Re: Helmet efficacy test

On 3/25/2025 12:09 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:

 The older I get the faster I get at riding slow. After my crash last May and broken collarbone and 2 metacarpals on my hand, I take a bit different approach. Riding will never be quite the same as it was and I fear gravel, loose rock, and I am clumsy to boot.

I've ridden in only two road races, decades and decades ago. They were small local events organized by a local high school coach. We expected only locals would enter, most of whom would be friends of mine. But word of the race got out to some racers from the big city about 60 miles away.
So my friends and I were on our mid-range Raleighs with clincher tires wearing maybe Bata Bikers and gym shorts; and here come these six or seven guys with super light bikes, racing cleats and tubular tires.
One guy in particular had thighs as thick as oak trees, hugely muscular. I figured if he were anywhere near the front, nobody could possibly outsprint him.
But he was never anywhere near the front, because just a few miles into the race, there was a sharp left turn. He braked really, really hard and yelled "Gravel!! Gravel!!" at the top of his lungs. He never caught up with the pack.
Another one of those guys (whom I had briefly met) was a kind of ladies' man. He hung back to flirt with some of the ladies (um, including my wife) figuring he would easily catch us. But as he later said, our paceline was "like a steam train." He tried to reel us in, but like Oak Tree Thighs, was never able to catch up.

Oh yes I will wear a helmet they don't bother me at all and it is a great place to hand my review helmet mirror.

That's fine. My mirrors clip onto my glasses so I don't have to bother with the funny hat.
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- Frank Krygowski