmet".

I might have snapped at him but since it was taking
everything I had to climb I just grunted.

"I got in a bad accident on this very road and I should
have been wearing

my

Quoted message said:

helmet," he adds.

Oh? So what? But of course all I could do was flair my
nostrels.

"Yeah, I went out for a ride without my helmet. I came in
the opposite way and came down here. I was doing about 40
when I came around that corner up there and there was a
pickup truck coming the other way right about here.

He

Quoted message said:

drove right off of the road into that ditch way down
there. I was going so fast I couldn't make the turn and
went over the edge and fell down right onto his hood."

Finally I asked, "Did you hit your head?"

"No," he said, "but I could have. You should never ride
without a helmet."

I find these to be the sort of people who are concerned
about whether or

not

Quoted message said:

I'm wearing a helmet.

Surely this isn't from the real Tom Kunich. He's not so
stupid as to start another helmet war. This has to be an
imposter, the same one that started the last helmet thread.
Tell us it ain't so, Tom!

Marty

Tom Kunich said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's a story about one of my helmet
experiences.

[...]

Quoted message said:

Finally I asked, "Did you hit your head?"

"No," he said, "but I could have. You should never ride
without a helmet."

I find these to be the sort of people who are concerned
about whether or not I'm wearing a helmet.

Just about everyone that comes up to me when I do a group
ride scolds me and tells me how their lives were saved by
wearing a helmet, and how I should be wearing one.

Guess I should at least be appreciative they're concerned
with my life. Or perhaps it is only the increased cost of
their insurance due to my irresponsible riding that
concerns them.

Anyways, did anyone catch the Saturday morning "Today" show?
They unveiled the new, updated version of the Sting Ray
(Schwinn?) bicycle. It's gone to a chopper/hog look with a
massively fat rear tire and low rider seat. Actually looked
pretty cool.

But when the host (forget the guy's name) test rode the bike
around the fenced off plaza outside the NBC studio with a
couple kids...he was wearing his helmet!

Guess he'd be deluged with scolding letters if he made his
10 second ride at 2 mph without one! Gotta set a good
example when doing such dangerous activity.

SMH

Tom Kunich said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's a story about one of my helmet
experiences.

I was at the Great Western Bicycle Rally. A group of us
had ridden down to Moro Bay and were coming back up Old
Creek Rd. It was cold on the coast but it must have been
over 100 in that damned canyon and the climb is steep! I
would guess about 12% for a good part of the way. The road
is really narrow with a cliff face on one side and a drop
off into a dry creek on the other. The fall is about 10-20
feet for most of the road.

I had sweat pouring off of me and I put my helmet on the
handlebars as I climbed at 3 mph with my eyes bulging out
like a frog.

This guy came riding up beside me. He was wearing one of
those reject Freemont Freewheelers jerseys that were being
sold for $15 because Fremont was misspelled.

He says, "You should always wear your helmet".

I might have snapped at him but since it was taking
everything I had to climb I just grunted.

"I got in a bad accident on this very road and I should
have been wearing my helmet," he adds.

Oh? So what? But of course all I could do was flair my
nostrels.

"Yeah, I went out for a ride without my helmet. I came in
the opposite way and came down here. I was doing about 40
when I came around that corner up there and there was a
pickup truck coming the other way right about here. He
drove right off of the road into that ditch way down
there. I was going so fast I couldn't make the turn and
went over the edge and fell down right onto his hood."

Finally I asked, "Did you hit your head?"

"No," he said, "but I could have. You should never ride
without a helmet."

I find these to be the sort of people who are concerned
about whether or not I'm wearing a helmet.

I'll only wear a helmet as regulated by activity sponsors
or when I ride off-road on single track in crappy terrain.
I refuse to wear a helmet otherwise because the first time
I wore a helmet I had an accident. Good thing I was wearing
a helmet because my head smacked head on onto a tree root
that was sticking out from the side of an dirt embankment.
The impact put a nice dent in the helmet and I was
momentarily knocked unconscious. Probably would have had a
whopper of a headache if I hadn't worn a helmet. Since that
episode I have steadfastly refused to wear a helmet. I
think if I wear a helmet I'll get into another wreck.
Sounds logical don't it?

