The Chainlink

(this would be a good use of a poll feature if there was one, so users could respond anonymously)

I have not yet made use of Divvy but will very likely be perusing Denver's B-Cycle on an upcoming trip.... looking to travel light and not excited about dragging a helmet along... plus the friend I'm going with doesn't own one as far as I know.

So are you generally carrying a helmet around with you? Or have you just got comfortable going without? Or some other solution I am not touching on?

Thx.

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I wear a helmet of Jewish guilt when I Divvy, as I've yet to have a helmet with me when I've been on a Divvy ride... and I've used it at least a dozen times since launch.

I've had a second helmet for a year or so which I will now keep at work for days when it's raining in the morning but I can Divvy my way home at night.

Use a helmet almost all the time. But not on Divvy.

Divvy for me is so slow and relaxed, I don't feel that I need a helmet.

On my normal bike I may try to make the next intersection before the light turns, often moving through the intersection when the light turns. Not so on Divvy. I deliberately slow down, not catching the light.

But then, I don't commute on it daily. When I use it, it is for short rides in a leisurely fashion

Too funny!

Leah Jone said:

I wear a helmet of Jewish guilt when I Divvy...

Haven't used one yet, but I too will probably purchase a 2nd helmet to keep at my desk.  Almost all of my Divvy trips so far have originated from my office at Dearborn & Madison on days when I don't have my bike/helmet available.  After running the gauntlet westbound on Madison past Olgilvie over the lunch hour last week, a 2nd helmet seems like a wise choice.

So the working theory is that riding fast and "unrelaxed" is likely to result in a meeting between one's head and the ground, rather than riding in mixed vehicular traffic? 

When my wife and I flew to Denver last year, we took helmets along, and used B-Cycle extensively. I felt a bit silly flying helmets across the country, but I'm much more comfortable with a helmet than without. The time or two I left my hotel room without, I felt naked. For what it's worth, I din't ride around Denver without a shirt on, either. :-D

No, I haven't been wearing one with Divvy. When I ride my own bike into work, I wear it. When I ride my bike around the neighborhood to the store, I normally don't wear it.

Having to carry around a helmet starts to defeat the spontaneity of bike share. I would feel stupid carrying around a helmet all day long. Don't make some crack about how stupid I'd look lying bloody on the pavement, either; I get it, we've all heard it, it's not witty anymore.

I do wish the city would have installed a protected east-west PBL downtown before putting Divvy in. It could have made it easier to make those lunch hour Divvy trips safer without safety gear.

The working theory is that if you are going to do something and you have made up your mind on how you will be doing it, you should not ask for advice on The Chainlink. You run the risk that people will give advice that upsets your belief system causing you to have to respond in a snarky way.

h' 1.0 said:

So the working theory is that riding fast and "unrelaxed" is likely to result in a meeting between one's head and the ground, rather than riding in mixed vehicular traffic? 

Helmet wearing is all about risk mitigation; managing the risks of everyday life.  That calculus of risk/benefit to cost/convenience is going to be different for each of us.  There's no one-size-fits-all solution.

Some of us are oblivious to risk.  Some understand risk but don't care.  Some are overly fearful and see risks everywhere. And some, even if not personally concerned, are reluctant to burden our loved ones with the possibility of caring for us if we end up in a vegetative state, so our risk is mitigated for them.

I've slipped in the shower a number of times in my life.  Perhaps I should wear body armor and a helmet while bathing.  But each and every time, I've managed to regain my footing and not fall.  So I don't try to change my risk level by doing anything differently.  There may be a time in the future when my strength and reflexes won't save me, so I'll mitigate the newly increased risk by installing grab bars.  Even if I never slip and fall as an old guy.  That's risk mitigation.

It's unwise to stand outside in a lightning storm.  You might get struck by lightning.  But you probably won't, the risk level is pretty small for that to happen.  It would be foolish to stand in a lightning storm holding on to a steel water pipe on the side of your house.  You still probably won't get struck by lightning, but if you do, you're toast.  For me, that's what wearing a helmet is about.  My chances of hitting my head on the pavement are remote, but if I somehow do, not wearing a helmet is like clutching that water pipe in the storm.

 

Oh, put a lid on it.

I am genuinely trying to work through this-- and my own assumptions were challenged by some of the responses.

And yours are dead wrong.

Can't you just not post if you're having one of your "I hate humanity" days?

 

Duppie 13.5185km said:

The working theory is that if you are going to do something and you have made up your mind on how you will be doing it, you should not ask for advice on The Chainlink. You run the risk that people will give advice that upsets your belief system causing you to have to respond in a snarky way.

h' 1.0 said:

So the working theory is that riding fast and "unrelaxed" is likely to result in a meeting between one's head and the ground, rather than riding in mixed vehicular traffic? 

h' 1.0 said:

So the working theory is that riding fast and "unrelaxed" is likely to result in a meeting between one's head and the ground, rather than riding in mixed vehicular traffic? 

This does not sum up my thinking.

I typically commute to work by bike.  I ride in mixed vehicular traffic all the time.  I always wear a helmet when I commute, or when I am going for a long ride.  

I perceive there to be far less risk of an accident of any sort when I ride a Divvy, even though I am riding in mixed vehicular traffic.  This is my perception.  I use Divvy like I previously used taxis, or to cross the Loop when I don't feel like walking.  On a Divvy bike, I am riding much slower, on a much more stable bike, and I simply do not take the same risks I take on my other bikes.  (Not that I'm Johnny Risktaker in any event.) 

Given this low perception of risk, it seems to me too much of a hassle to bring a helmet with me, or to keep a separate helmet in my office so that I always have one available for me to use.



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