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A few years back I made a video with Terry Barentsen about my feelings concerning helmets:
One point I tried to make regarding staying safe on the bikes is that, while anything can happen out there, there’s also a lot over which he have a great deal of control. You may not agree with my choice to forego a helmet most of the time, but I do hope you agree that there’s plenty we can and should do to greatly reduce our risk of falling off the bike in the first place, and that any safety gear we may choose to don for your ride should be a last line of defense after first exercising due care. In the heyday of the fixie I’d often see helmeted riders on track bikes with no brakes, and it always struck me that if you were going to choose between a helmet and a brake you’d be better off with the latter–not only from a safety perspective, but also from a vanity perspective, since I think helmets look far dorkier than brakes. [smileyface]
Now I’m not going to lie and say I never take unnecessary risks whist bicycling; whether it’s rolling a light to save a handful of meaningless seconds or waiting a little longer to start braking on a descent, every so often I too succumb to the momentum that is one of the most seductive aspects of cycling. However, whenever I ride, I do at least try to keep the potential consequences of my choices in mind at all times. During World War II, they used to ask people to consider whether their trip was in fact necessary:
Similarly, if I encounter, say, a rocky section of trail, I ask myself if it’s really necessary to attempt to ride it:
I may decide to ride it or I may decide to walk it, but the important part is at least being aware that I’ve got complete control over whether or not I decide to risk weeks off the bike due to an injury just because I didn’t want to suffer the indignity of dismounting.
Riding in the city requires similar choices, but the calculus is more complicated due to the fact that, while you can control your own behavior, you can’t control the behavior of others. You may choose to do something risky on the bike in the city and get away with it because you’re a fast rider or a skillful bike handler, but if someone else also chooses that same moment to break a law or take a risk the chances of it ending in disaster increase exponentially. Consider the rider who decides to get a jump on the green only to meet the driver who decides to beat out the red. Individually each might have pulled it off just fine, but when they do so simultaneously it in disaster.
As it happens, Terry recently uploaded a video which illustrates this phenomenon perfectly, and no matter how smart or experienced you think you are I think it’s useful to see it in action:
First, he runs a red light, which certainly an experienced urban cyclist can do a thousand times and emerge at the other side of the intersection unscathed–especially someone like Terry who runs red lights professionally:
But then you’ve got the truck driver unloading in the crosswalk:
This obstructs the view of the bike lane, and in particular the Electric Scooter Salmon traveling in it:
Alas, Terry doesn’t see him until its too late:
And they collide:
Unleashing several gallons of tire sealant in the process:
Fortunately, nobody is injured, and Terry takes the destruction of his wheel in stride:
Could you wait for the green light like a good citizen and still wind up in a head-on collision with an Electric Scooter Salmon? Certainly–this is New York City after all. However, you’d most likely be in a better position to maneuver since you’re not also focused on beating out the oncoming traffic.
The point here is not to chastise Terry, or the truck driver, or even the Electric Scooter Salmon. We’re all humans making our way through a big city, and we all behave selfishly in the process. The point is merely that we would all do well to keep in mind that when it comes to crashing it often takes two to tango, and when you throw in a third you get a full-on clusterfuck.
As for aluminum rims versus carbon and tubeless versus tubes, that’s a discussion for another day.
