Trail Centre riders riding without a cycling helmet on !!

Why for the life of me do they do it….? I saw three riders around the monkey trail at Cannock chase today riding without lids on …!! Even they could get a serious head injury round a trail like that…when I casually suggested to one lad “It might be safer with a lid one” it was followed by “well, I have been riding my bike for 14 years without one !!”

I found it incredulous !!

Well I would not do it …I mean ride a trail centre he must have a head injury 😉
Personally i find it foolish [ and probably would not ride with them] but its their life and choice to make.

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Darwinism in action.

Not something I’d do but I can’t really see what business it is of yours what they do

If someone were to inappropriately comment on what I chose to wear when riding MY bike It would be a lot ruder of a reply than that 😉

Ah I remember the days of TJ and a similar thread, I think Pook does too….

it is called free choice. why not ban mtbing if your worried about safety?

Had a couple of guys ride past us today whilst trail building, rode a black feature that I prefer have pads on for, no helmets. I put it down to Darwinism in action, FC guy with us was less impressed as he has to pickbup the pieces, both in his FC role and as a member of the local mountain rescue.

Nobody died. Nobody rendered themselves incapable of procreating.

Why do people keep mentioning Darwinism ?

In fact, has there ever been a death at a UK trail centre, helmet wearer of otherwise, that was caused by crashing a mountain bike ?

‘cos they were in canoes.

I don’t understand why people do it, but it is their choice. I guess another way of thinking about it is that by even getting on your bike and riding a black route you’ve accepted quite a high level of risk (vs sitting at home), but you wouldn’t like it if people shouted it at you.

I wore a hat today…at a trail centre.
It’s a bit like a helmet.
I did not die.
I wasn’t wearing gloves either.
Flame on…..

I did it once but only because I left lying around at the top of the whites/skyline climb. Good excuse to go back up and have another play.

TBH I don’t give one about the helmet thing, I’m more outraged they are on the trail in this weather and wrecking it for me with their selfishness – 👿

In fact, has there ever been a death at a UK trail centre, helmet wearer of otherwise, that was caused by crashing a mountain bike ?

Yes quite a few.

I agree – I think its foolish and actually very selfish – riding without a helmet however ‘good you are’ can lead to life changing injurues. Even a relatively minor injury can cause a lot of collateral damage to the injured persons family (and stresses the nhs to boot) – I have been there and had to cope with someone with a ‘minor head injury ‘ – trust me it wasnt fun for all concerned.

I would love the mag to do an article on the effect such an injury has on the individual / family etc. Biking / climbing / skiing are risky – in my eyes wearing a helmet alleviates that risk and keeps my head warm in the cold – so why not ? I saw 2 riders recently in a snowy snowdonia riding nice bikes / nice biking clothes and no lids – it just looked silly wearing a wooly hat..

I am sure this thread will descend into the usual polarised camps etc but to those who dont see the need – think what your nearest and dearest would feel if you took a head injury because you choose not to wear a lid. I know its not 100% but if I was clipped by a car and sent sliding along the road I would want my helmet or similarly if riding a lakeland tech rockfest and I went OTB….

Anyways my 2ps worth. I wouldnt want to ride with a non helmet wearer – it just isnt clever.

paul

Were you on a fully rigid 29er at llandegla Chris?

Is it just the lack of a helmet that folk find upsetting?
What about knee pads, elbow pads, neck braces, back braces, pressure suits etc? Where do you draw the line?

Maaaaaaybe
If I’d known it was you…. I would have knocked you off 😀

Given how tame most trail centres are I don’t really see the problem. You’re far more likely to get a head injury slipping over in the shower and I don’t hear many people moaning about lack of helmets there.

@snowpaul you do know the specs on helmets don’t you? you know the impacts they are designed to absorb?

a helmet may help, a helmet may not help.

TBH the time i am most grateful for helmets is low branches!

In fact, has there ever been a death at a UK trail centre, helmet wearer of otherwise, that was caused by crashing a mountain bike ?

No idea what the answer to this is. But there does seem to be quite a few serious, life-changing neck and spinal injuries happen at trail centres. Yet outside of the DHers you’ll see very few people kitted out in neck braces and spine protectors. And when you do kit yourself out in all the bells and whistles you’ll get flamed for that too.

Some things just seem fashionable to hate.

Yes quite a few.