Kenny Lee

"Marty Wallace" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ..

Quoted message said:

Surely this isn't from the real Tom Kunich. He's not
so stupid

Yep, Tom can be.

Anyway, back to the topic. We're entering the Spring
Classics season for the big one day races in Belgium.

We're going to have to wear our helmets while there, so you
amateurs can do the same for the next month.

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 21:32:36 GMT, "Fabrizio Mazzoleni" <[email hidden]> from

Shaw Residential Internet said:

Anyway, back to the topic. We're entering the Spring
Classics season for the big one day races in Belgium.

We're going to have to wear our helmets while there, so you
amateurs can do the same for the next month.

What's the chapeau de styrol of choice for the peloton
this year ?

--
[email hidden]
A very small object - Its center.
25

"Kenny Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tom Kunich said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS"

here's a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

story about one of my helmet experiences.

I was at the Great Western Bicycle Rally. A group of us
had ridden down

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Moro Bay and were coming back up Old Creek Rd. It was
cold on the coast

but

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

it must have been over 100 in that damned canyon and the
climb is steep!

I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

would guess about 12% for a good part of the way. The
road is really

narrow

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

with a cliff face on one side and a drop off into a dry
creek on the

other.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The fall is about 10-20 feet for most of the road.

I had sweat pouring off of me and I put my helmet on the
handlebars as I climbed at 3 mph with my eyes bulging
out like a frog.

This guy came riding up beside me. He was wearing one of
those reject Freemont Freewheelers jerseys that were
being sold for $15 because

Fremont

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

was misspelled.

He says, "You should always wear your helmet".

I might have snapped at him but since it was taking
everything I had to climb I just grunted.

"I got in a bad accident on this very road and I should
have been

wearing my

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

helmet," he adds.

Oh? So what? But of course all I could do was flair my
nostrels.

"Yeah, I went out for a ride without my helmet. I came
in the opposite

way

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and came down here. I was doing about 40 when I came
around that corner

up

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

there and there was a pickup truck coming the other way
right about

here. He

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

drove right off of the road into that ditch way down
there. I was going

so

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

fast I couldn't make the turn and went over the edge and
fell down right onto his hood."

Finally I asked, "Did you hit your head?"

"No," he said, "but I could have. You should never ride
without a

helmet."

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I find these to be the sort of people who are concerned
about whether or

not

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm wearing a helmet.

I'll only wear a helmet as regulated by activity sponsors
or when I ride off-road on single track in crappy terrain.
I refuse to wear a helmet otherwise because the first time
I wore a helmet I had an accident. Good thing I was
wearing a helmet because my head smacked head on onto a
tree root that was sticking out from the side of an dirt
embankment. The impact put a nice dent in the helmet and I
was momentarily knocked unconscious. Probably would have
had a whopper of a headache if I hadn't worn a helmet.
Since that episode I have steadfastly refused to wear a
helmet. I think if I wear a helmet I'll get into another
wreck. Sounds logical don't it?

Kenny Lee

Are you serious? The conventional myth is that helmets
reduce crashes. Are you saying that you've convinced
yourself that helmets cause crashes? Come on, doesn't anyone
just accept the fact that helmets just protect your noggin
if you crash?

I guess your thinking is logical if you believe that a
helmet is suddenly some sort of sci-fi protective bubble
generator. If so, I've got an alien control disruptor cap
for the low low price of $300 to sell you.

-Collin

Collin O'Neill said:

Quoted message said:

I'll only wear a helmet as regulated by activity sponsors
or when I ride off-road on single track in crappy terrain.
I refuse to wear a helmet otherwise because the first time
I wore a helmet I had an accident. Good thing I was
wearing a helmet because my head smacked head on onto a
tree root that was sticking out from the side of an dirt
embankment. The impact put a nice dent in the helmet and I
was momentarily knocked unconscious. Probably would have
had a whopper of a headache if I hadn't worn a helmet.
Since that episode I have steadfastly refused to wear a
helmet. I think if I wear a helmet I'll get into another
wreck. Sounds logical don't it?

