Epic Ride: Ride It! In Chieveley, UK

Taking a ride around Chieveley in Berkshire

Back in November of last year you may recall I became a NeilPryde Epic Rider. The main point of the team is for the riders to provide feedback 0n the bikes but also to provide NeilPryde Bikes with rides that we would consider epic. This is so that we could inspire more and more people to get on their bikes and go and try out these routes we were taking on.

I filed my first Epic Ride report with the team at NeilPryde and here is a snippet of what I wrote:

I first heard of the Ride It! events when it was launched in the Spring of 2008. The event series was designed to ‘cater for both mountain and road bikers in a non-competitive environment, with an emphasis on having fun with other riders’. So when I heard the event was coming to West Berkshire, I …

Now to get the rest of my ride report, make sure you head over to the NeilPryde Bikes website and see what I have to say. And if you like it, please feel free to share it with your friends and family.

Thanks!

Wear a helmet or be guilty of negligence!

A recent high court case in the UK where a cyclist and motorcyclist collided (Smith v Finch 2009), the judge ruled that the cyclist could have been found partly liable if wearing a helmet would have prevented or reduced his or her injuries. What this means is that cyclists who don’t wear helmets can be found guilty of contributory negligence if they are injured in a road accident in the UK. Ouch!

In an interview with BikeRadar, Richard Brooks from a UK law firm explained the ruling in that if you are injured and a cycle helmet could have reduced your injuries, you may not be able to recover full compensation.

He also added, “Cyclists who “expose themselves to a greater degree of injury” by not wearing a helmet can now be found to be negligent, even though it is not a legal requirement in the UK to wear head protection when cycling. However, for this to happen it would have to be proved – using medical and other evidence – that a helmet would have prevented all of their injuries or made them a good deal less severe.”

Interesting judgement this and one I’m sure will be opening up debates amongst cyclists. That said,I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on this, so please leave a comment below.

Helmet law halved child bike deaths

Just came across this one on the news wires. Makes for some interesting reading. Am sure this will open the wound on the age old ‘helmet or no helmet’ debate:

Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The number of bike-related deaths among children younger than 16 fell by more than half after a Canadian bike-helmet law went into effect, a new study shows.

The Ontario law, which came into force in October 1995, mandated that bicyclists younger than 18 wear a helmet.

Researchers found that in the seven years after the law went into effect, the number of bike-related deaths among children dropped by 52 percent. Between 1991 and 1995, there was an average of 13 such deaths per year; between 1996 and 2002, that number dropped to six.

In contrast, the researchers report in the journal Pediatrics, there was no reduction in deaths among bicyclists age 16 and up — including adults, who were not subject to the helmet law.

“These findings support promotion of helmet use, enforcement of the existing law, and extension of the law to adult bicyclists,” write the researchers, led by Dr. Patricia C. Parkin of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

It is well-known that bike helmets can cut the risk of dying in a cycling accident, but the extent to which helmet laws reduce death rates has been less clear.

The current findings, according to Parkin’s team, suggest that Ontario’s law made a “significant contribution” to the lower child death rates seen in the years since its introduction.

I wonder if I should send this onto the girl at Giro following the email she sent to me when I was looking for helmet safety stats?

A bit suprised with Giro!

Following my posting on the 11-year old school girl who’s head was run over by a car and survived to tell the tale, I decided to look for more safety stats into the use of helmets. So where to go to first, the helmet manufacturers of course. Yes I know their stats could be biased, but it would be a starting point nonetheless.

So, as I really like Giro helmets, I decided to approach them first. I searched around their website to see if they had any links to to safety stats. I didn’t find any. As a result, I decided to email the company and ask them for any public helmet safety stats.

A month after I sent my email, I received a reply from the company’s European team. Now I won’t mention the name of the person who responded, but this is what they had to say to my request:

“Hi Craig,

Unfortunately I do not have any information available on this subject at this time. Sorry that I cannot help you. I know the debate of to wear or not to wear a helmet is a big one! But with the e-mails I receive from people who have had a near death expediencies as a result of crashes on their bikes I would recommend that everyone wear a helmet.

Sorry I cannot provide more information.

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail us here at Giro.

Kind regards,”

Mmmm -  interesting response to say the least…? Am still not sure how to respond to this. At the very least the company could have pointed me in the direction of where I could find some stats. Was and still am willing to do the searching for it.

