Saturday, October 31, 2009

Saturday morning in the park

Finally some pics of me in Penelope I can send to Kate at Steel City Cycle works for her bike gallery. All my other pics show me without the helmet that is mandatory in Australia - yes, I'm a lawbreaker!! >;-) I do hate wearing the bloody things but I do realise they help protect you from brain damage; helmets seem to be contentious topic on the net. My personal view is that they should be mandatory for children but optional for adults. Usually I'm wandering around the back streets or on bike tracks and it irks me having a hot sweaty head. If I were commuting in traffic I'd certainly wear a helmet without question. I had concussion twice during my horse riding years and would have been dead without my horse riding helmet. Horses are far less predictable than bikes though!

Proof that Penelope can go reeeeaally slow below in these pics. Greg was using my little Lumix digital which often has a lag between pressing the button and taking the photo... so there were a few that showed me disappearing out of shot. And this was on sport mode. Hmm. Anyway I dawdled along hoping he'd manage to get me in frame and these are the results.
This is in a little park about 4km from our house; typically it's the turnaround point for our usual 30 minute ride. At the moment it looks beautifully verdant courtesy of heavy rain earlier in the week, and a wet start to October. Come the middle of summer the grass will be yellowing and tired.


8 comments:

  1. Very nice!
    I wear my helmet when I am in traffic riding to work but if I am puddling around the neighbourhood, the helmet has the day off.
    Also, I have an equestrian helmet since I think it lends itself better esthetically to the style of the bicycle, and I find it cooler than the sporty models I have owned in the past.

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  2. Hi Sox, my equestrian helmets (think black velvet with a peak) don't have any ventilation holes. While the bike helmets look truly hideous, at least they let some air in :-).

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  3. Beautiful park, you and the Pashley look right at home there!

    You lawbreaker you! Not to start a helmet debate, but for those who choose not to wear it, it is not just about a sweaty head. The evidence regarding what role helmets play in injury prevention is mixed, meaning that in some situations they may prevent injuries while in others they may actually cause them. Just saying. I actually think the Bern I own looks quite sexy on me, and it seems to have adequate ventilation. But as a post-PhD-level scientist who is trained to scrutinise statistical evidence, the studies I have read do not convince me that a helmet is better than no helmet. That is why I do not wear one.

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  4. Ah, vents.
    I have a Troxel (http://www.troxelhelmets.com/products/features.php?ProductID=14) which has many vents.
    I know a helmet won't save my life if I take a direct hit, but it has saved my face when I have gone skidding across the pavement.

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  5. Don't mind me, I just have issues with nanny states in general :-). There's only so much of the government telling me what's good for me that I can put up with without wanting to explode.

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  6. Oh, I agree with you totally! On Hallowe'en, people were urged to wear gloves when they were handing out treats to prevent the spread of H1N1. I almost choked I was so irritated. For Pete's sake. The candy is wrapped.....I'll stop now.

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  7. I wish I could say I can't believe that, Sox. But sadly I can. We're turning our once-proud nations into a habitat for worry-freaks.

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