Bicycle Helmets

Well, this is a post I never thought I’d write…

I have ridden bicycles on and off throughout my adult life. Years ago when I was going to Seattle Central Community College I rode my bike to and from my apartment on Capitol Hill. It was a short ride, but one day I hit a pothole, knocked myself out, wrecked my bike, and ended up in the Emergency Room at Harborview Hospital (a pretty scary place in itself!)

A few years later I rode my bike to and from the University of Washington. Yes, I rode it downhill and walked it uphill. But it got me there and back! And no accidents that I can recall.

So when I decided to get a bike in Salem to ride to work I thought no problema…within the first couple of days I brought it into the office one of my co-workers insisted that I needed to wear a helmet. So she brought one of hers in for me and I have worn it everyday since.

Today I was very glad I wore the helmet. You see, our apartment is on the backside of Betty and Ron’s house and we have a bark-laden trail that leads to our gate into our yard. And my thrill everyday is to RACE down the trail to the gate – on my bike. Every time I wonder what it would be like to crash. Well, today I found out.

I somehow managed to swerve to the right and hit a giant tree head-on. I was thrown to the ground and my bike looked mangled. A closer inspection found the front tire turned 180 degrees and a small dent in my bicycle basket (and the fake flowers survived just fine, Linda Lou.) I managed to jump back on and finish the ride to the gate, but it hurt.

And when I told Mike what happened we looked at my helmet. We noticed that a big piece of the styrofoam lining/padding broke off and the helmet definitely needs to be replaced. The bike’s front brake pads got messed up, but Mike did a quick fix that will work until I can take it into a bike repair shop.

The morale of my story is WEAR A HELMET! It saved me from a head injury today and for that I am thankful.