Q: Do I Really Need A Helmet?

A: Do You Really Need Your Head?

Okay, you're not convinced of the usefulness of helmets. Here are a few examples of things which have either happened to me directly or to friends of mine. (Where questionable, I have included the name of the person to whom it happened, to prove that these are things which I know for a fact happened, not urban myths about a friend of a cousin's uncle's friend).

• About 4 years ago, I was hit by a car. I remember the accident vividly, and after the impact, as I was flying through the air, everything was a complete blur. Some people believe (wrongly) that you can "learn to fall," so that in an accident you won't hit your head. I couldn't even see the ground, let alone avoid it with my head. My doctor said that I had a concussion, and surely would have been dead had I not had a helmet. My helmet was x-rayed for legal purposes, and it was found to have a significant structural crack.
• Just before I left on this trip, I hit a patch of mud and my tires just slipped right out from under me. It happened so quickly that I didn't even know why I was falling, I just planted my head firmly on the ground. My helmet had a dent in it, so Gyro replaced it (many helmet companies have free crash replacement programs).
• I took a Triathlon PE class in university, and one of the girls slipped on some wet leaves and went down on the pavement. She had a two-inch long, half-inch deep gouge in her helmet.
• A friend of mine's brother (Miles Noell) hit some gravel while going around a corner and flew off the road and head-first into a tree. He had a bit of a concussion, but his helmet took the brunt of the force, and was actually split in two.
• Another friend of mine (Jonathan Seagrave) was going mountain biking with some friends, and the folks in front of him kicked up a big cloud of dust. He couldn't see, and hit something which made him fly over his handlebars. When he regained consciousness, he wasn't wearing his helmet. He found it laying on the ground, in three fully separate pieces, having essentially exploded on impact.

If this isn't enough to convince you that wearing a helmet is a necessity, not an option, then you're probably not smart enough to worry about brain damage, anyway. Even if you're that stupid, I still can't condone not wearing a helmet, but it's up to you.