Dutch Bicycle trip 2008

I hate my Giant bike, it’s the one I bought first, without riding it. Before I took it out of the shop I spent another $500 on puncture-proof tubes and tyres, the mudguard and carrier, a more comfortable seat, helmet etc only to find the bike makes you sit in a strange upright posture – I feel like a clown on a unicycle on it. So I then bought a $150 second-hand old wreck of a thing, which I feel comfortable on and use all the time. Now I’m looking for the bike Deborah wants.

I researched the topic of helmets and safety and health economics last year, here are some of the references you can find on the internet – from the reading I think it’s clear: wear the helmet.

Non-legislative interventions for the promotion of cycle helmet wearing by children (review), by S T Royal et al. (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 2, April 2005)

The effectiveness of cycle helmets (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, May 2003)

Bicycle helmet use and effectiveness, by M. O’Hare et al. (Monash University Accident Research Centre, December 2002)

Bicycle helmets: a review of effectiveness, by Elizabeth Towner et al. (Department for Transport (U.K.), November 2002)

Bicycle helmets and injury prevention: a formal review, by Robyn Attewell et al. (Australian Transport Safety Bureau, June 2000)

An economic evaluation of the mandatory bicycle helmet legislation in Western Australia, by Delia Hendrie et al. (Insurance Commission of Western Australia Conference on Road Safety, 1999)

Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists (review), by D C Thompson et al. (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4, October, 1999)

Bicycle injury hospitalisations and deaths in Western Australia 1981-1995, by Peter Somerford et al. (Health Department of Western Australia, July 1998)

Evaluation of the bicycle helmet wearing law in Victoria during its first four years, by David Carr et al. (Monash University Accident Research Centre, August 1995)

The effectiveness of bicycle helmets: a review, by Michael Henderson (Revised edition prepared for the Motor Accidents Authority of New South Wales, Australia, 1995)

Teenagers’ attitudes towards bicycle helmets, by C. Finch et al. (Monash University Accident Research Centre, November 1994)

The protective performance of bicycle helmets introduced at the same time as the bicycle helmet wearing law in Victoria, by Max Cameron et al. (Monash University Accident Research Centre, July 1994)

Report on compulsory helmet wearing for bicyclists, and other bicycling issues (Parliament of Western Australia Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Road Safety, May 1994)

Bicyclist helmet wearing in Western Australia: a 1993 review, by Bruce Heathcote (Traffic Board of Western Australia, June 1993)

The impact of helmet wearing legislation and promotion on bicyclists in Western Australia, by Mark Healy and Gavin Maisey (Traffic Board of Western Australia, August 1992)

Bicycle use in British Columbia: effects of the helmet use law, by Robert D. Foss and Douglas J. Beirness (University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Centre, April, 2000)

Head first: bicycle-helmet use and our children’s safety, by Mark Robert Keezer (Canadian Family Physician, vol 53, July 2007)

Systematic reviews of bicycle helmet research, by Rebecca Ivers (Injury Prevention, vol 13 no 3, June 2007)

Promoting bicycle helmet wearing by children using non-legislative interventions: systematic review and meta-analysis, by S Royal et al. (Injury Prevention, vol 13 no 3, June 2007)

Bicycle helmet prevalence two years after the introduction of mandatory use legislation for under 18 year olds in Alberta, Canada, by B E Hagel et al. (Injury Prevention, vol 12 no 6, December 2006)

Economic disparity in bicycle helmet use by children six years after the introduction of legislation, by A K Macpherson et al. (Injury Prevention, vol 12 no 4, August 2006)

Helmet use and bicycle-related trauma in patients presenting to an acute hospital in Singapore, by K W J Heng et al. (Singapore Medical Journal, vol 47 no 5, May 2006)

Effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation to increase helmet use: a systematic review, by M Karkhaneh et al. (Injury Prevention, vol 12 no 2, April 2006)
Arguments against helmet legislation are flawed, by Brent Hagel et al. (BMJ, vol 332, March 2006)

No clear evidence from countries that have enforced the wearing of helmets, by D L Robinson (BMJ, vol 332 issue 7543, March 2006)

Do enforced bicycle helmet laws improve public health?, by Riley Geary (BMJ, vol 332, April 2006)

Factors associated with bicycle helmet use among young adolescents in a multinational sample, by K S Klein (Injury Prevention, vol 11 no 5, October 2005)

Bicycle helmet use in Sweden during the 1990s and in the future, by S Nolen et al. (Health Promotion International, vol 20 no 1, March 2005)

Making cycle helmets compulsory: ethical arguments for legislation, by Aziz Sheikh et al. (Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, vol 97 no 6, June 2004)

Helmet laws and cycle use, by D L Robinson (Injury Prevention, vol 9 no 4, December 2003)

Influence of socioeconomic status on the effectiveness of bicycle helmet legislation for children: a prospective observational study, by Patricia C Parkin (Pediatrics, vol 112 no 3, September 2003)

Children’s bicycle helmet use and injuries in Hillsborough County, Florida before and after helmet legislation, by K D Liller et al. (Injury Prevention, vol 9 no 2, June 2003)

Bicycle injuries and safety helmets in children, by Sherrilyn Coffman (Orthopaedic Nursing, vol 22 no 1, January/February 2003)

Impact of mandatory helmet legislation on bicycle-related head injuries in children: a population-based study, by A K Macpherson et al. (Pediatrics, vol 110 no 5, November 2002)

Effect of legislation on the use of bicycle helmets, by John C LeBlanc et al. (CMAJ, vol 166 no 5, March 2002)

Effects of state helmet laws on bicycle helmet use by children and adolescents, by G B Rodgers (Injury Prevention, vol 8 no 1, March 2002)

Police enforcement as part of a comprehensive bicycle helmet program, by Julie Gilchrist et al. (Pediatrics, vol 106 no 1, July 2000)

A comparison of the effect of different bicycle helmet laws in 3 New York city suburbs, by Douglas R Puder (American Journal of Public Health, vol 89 no 11, November 1999)

Is there any reliable evidence that Australian helmet legislation works? by Bruce Robinson (Proceedings of Velo Australia conference, Fremantle, October 1996)

As Robert and others have said you can get MTB shoes that look like runners and have a nicely recessed cleat. Teva or Keen also had a cleated sandal at last year’s ride to work brekky at Vic Gardens which looked neato.

The best advice I’ve heard re: cleats is that early on you will forget to unclip at least once and will slowly topple gracelessly onto the tarmac beneath you. Of course when this happens you will be out in front of four lanes stopped at a red light at a major intersection so get up, take a bow, dust yourself off and get back on the bike

The company is great to deal with online. The odd shop did have a few here in Melb – maybe Abbotsford Bicycles?

Anyway – if you don’t like them I know a bunch of people who will buy them second hand for a small discount.

I am yet to see any argument that helmet laws are more of a disincentive to cycling than—say—perceived traffic danger, seasonal heat and cold, or personal laziness.

I think the statistics on bicycle usage around the time the laws were introduced make it clear that there was a short-term effect in reduction of cycling. What the size of the long-term effect is is another question, and even the existence of the effect isn’t necessarily a strong argument against such laws.

Robert, for only 100 km, I reckon I can ride my daggy treadly at my not very fast speed. Thanks for the offer, but I rather strongly suspect you’d be going at least twice as fast as me.

If you want to do round the bay, I’d get road bike shoes and cleats (and, for that matter, a road bike and fit the best saddle you can find regardless of the price). Over 210 or even 100 km, every last bit of efficiency makes a big difference.

If you’re serious about round the bay, drop me a line. I’ll probably be doing it this year.