Wiggins Wins Again
UK cyclist Bradley Wiggins followed up his win on the Tour de France by taking Olympic gold in the men’s times trial cycling event.
After months of intensive training for Le Tour and the Olympics, Wiggins chose to celebrate by getting rip-roaring drunk with a group of friends and tweeted his pub crawl. Given his commitments to Team Sky, he won’t be able to do that again any time soon.
He created a another bit of controversy in cycling when he was asked about cyclist helmets following the death of cyclist in a traffic accident near the Olympics venue. Wiggins thinks that people should wear helmets, have lights, and concentrate on traffic without iPods when riding around London. If you had been in as many accidents as Wiggins, with the scars and broken bones to prove it, you would favor helmets too. There are a lot of riders who hate helmets, so the matter isn’t easily resolved.
While cyclists occasionally do stupid things, most accidents involving two-wheeled vehicles [with and without engines] are primarily caused by car and truck drivers not seeing the cycles.
On a lighter note, Boris Johnson, the mayor of London has has once again shown the form that makes him the favorite politician among Britain’s comedy writers. To see what I mean, type ‘boris johnson falls’ into a search engine.
6 comments
Helmets have saved my skull a number of times. Once was in a one-bike accident at twilight in a familiar parking lot which I traversed every day on my way home from work… in the dimness, I forgot about one railing. The bike was pretty bent up, but I was unharmed. In those days, I was wearing a used police motorcycle helmet, purchased (curiously enough) from an officer who had acquired a new one. Later I got a conventional (but rated) bicycle helmet. Enthusiastic and confident city cyclist that I was, I would NEVER ride without a helmet. It only takes one bad fall, or one encounter with a powered vehicle… a friend of mine in Amnesty International, veteran of many protests, experienced cyclist, friend of Richard Stoll (if that counts for anything), he went out one night without his helmet… and did not come back alive. Bryan, in your case, I know I’m preaching to the converted. To everyone else… wear your helmet, dammit!
I have one of the ‘multisport’ helmets because they supply more coverage that the regular bike helmets, although they don’t have as much ventilation. I also realize that they are single accident, unlike the motorcycle helmet I had. I’ve had to lay down a motorcycle a couple of times, and had a few near misses on the bike, because, even with the lights, people, especially people in SUVs don’t see you.
Concrete and macadam don’t do anything nice to skulls, and there is no way of avoiding them in an urban area.
Note that motorcycle helmets are “single accident” also, while their polycarbonate shell usually survives accidents with just scratches, the styrofoam inside that does the actual work often doesn’t, and there really isn’t any way to tell short of taking the helmet apart. I wore a very high end Arai helmet during my motorcycling days, because it was the only one that fit my head right, but if I’d ever crashed while wearing it I would have replaced it in a heartbeat. (As it turned out, the only time my bike hit the pavement was when I was at a dead standstill, so the helmet never got tested).
I won’t leave the house on my bicycle without the helmet and a reflective construction worker’s vest. Too many dumba$$es out there too busy tweeting on their smartphones to pay attention to where they’re going…
Regarding Mayor Boris, I’m assuming from your Google reference that he did not go to the swimming events at the Olympics? 😈
I wasn’t aware that they had started using styrofoam in motorcycle helmets these days, When I was buying them it was all closed cell foam which did rebound. Yeah, styrofoam is single use, which is why I knew the bicycle helmets were single use.
I don’t think his staff allow him near water any more. I was amazed that they allowed him to attempt the zip-line stunt. At least he didn’t fall on anyone, and he was wearing a helmet.
??? Motorcycle helmets have had styrofoam interiors at least since I started wearing one in the late 1970’s.
I think Mayor Boris’s staff is preparing a planter for him, where they will place him in a proper Mayoral pose and water and fertilize him occasionally. Clearly letting him actually move around and do something is too hazardous to countenance, given that he appears to have the physical abilities of a radish (and likely the radish is smarter, but that’s another issue). 😈
I bought my last motorcycle helmet well before that, and managed not to ‘test’ the last one I bought before I sold my last bike [a moped, really] in the late ’70s. I was in upstate New York and there wasn’t a lot of riding time during the year.
If ‘upper-class twit’ ever becomes an Olympic event, Boris and Mitt will be major contenders.