But as helpful as they want to be, the sentence: “… with the e-mails I receive from people who have had a near death expediencies as a result of crashes on their bikes I would recommend that everyone wear a helmet” just doesn’t seem to convince me.

I think it’s time to ask my friend Google for some more help in my searches on this topic.

Helmet that served its purpose

So, took a good look at my helmet to assess the damage done to it following my crash.  Quite amazed to find where the cracks have appeared. At the very least, I’m pleased that it has done exactly what it was meant to do – protect my noggin in a crash.

Here are some pics of my helmet with the crash impact points and cracks in the frame.

My Pneumo

Impact point

First crack

Second crack

Inner view of first crack at rear of helmet

Inner view of second crack at rear of helmet

Holding clip for roll cage ripped and unusable

Well, it’s served me well. Now to get it all packaged up and ready to send back to Giro. No need to throw it away. Am sure they can in some way benefit from receiving it.

Crash & Brake – part II

On the operating table just before the op

It’s been 17 days since I crashed while out on a training ride on sunny Wednesday afternoon and eleven days since I had the operation to put a plate into my collarbone that resulted from the crash. See my first post on this here.

Now it’s been a strange time for me since the crash. For one, a lot of pain to endure, but also the want to get back on the bike.

Understandably getting back on the bike is not going to happen straight away. Firstly, my collarbone needs the time to sort itself out and heal properly. A minimum of four weeks according to the doctor before I can use my arm properly again. But at least three months before the bone will be properly healed (and about the same lenghth of time before I can get riding on the road again – according to the doc). That said, I can always hook the bike up to turbo trainer to get my legs turning again.

But, I just don’t feel like waiting that long. I have a serious urge to get back on the bike again, despite what has happened. As soon as I can get my arm to move in a circle without it causing too much pain, the bike will be on the turbo trainer. Just need to feel my legs moving round again. Hate sitting around not doing anything. I mean, reading cycling magazine and books does help to some extent, but it doesn’t make up for it.

At least this week to come has some objectives for me to complete. Need to get my claim form off to the private medical aid company, to get some money back for the time I spent in the hospital. Once that’s done, it’s off to shop for a new helmet. I already know what I am going to get. A Giro Ionos in red and black.  But before going helmet shopping, I am going to have to convince my wife that it’s time to get back on the bike. Understandably, as it is, she wants me to get rid of it. But that’s why I am need to work on that first. Am sure she’ll be ok with it – as it is, I’ve been riding for most of my life.

Anyway, time to get some pictures taken of the damage done to my Giro Pneumo. Will post them up on here a little later. Anyway, here’s an x-ray pic of the plate holding my collarbone together.

Plate on collarbone

Laters!

Cycle head dress

h1-designs Cycle Head dress

In my earlier post on Stuart Jeffries’, from The Guardian, article about the pros and cons of wearing a helmet. Now one of the discussion points made in his article is that cycling helmets are unfashionable for those who are cycle-chic conscious.

Well look no further. London has it’s very own fashion helmet designer in Hoai-oanh Vu of h1-designs. This British-born Vietnamese designer has created a set of hats that fit over a helmet while still keeping the cyclist glamourous on the bicycle.

According to Vu, the reflective material on the hat also enhances the cyclist’s presence during the night and it can be easily replaced with a different style to suit the wearers outfit.

So for all you fashion conscious cyclists out there who are looking for something different to wear on your head, this could be a great alternative. Plus, if you are looking for some more great clothing to wear while out on the bike, visit London Cycle Chic for some great suggestions.

Crash & Break

So yesterday I went out training on my road bike. I had taken the week off from work so that 1) I could spend some time with my wife and kids, and 2) to get some good serious miles into the legs on the bicycle.

Now I’ve been training approximately three times a week for the past few weeks. Whether it be on the turbo trainer, my rollers or on the open road. Anything to help get my general fitness up.

The weather hasn’t been the greatest this week, so when the sun made an appearance yesterday, I thought I’d make the most of it and get onto the bike. So I got changed, made up my water bottles, pumped my tyres and off I went.

I made my way up the A4 towards Reading. I felt really good going out, keeping an average of 31/32 kms/h (about 18.5 miles/h). After 20 km’s (about 12.4 miles) I decided to turn around and make my way home.  With 10 km’s to go, I made my way onto one of the large two lane roundabouts with five exits on it. I had to take the fourth exit from where I was coming from.

