Adults on bicycles

[Godfrey DiGiorgi]

On Nov 1, 2006, at 5:23 AM, John Forbes wrote:

> Here lies the body of Michael O'Shay,
> Who died defending the right of way.
> He was right, dead right, as he sailed along,
> But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong.
>
> I don't tend to wear a helmet, though common sense dictates that I
> should.  On the other hand, I don't like the nanny state telling me  
> what
> to do.

I never listened to the nanny state. When I was a child, bicycle  
helmets were uncommon and I rode without one. But from the point of  
being age 16 and beyond, I got away from bicycles, rode motorcycles  
and hung around racing cars ... and anyone with any brains in their  
heads knew that wearing a helmet was essential for survival if  
anything untoward occurred in those endeavors. When I took up  
bicycling again as a young adult, riding without a helmet was  
unthinkable to me. A dear friend of mine nearly lost his life in a  
bicycle accident right around then, 25 years ago; without the helmet  
he would have been dead. He survives to this day, still rides.

I didn't realize until this thread came up that they were required by  
law now, even though I bought a new bicycle, new helmet and riding  
gloves this past summer. Riding without a helmet on a bicycle is just  
about as unthinkable to me as riding a motocycle, or flying to the  
moon, without one.

G