Kenny Lee

Are you serious? The conventional myth is that helmets
reduce crashes. Are you saying that you've convinced
yourself that helmets cause crashes? Come on, doesn't
anyone just accept the fact that helmets just protect your
noggin if you crash?

I guess your thinking is logical if you believe that a
helmet is suddenly some sort of sci-fi protective bubble
generator. If so, I've got an alien control disruptor cap
for the low low price of $300 to sell you.

-Collin

I've only crashed when wearing a helmet. I've never crashed
when not wearing one. So now I don't ever wear a helmet
except as stated in my OP. But I must admit that the biggest
reason I don't like wearing a helmet is they're not as
comfortable as wearing my cycling caps and fear of crashing
be damned!

Kenny Lee

"Kevan Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 21:32:36 GMT, "Fabrizio Mazzoleni"
<[email hidden]>

from

Quoted message said:

Shaw Residential Internet said:

Anyway, back to the topic. We're entering the Spring
Classics season for the big one day races in Belgium.

We're going to have to wear our helmets while there, so
you amateurs can do the same for the next month.

What's the chapeau de styrol of choice for the peloton
this year ?

I guess we know what Big Tex is wearing. The new Giro Atmos
is a pretty cool (no pun intended) looking helmet. More like
a collection of holes than a helmet, though. The elite Euro-
pros like Fabs are probably wearing Brikos or Lazers, right?

In article <[email hidden]>,

Tom Kunich said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's a story about one of my helmet
experiences.

I was at the Great Western Bicycle Rally. A group of us
had ridden down to Moro Bay and were coming back up Old
Creek Rd. It was cold on the coast but it must have been
over 100 in that damned canyon and the climb is steep! I
would guess about 12% for a good part of the way. The road
is really narrow with a cliff face on one side and a drop
off into a dry creek on the other. The fall is about 10-20
feet for most of the road.

I had sweat pouring off of me and I put my helmet on the
handlebars as I climbed at 3 mph with my eyes bulging out
like a frog.

This guy came riding up beside me. He was wearing one of
those reject Freemont Freewheelers jerseys that were being
sold for $15 because Fremont was misspelled.

He says, "You should always wear your helmet".

I might have snapped at him but since it was taking
everything I had to climb I just grunted.

"I got in a bad accident on this very road and I should
have been wearing my helmet," he adds.

Oh? So what? But of course all I could do was flair my
nostrels.

Mr. Kunich, I think the real story is that he saw you were
redlined on the climb, and took the opportunity to drive
you bonkers with a little light conversation.

As a person who once, in a race, chased down a breakaway
rider solely to ring my bike bell at him and to tell him I
thought his breakaway sucked, I heartily approve.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden]
sfu.cawiredcolaOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

Ryan Cousineau said:

Mr. Kunich, I think the real story is that he saw you were
redlined on the climb, and took the opportunity to
drive you bonkers with a little light conversation.

probably he took the opportunity to get in a helmet
debate that was one- sided, ended and in which he got the
last word.

Quoted message said:

As a person who once, in a race, chased down a breakaway
rider solely to ring my bike bell at him and to tell him I
thought his breakaway sucked, I heartily approve.

see now, you left that out before -- it adds. did you
actually pass him then?
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by S. Anderson
"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's

a

Quoted message said:

story about one of my helmet experiences.

I get it from kids all the time. They're like these little
brainwashed cult kids.."wear your helmet!!" I reckon it's an
insult to my intelligence when an adult tells me to wear a
helmet. Kinda like me telling them to make sure their burger
is cooked to well-done. Just shut up!!!

Cheers,

Scott..