The first exit I signalled right and made it across with no hassle. Approaching the second exit I signalled that I was going right and not turning off. The car behind me in my lane slowed down to let me cross, which I did. The car in the right hand lane didn’t seem to see me or my signalling and failed to slow down. With this, I had to pull back to the left to avoid going into the car’s path.

Unfortunately for me, I pulled too far to the left and now I was aiming directly for the curb in the road. I tried to correct myself but I had passed the point of return and I clipped it. Down I went. My shoulder and head took the brunt of the fall. My bike came over me and my feet then clipped out the pedals. The motion rolled me over onto my back.  It all happened so quickly! Then the pain hit me. My head was pounding and I couldn’t move my arm. I swear I could see stars at that point. (My helmet is a write-off, but at least it did what it was intended for.)

After that everything felt like a lifetime to happen. Luckily for me, about six or seven people stopped to help. One lady, Hazel, was a nurse so I was in good hands.  They called for an ambulance and for the police. The reason for the police was due to the fact that I wasn’t lying in the safest place on the side of a busy roundabout and they could help cone off the traffic.

The paramedic arrived and gave me loads of gas and air. It helped me to relax but didn’t do much for the pain. He called for an ambulance. When they arrived, the team loaded me up on some morphine (courtesy of the NHS) and helped get me into the back of their vehicle.

At this point my wife arrived, after the paramedic called her to let her know what had happened. She was very calm considering she didn’t know exactly how I had come down. The police helped load my bike in her car. Off we went to the hospital.

The paramedics were great and so were the hospital staff. I had some x-rays taken at the hospital (am waiting to get copies of these from the hospital), made an appointment to see the specialist and sent on my way.

So after a night of pain and very little sleep, I went back to the hospital this morning for my appointment with the specialist. Due to the severity of the break and the splintering of the bone, we decided to have a plate put in to help straighten the break. Am booked in for next Tuesday, 12 August. To be very honest, am not looking forward to it. But will do anything right now to get rid of or at least ease the pain. Plus, have been told I am not allowed to ride (or drive for that matter) for the next six weeks.

So, want to see how bad the break is, check out these two pics below. You will see how the bone pushes upwards on my left hand side. I’ll try and add the x-ray’s as soon as I get them.

Again, huge thanks to all those wonderful people that stopped to help me out, the NHS paramedics and the Thames Valley police. Most importantly, a massive massive thank you to my wife, for being an absolute saint for taking care of my every need the past two days.

Kudos to Giro for making great helmets!

Schoolgirl alive after head run over by car

A 11-year old school girl on her way home from a cycling proficiency test lost her balance and fell into the path of a car.   The vehicle ran over her arm, shoulder and head but, amazingly, she escaped with just cuts and bruises.

As you can see from the image above, the helmet took the brunt of the force.

I can see no better reason for people, young or old, to wear a helmet. I mean, if that’s what the car did to the helmet, then imagine what it would have done to her head if she didn’t wear one. A horrific image, to say the least!!

I think it’s time this government of ours did something good and pass a law that everyone riding a bicycle needs to wear a helmet. Just the same as if you are riding a motorbike, those riding bicycles should wear a helmet too.

So peeps, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this. Drop a comment or send me an email.

Fashion rocks!

Casual Chicness

Well this is my first blog posting – so best make the most of it.

I came across a story about Danish cycle blogger, Mikael Colville-Andersen. He is the owner of the Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog. In his blog he includes many images of Copenhagen girls riding around in short skirts and heels. It’s interesting to see his take on cycling in that it should not be seen as just a sport or hobby. It should be seen as a way of life. I have to agree with this. You don’t need all the ‘proper’ cycling gear to be considered a cyclist.

Although one thing I am a strong advocate of is the use of a helmet. Whether you choose to ride around in short skirts and heels or in tight lycra, a helmet is always needed. The last time I came off my bike (I was on my way to work, so dressed in suit and all), I landed up with concussion that ruled me off the bike and out of work for 5 days.

On the point of fashion and cycling, US pro team – Rock Racing – have got a wicked kit too. The striking green and black with the skull and fire coming out of the top. Very nice! Pity cycling’s #1 fashion boy Mario Cipollini is no longer with the team as they seemed to suit each other.