Do you have any information on these ?

Haha i think you may have caught me near the end. I was day-dreaming at about 2mph until i noticed what appeared at first to be fun fair attraction appearing behind me 😆

Freedom of choice? I’ve been riding all my life, only recently started wearing a lid no reason for it other than hmmm maybe ill get a helmet, there is of course the age old argument that whilst wearing a helmet you are almost tricked into doing things more dangerous than you would without one, I raced motocross for a long time and coming home from that and going out on a bicycle I never felt it dangerous enough to warrant a lid. Everyone has their own perception of how dangerous any activity can be and it’s up to then to protect themselves accordingly, I’d happily ride the black stuff at Cannock without a lid, I feel I’m ok to do that and I have done in the past .

I think their reply was a bit too polite.

I wonder if they had considered the risks and come to their own conclusion?

they do it because we live in a free country and they want to. What business is it of yours? Do you also critique their choice of toilet paper?

Did you ask to see a copy of their risk assessment?

In fact, has there ever been a death at a UK trail centre, helmet wearer of otherwise, that was caused by crashing a mountain bike ?

Yes quite a few.

I’ve had a look and can’t find any evidence of this.

Would be interested to see where you got this from ?

Everyone has their own perception of how dangerous any activity can be and it’s up to then to protect themselves accordingly

Surely you don’t really mean that people could actually have audacity to do that, when they should be grateful that the majority of STW have already been caring and thoughtful enough to do it for them?

I bet those guys at the trail centre even ski or board without helmets too. Bloody adrenaline junkies, the lot of them. Ban them and beat them around the head with a stick. That’ll learn’em 🙄 😉

This comes up fairly regularly here. I’m for freedom of choice, but I can come at this from a different perspective.

14 months ago, wearing my helmet – because I think it prudent to do so – I crashed my bike on a bit of trail I’ve ridden a couple of hundred times. I was unconscious for several minutes after landing on my head. My helmet was damaged, but didn’t look too bad. I walked off the hill, but had to be told what to do and where to go. Superficially I required the removal of grit from my head and took 6 stitches. Apart from being sore, a bit dizzy and suffering a bit of shock I felt ‘normal’.

At home, It soon became apparent that I was exhibiting stroke like symptoms – I tired easily, found noise difficult to deal with and struggled to process conversation in loud places like clubs, pubs,etc…

A month later I left my easy, undemanding bike mechanic job to become a supervisor in a fast moving and dynamic renewable installation company. I had previous done a similar demanding job, but as the demands of the job rose, it became clear that I couldn’t handle stress well, had difficulty managing multiple tasks, and couldn’t seem to think ahead far enough to plan or spot problems before they arose.

I had a minor brain injury.

My recovery has been slow and steady since. I still struggle with conversation in loud rooms, and I’m still a bit slower on the uptake than I was, (although, if you met me you wouldn’t be able to tell any different).

I am lucky. I was wearing a helmet, and landed on my head at the relatively slow speed of 23mph. Even then, I have two scars, a chip out of my skull and over a year later, I’m still not quite right. That’s from the lowest possible class of brain injury. I shudder to think what the outcome would have been without the helmet.

I’ve just came back from town, and there were a load of pissed up folk, and Not one of them had a helmet on!

Nicely done OP

I was at a trail centre once, and there was a bunch of people riding down some hills on push bikes! I suggested that it’d be a lot safer if they got off and walked, but they didn’t like that idea.

I was incredulous too.

[Not something I’d do but I can’t really see what business it is of yours what they do]
I had a similar experience, 2 guys without lids going down a trail in front of us at GT. We said nothing but our thoughts where this will end badly. We gave them a bit of time to go ahead and after about 5 minutes headed down ourselves to find one of the guys unconscious on the trail at a blind berm and his mate in the bushes making his way back up to his mate. The guy on the deck was coming round but sported a nasty gash, so we offered first aid assistance and help the guys find the main road down where we went our separate ways. So just like that it became our business.

I think I see a mushroom cloud over the Burg.

Each to there own I rode for years without a lid. They only have themselves to blame if they come off and have a head injury.

ScienceOfficer, sorry to hear your tale and thanks for airing it.

IMO helmet compulsion is a bad idea but I do think we should communicate the downsides of not doing so in such a way that very few people come to the conclusion that helmetless is a good idea.

More stories like yours being published would help I think.