Insolent brainwashed little children, who have yet to develop the ability to think for themselves - but are easy prey, parrots, for this pea-brained authoritarian propaganda that is promulgated by the unenlightened bovine bunch of bossy interfering busy-body bigots and other uncritical and cognitively deficent conformists, (long sentence this) get off on issuing exhortations to adults old enough to be their grandparents.

Why does this occur and what makes it pretty much peculiar to cycling?

A variation of revenge of the nerds perhaps?

Roger

"Sapere aude!" - have the courage to think for yourself and not rely on others to do your thinking for you.

Immanuel Kant - Aufklarung

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 18:38:35 -0800, Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]> from WAC

Bennett Review of Arts and Literature said:

As a person who once, in a race, chased down a breakaway
rider solely to ring my bike bell at him and to tell him I
thought his breakaway sucked, I heartily approve.

Next time, drop back to pull some roadkill back to the pack.
🙂

--
[email hidden]
A very small object - Its center.
25

In article <[email hidden]>,

David Reuteler said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

Mr. Kunich, I think the real story is that he saw you
were redlined on the climb, and took the opportunity
to drive you bonkers with a little light
conversation.

probably he took the opportunity to get in a helmet
debate that was one- sided, ended and in which he got the
last word.

Quoted message said:

As a person who once, in a race, chased down a breakaway
rider solely to ring my bike bell at him and to tell him
I thought his breakaway sucked, I heartily approve.

see now, you left that out before -- it adds. did you
actually pass him then?

No. But I pulled him back into the pack. I was feeling
ethereally strong that race. I had a great ride, right up
until two teammates collided near the front of the pack. I
came to a stop without hitting anyone, but someone behind
me shoved their bars into my rear wheel, ending my day
rather early.

The whole thing was stupid: he was not too far ahead of the
pack on a dead-flat course. His large team was not very
tactically sophisticated, but they knew to keep at the
front and not pull through, thus utterly disrupting the
pack. Nobody else seemed to be serious about taking up the
chase at that point, and the pace was so slow I just ended
up a bit off the front after taking my turn. I got out a
hundred feet from the pack, pulled out my cocktail bun, and
took a few bites. I still wasn't getting caught by the
pack, so I decided to finish the job and chase down the
breakaway rider.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden]
sfu.cawiredcolaOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

The elite Euro-pros like Fabs are probably wearing Brikos
or Lazers, right?

Actually, the guys over on team Alessio are using the
Haxial by LAS.

Speaking of Lance, that guy wears his helmet way too
often, Lame.

You don't want or need one while on training rides or races
outside of Belgium and the TdF.

"Fabrizio Mazzoleni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:6Fd8c.897675$ts4.452274@pd7tw3no...

Quoted message said:

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

The elite Euro-pros like Fabs are probably wearing
Brikos or Lazers, right?

Actually, the guys over on team Alessio are using the
Haxial by LAS.

Speaking of Lance, that guy wears his helmet way too
often, Lame.

You don't want or need one while on training rides or
races outside of Belgium and the TdF.

Why not?

Quoted message said:

"Fabrizio Mazzoleni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You don't want or need one while on training rides or
races outside of Belgium and the TdF.

"Marty Wallace" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Why not?

Because wearing a helmet on a training ride spells
amateur rider.

Helmets look clunky, get a cotton team cap in the same issue
as your team jersey.

Here's a good place to start: probikekit.comdisOpen ↗
play.php?cat=Team%20Caps%20%26%20Hats

Quoted message said:

Why does this occur and what makes it pretty much peculiar
to cycling?

Analogous garbage occurs in respect to smoking, firearms
ownership, large cars and SUVs, motorcycle helmets, eating
veal/meat, wearing furs, and a host of other things I could
list. It is, as you say, "authoritarian propaganda."

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Now that you know that I'm not "anti-helmet" but instead
"anti-BS" here's

a

Quoted message said:

story about one of my helmet experiences.

...

This guy came riding up beside me. He was wearing one of
those reject Freemont Freewheelers jerseys that were being
sold for $15 because Fremont was misspelled.

So you could tell that the guy had no credibility because he
didn't spend enough money on his jersey?