CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Helmets!

CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Helmets! http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Helmets! en Sun, 31 May 2026 06:41:14 +0000 wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=4#post-1663 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:55:42 +0000 wee folding bike 1663@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Sent a PM, not sure if you get notified or not. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1657 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:05:43 +0000 gembo 1657@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ You got them all. I was born same day as Shirley Higgins but not sure her sister was called Siobhan and we were Lochwinnich not Howwood. Andy McKay, Iain Hood, Brian McHenry and Paddy Lawlor - I shared a flat with in West Princes St. Brian had the cupboard due to a housing benefit mix-up so he owed Paddy rent. He moved to North Uist and Iain and I used to visit him. He was an artist, became a nursery nurse. Hair was indeed mad. Moved back to Ireland and married his cousin. Joe Mckay worked for my dad for a while at the golf course, he was the other McKay. Did you know the guy Neil that was called Chisel? I went out with Nicola Tuohy about 25 years ago and then Kathryn Hay about 23 years ago.. Apologies to anyone else reading this tho I assume most posters ignore this string now. Did you ever go to Rumours on a Sunday afternoon to listen to bands like Adam Johnston's Blitzkreiging Iron Lung. I remember nothing about them except their name. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1653 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:31:35 +0000 wee folding bike 1653@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Sorry, Lawlor rings a bell too but I can't remember a first name. I think my sister knew a Lawlor. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1652 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:30:39 +0000 wee folding bike 1652@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Andrew & Robert McKay, They had a wee brother I don't remember the name of. Gillian, John and Catherine Hay Ian Hood? Brian McHenry had mad hair and lived over the back from me, often cycled to school Nicola Tuohy - I think her mum worked in a school in Prestwick and married an art teacher from QMA. Novek and Brechaney I don't know. Cycling cap with a skip and polartec hat on top of it. Snow is mostly gone here. Skip to keep the rain off, polartec to keep ears warm. The only people I know round Johnston would be Higgins sisters from Howood. I was at uni with Siobhan. Glasgow 84-88. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1629 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 10:59:05 +0000 gembo 1629@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Getting close now, Here is a team McKay,Hay,Hood,Lawlor,McHenry,Novek,Tuohy,Brechaney all at Queen Margarets but the ones I know best in year above you and below you I was Glasgow 83-87. Explains why we are so similar in our views about helmets, still taught in an empirical tradition and to question data rather than use it as a way of bolstering preconceptions. Yesterday I had my nylon swimming cap [cheapskate version of cycling skullcap] and a woolly bunnet on as I walked kids to school. Roads/pavements still covered with ice so no bike with us. I half considered not swapping the woolly bunnet for the helmet as it was so cold. Became milder throught the day so it worked out OK. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1627 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:12:11 +0000 wee folding bike 1627@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Ross, 1966, the year the Germans were robbed. Ayrshire '69 - '84, Queen Margaret Acad Glasgow '84 - '88 London '88 - '91 Glasgow '91 - '93 Cumbernauld '93 - '96 Barrhead '96 - '02 Airdrie '02 - I saw a great version of the Slab Boys in '92. They merged it with Still Life and Cuttin' a Rug. The movie was not so good but I've got the soundtrack which has some moments. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1626 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:48:06 +0000 gembo 1626@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ I was born in Irvine Central in 1965 - Kilbirnie, Lochwinnoch, Ayr,Glasgow,Edinburgh,Glasgow,Edinburgh looks like we were in several of the same places possibly at the same time. John Byrne has a line in The Slab Boys which mentions my first high school - Johnstone High, it is mildly sectarian so I will not give it (tho of course I have the scripts). wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1623 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:40:42 +0000 wee folding bike 1623@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ I was born in Paisley, Ross Hospital as was, but left when I was three to live in Ayrshire, then Glasgow, London, Ayr, Glasgow, Cumbernauld, Barrhead, Airdrie. So I don't have a specially well defined accent. John Byrne was able to describe the difference between the two. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1621 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:39:28 +0000 gembo 1621@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Caught some of those diaries of Palin - he felt tortured about taking his children out of state education - poor wee scone. Yes in the good old days Glasgow banned the Life of Brian (Down WITh THis Sort Of Thing) and indeed Punk Rock. I was in a pub - The Lord Nelson in Belsize Park, London 1990 and a big Rasta chap comes up to us and says "Alright?" and we say "Aye". He then says, "Are you two from Paisley?" we were like - Yeah - how did you know that? Turned out that he had been at Art School in Glasgow in late 70s and GLasgow had banned punk. So his band had to gig in Paisley. He was therefore able to distinguish between the two dialects. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1619 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:26:41 +0000 wee folding bike 1619@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ I can't be a completest. I don't have P type Brompton. I listened to Michael Palin's diaries last summer. Apparently the only bit the studio complained about was the "Hook nose, Red Sea Pedestrian" line. Glasgow didn't allow it to be shown till September last year when it was on in the GFT. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1615 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:03:57 +0000 gembo 1615@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Not as many as went to the stoning in Life Of Brian wearing fake beards but You are not alone (as the face of Bo said to Dr Who) SRD on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1602 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:59:31 +0000 SRD 1602@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ err. no. but then _are_ there any other women on here? gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1601 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:21:50 +0000 gembo 1601@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Ah Foldero that is excellent detail. I am told it is a male thing to be completist about certain issues. E.g. with the Big Lebowski I have it on VHS, hard disk, DVD and CD. I have not purchased the script but may well do so [despite knowing most of it] as I have done with Withnail, Life of Brian [and Woody before the fall - find him unwatchable now]. Not sure if anyone else reads this string now but Chris might consider flipping it elsewhere - are there any women here today [refernce to LifeofBrian] who admit to being completists too or is it just men? Conscious that I may be deviating from the purpose of this forum I would like to link it to the quest for the right number of bikes to own and to my desire to achieve the best bikes I can get for their required purpose [and my one time mission to have one bike to do everything, the Specialized Tricross is great for commuting, not bad for audax, not brilliant on tougher off-road routes [I have had to push it occasionally, the flat underside on the crossbar is gimmick and it is certainly not a cyclocross bike - just inspired by cyclocross a sport right up there in my books with the Olympic event that combined Nordic Skiing and Shooting at tiny wee plates]. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1565 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:50:01 +0000 wee folding bike 1565@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ gembo, When I was cycling along listening to the wireless on 11/9/01 Bush jnr was on the BBC saying "This will not stand.". This was just before the towers fell down. In the film on the supermarket checkout TV Bush snr is using the same words about the first Iraq war. The date on the Dude's cheque is September 11 1991. Ten years to the day before the WTC fell down. The film predates the WTC event so it's just a coincidence. You can see the date on the DVD version but not my VHS one (obviously I have it on DVD too). Occasionally I have found myself in the 24 hr Asda wearing sandals and shirt similar to the Dude when some of the soundtrack comes on the iPod. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1564 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:21:55 +0000 gembo 1564@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ the check for 79 cents or whatever - no what is it about the date? wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1562 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:18:45 +0000 wee folding bike 1562@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ gembo, I don't think they make the Docs anymore. They started their own range of Doc like shoes the last time I checked. I did have a pair of their hill walking boots but they leaked a lot. Do you know about the date on the cheque in the Big Lebowski? gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1561 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:03:04 +0000 gembo 1561@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ foldy, I am liking your 'nomenclature' and indeed your 'frame of reference'. I used to go to the movies most nights. The Big Lebowski was the first film I saw after about a six month lay off when child no 1 was born. It is therefore in my opinion unassailable. However, only motor cycles feature. With the obvious questions we get asked - I used to be Vegan so when people said to me - Ah you are vegetarian, are those shoes leather? I could say no - they are plastic doctor martens from the Vegetarian Shoe Shop in Brighton. Ah those were the days, tho in the winter the plastic got very hard, even after many years wear and chafed one's ankles. THe DM boots also got very warm indeed. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1558 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:23:54 +0000 wee folding bike 1558@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ gembo, With this white Russian will you be adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep your mind limber? gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1545 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:22:24 +0000 gembo 1545@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Anth - seems about the right way round? Folds - Formula 1 drivers,of course, they wear helmets. Maybe not for protection in an accident? Or maybe they do give a modicum of protection even at 200mph? Even Juan Fangio had one. On reflection, they are mostly toast but you do see remarkable footage of cars flipping over and over and then they walk out of them. Saw a teacher I know driving her son as a passenger and he had a helmet on but I am guessing they were en route to the skate park and wearing it in the car helped him to remember it? Wilmington's Cow on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1543 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:25:56 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 1543@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ I don't think I've contributed to this one yet... I think I fall into thatc ategory that has weighed up the relative risks and merits and so on. I've read SO MUCH pro and anti compulsion stuff as research for my website, the only thing to garner from it all is that no-one has the absolute answer, and a lot of opinion and anecdote gets dressed up as fact on both 'sides'. For my part I don't wear a helmet to commute, and I do to go mountain biking. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1540 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:16:28 +0000 gembo 1540@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Thanks Foldero, I will contemplate. I have been in cars that have been very well driven [not by me] and of course the vast majority of motorists who pass me in the morning/evening do so with care. And yet I have formed a very clear view that driving is a dangerous thing and that we are taking a risk every time we get in the car and that every car on the road is a potential assassin to me - I should loosen up. I am going to follow your recipe and make a white russian with calpol, milk, Paul Newman's Dressing and some Kahlua. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1465 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:26:44 +0000 wee folding bike 1465@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ And there is this one. The first time I saw it I thought it was a micky take but here it is on Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thudguard-Protective-Safety-Helmet-Blue/dp/B001OWCOTS">http://www.amazon.com/Thudguard-Protective-Safety-Helmet-Blue/dp/B001OWCOTS</a> wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1464 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:11:56 +0000 wee folding bike 1464@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ And we used to sit behind the seat in my dad's Beetle or in the trunk of the Opel wagon now I have special Volvo seats in the trunk. Now, would you be surprised to find that even with air bags and so on the head injury rate for bikes, walking and cars is fairly similar? It depends a bit on how you collect the data, per mile or per hour, do you include motorways which are only for cars and are very safe per mile, but overall the rates are similar. Here is a starter for some info on risk and cycling: <a href="http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1026.html">http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1026.html</a> and yes, you do get driving helmets: <a href="http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/05/motoring-helmets-for-real-high-risk.html">http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/05/motoring-helmets-for-real-high-risk.html</a> <a href="http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/developments/headband/">http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/developments/headband/</a> Given that you don't claim a strong case for cycling helmets, that you now know about some of the risks and can check the head injuries in cars and walking would you consider wearing a helmet in these two other situations? Of course even with the health benefits there are risks in cycling. Earlier this evening I was menaced by a guy ahead of me in the queue at the self service till in Morrisons. Him - "Is that a bike?" Me - "Yes." Him - "Does it fold up?" Me - "Yes." How he thought it could be that size and not fold up I don't know. Then the usual question, Him - "How much was it?" So I told him and was informed that I could have bought an "F'ing car" for that price. I thanked him for the observation and continued my purchase of Calpol, milk and Paul Newman salad dressing. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1456 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:45:51 +0000 gembo 1456@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Sorry, Foldy, I was anticipating your argument but you want me to actually answer the question. In a car I do not wear a helmet. I understand that seat belts and airbags can offer some limited protection so I wear a seat belt and the car has airbags but I also think airbags can be dangerous for smaller types such as children so they do not get in the front much. When they were wee they all had carseats conforming to British Safety standards (we had to get a car that was wide enough to take three such seats). I remember when I was the age of my kids [centuries ago] you could fit six kids into the back of a Datsun estate (it had a carpet - luxury, you could lie and look out the back window at the upside down sky. I think I am on a bike more than I am