How do the Dutch have the worlds best cycling safety record while simultaneously having the lowest helmet usage rates? This video gives a hint.
Despite the terrible music and pain of watching people riding over black ice, it does shed a light on the real nature of cycling accidents.
Hat tip to @carltonreid & @kim_harding
And is @carltonreid going to let on where he go the idea from? http://to.ly/a4ri 😉
then a hat tip to @kim_harding too!
Hat tip to @kim_harding !
It’s a great film which I use to highlight to ‘cyclists’ that bike riding is a broad group and not everyone falls the same way. I’ve been viewing it for over a year. If you are on such a bike, with normal shoes on normal pedals, it is very easy to put a foot down to balance yourself even, as can be seen the the footage, when there is almost NO traction at all!
We also have these things called ‘arms’ which are often used to break a fall (sometimes they break – mandatory wrist guards anyone?).
I did just this the other day on a wet metal grate on my upright dutch bike, no helmet, in the rain. I just put a foot down briefly to balance and I kept going. Had I been on my road bike training (with a helmet), clipped in, I would have hit the deck hard. Rest assured I would not have claimed that ‘a helmet saved my life’ though 🙂
Not all cycling is created equal, which is why helmet laws are misguided.
then a hat tip to @kim_harding too!
Ow! The amount of time I spent in the Netherlands sliding around on my ass! But yes, if you’re head isn’t pointing towards the ground it’s highly unlikely to hit it.