ever in a car. When I drove cars it was very dangerous so I gave that up. When I was on a motorbike I wore a helmet. When I am walking, which I do very frequently, both inside and outside the house I decline to wear a helmet (except on the aforementioned walk to school where my head is a handy prop for the helmet, not always fastened). However, I do observe the weather and have a very repetitive argument with my older children about wearing appropriate footwear, hats, scarfs and gloves. Further, at the moment because of the snow and the cracked ribs I go about with a small staff like stick that Michael The Water Bailiff whittled for me. You have to watch him, he walks up and down the Water of Leith whittling and not really keeping a weather eye on the cyclists. However, if you ring your bell and pass the time of day with him, he gives you sticks/staffs he has whittled. My point is that statistically it might be riskier walking up and down your stairs than going out on your bike. However, you have to take into account how often you do this before setting off on your journey up the stairs or down the road. So each trip up or down the stairs is much less risky than each cycle outing [based on a 'per journey' calculation]. Maybe I have picked up the wrong end of the stick/staff with your question?? Do you wear a helmet in the car or when walking? Does anyone? wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1455 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:44:46 +0000 wee folding bike 1455@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Well that was a long answer. I'll try again. When you're not pushing a bike and walking do you wear a helmet and do you wear one in a car? gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1451 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:55:03 +0000 gembo 1451@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ I do wear a helmet walking as I am pushing my bike and walking the kids to school and my head is a very sensible place to put my helmet. However, I think you are the very person to work out the relative risks of walking up the stairs, driving, cycling on busy roads and of course factoring in how often these activities happen then a sensible idea of the relative risk of each activity could be established. I am sure you are fully aware that saying people should wear helmets when walking is too simplistic. Similarly, if you take out William of Occam's razor which you used effectively in previous posts you could doubtless demonstrate that there is no actual link between helmet wearing in the UK and numbers of people cycling. [The helmets put people off cycling hypothesis - you need to factor in or out from that argument the basic idea that making something/anything harder to do stops people doing it in the short term- then add the bits that are specific to helmets. Though actually we probably all agree that mandatory helmets is a backward step]. I think it is pretty reasonable to speculate that the upsurge in cycling in London has had a similar upsurge in helmet sales. My only quibble with head free lobbyists is that people who read the opinions expressed decide that the opinion is factual and use the opinion to decide not to wear a helmet. This is a poor way to make a decision. Better to follow your example, weigh up all the information, compare that to the type of commute undertaken e.g. - busy roads, bad drivers/junctions, ice, cyclists who don't like bells, number of random encounters with livestock en route etc etc) factor in how risk averse you are as a person, talk to paramedics etc and then make your decision. I go for helmet you go for no helmet I don't mind that as we have both thought about it. The whole thing is a distraction from dangerous driving and anti-cycling mentality of some drivers. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1447 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:23:28 +0000 wee folding bike 1447@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ gembo, Well OK, so you don't think the case is good either way. Would you wear one walking or in a car? gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1431 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:27:29 +0000 gembo 1431@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ the guy that Lee's ghost kills is also quite annoying in The Outlaw Josey Wales, hammy in a Rod Steiger kind of a way. Did anyone spot that this entire helmet string was replicated in the Guardian (all the same tit for tat arguments, still high degree of opinion presented as fact). I followed the link to the story in the Spokes info thing. Is it Matt Smeaton that writes in Grauniad? Sorry link at work. one great poster going on about living at the bottom of a hill and picking cyclist's teeth out of her drive. wee folding bike on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1335 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:40:44 +0000 wee folding bike 1335@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ gembo, If it's Lee Marvin you don't worry about the facts. You print the legend. gembo on "Helmets!" http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=179&page=3#post-1332 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:37:47 +0000 gembo 1332@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ Most accidents occur within one mile of the home Dave {not fact - just quoting Lee MArvin from the John Boorman film Point Blank, where Lee insists that his victim fastens his seat belt before driving to where Lee or Lee's ghost is going to kill him}