I have never heard of Camper Van Beethoven until today. Will have to check them out.

However was a skateboarder in the 80's and Suicidal Tendencies were my jam. Gonna go drink a Pepsi now.

How about Cracker?


Why did you stop?

Not long ago, I put a Post-It that said "All I wanted was a ...." on our Pepsi machine in the hallway. Someone put another Post-It next to it with a happy face on it and a scribbled "ST"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Nope.



I've gone through a bunch of music phases since then. These days I listen mostly to EDM and some pop music.
I guess I've mellowed with age and the constant rage and angst of that type of music doesn't really do it for me anymore.
I do listen to old school metal and grunge once in while.


Nice!

I meant, why did you stop skateboarding? Or are you still doing it?

I can't ollie over a pencil to save my life, but I'll still get out & carve some hills when I get the opportunity

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I guess I moved on to endurance sports.
I can still get on a skateboard, do ollies, kickflips and a few other tricks I can't remember the name of.
Just looked up the price of boards these days. So cheap! I should pick one up to play around on.

This is not quite related, but in the personal choice issue, I find it troubling that there are people who ride motorcycles without helmets. I don’t ride motorcycles, preferring the steel safety cage, seatbelts, and airbags of a car. I don’t have anything at stake here, but I’m surprised that people don’t wear helmets on a motorcycle.

Considering that motorcycles move much faster, are much heavier, and are driven in faster traffic with cars and trucks, why DON’T people wear helmets? Is there any data comparing injury and death rates in motorcycle crashes to crashes in other vehicles?

I rode once with the chief of neurosurgery at The University of Chicago Hospital. I raised that topic with him. He was a man of few words, and called them “organ donors.”

"Donorcycles" ;)

Driving next to University of Hawaii one day, I saw a kid come flying down a short hill the opposite direction of me and towards an intersection I just went through. I barely made it through the intersection before it changed to red, and just as he passed me I heard him yell "Noooooooooo".

His voice stopped just as he T-boned a Chevy van. I'll never forget the sound the impact made.

I called 911, as did many other drivers there. Not sure if he was wearing a helmet because he blew by me way too fast, but the next morning when I called my best friend who is a Paramedic in Hawaii to ask if he made it, I was told he didn't.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

Some stranger going the other way... usually say in a slightly loud voice to a riding companion "must and an indestructible head... or no brain to damage"

Someone in a group ride with me ? I tell them they must be a total dick to not use one. In fact I won't ride with them. It may be their head. But it's ME that has to sort the shit out when they've stoved their head in and laying unconcious on the road. Not using one is just being an inconsiderate selfish dick to those who have to sort out the mess. Same with not wearing a seat belt in a car.

Edit. To add. It is pretty shit when you do have to sort some unconcious fheckwhit out.
I've had to do it twice. One of them when half way down an Alpine pass do the the guy's face smashed in. Police, ambulance...etc. nobody I knew. But still nasty with blood everywhere.
Now add in2020, C19 into that mix...

It's a good core workout, I can tell ya, and depending on what & where you're riding, maybe a little plyo as well? Get those fast-twitch muscles engaged

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I always wear my helmet, but grew up at a time when no one wore them. Helmets weren't even required in the TDF until 2003 after Kivilev was killed in the race. As with many things in life, the risks are now well known and people are free to make their own choices. I tend to like that freedom and would not impose my risk/reward calculations on other people.

The United States has become a nation of self-important busybodies. I refuse the join the game. I won't hassle people who don't wear helmets, sunblock, or the "correct" color of socks. Heck, I won't even hassle you if you eat gluten!

Life was better in the U.S. when we made fun of busybodies rather than empower them!

It is. I know three or four women who will not ride a bike if it means they have to wear a helmet. Their reasons: (1) Helmets look dorky, and (2) helmets are uncomfortable over long hair. I'm not saying their reasons are justified. But yes, helmets are a deterrent to getting involved in the sport -- for some people.

I agree with you. I say let them gamble with their own lives.

But if it comes to harm to others, I’ve stepped up. Examples: yelling at jerks who smoke in their cars when driving with kids or who throw their cigarette butts* out the window; speeding on my residential street (speed limit is 25mph, but it’s essentially a half mile drag strip to many; I’m the d-bag who drives 25 on those streets, holding up a line of cars).

*I was going to write “fag ends” instead of cigarette butts, but didn’t want to offend someone who didn’t know the terms. Fag end is what a cigarette butt is called in some Commonwealth countries, but it also sounds funny. No offense intended at all.

^ This. Keep your dogmatic ideas to yourself.

Point taken, but I'm not interested in catering to those rationales.

Completely agree. I do draw the line at ketchup on hotdogs, though. If I see you do it, I'ma let you know in no uncertain terms how wrong you are.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

We've taught our kids to tell people to put on their helmets on when they see someone biking. They'll occasionally roll down the window in a car and yell at random person. I may not win father of the year again this year.

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YouTube

 I would say something, something like "Thank God I live in a free country and have personal freedoms"

People who bike without helmets provide job security for me. When I see these people, I just wonder if I'll run into them in the trauma department in the near future.

On the other hand, I will speak up if I see a child riding a bike without a helmet. There is no excuse for a parent to endanger their child that way.

I seriously doubt a helmet would have saved him if he really didn't make it.

I'm all for helmet use, but remember that the cities with highest bicycle utilization in the world (like Copenhagen) have the vast majority (90+%+) not using helmets yet they ride to work, in the rain, for fun, etc.

I do agree though that for the typical triathlete who will likely hit speeds of 15+mph due to training intensity, it's not smart to not use a helmet. For the 95%+ of other Americans though who casually ride a bike in their neighborhood maybe once a year, and at slow leisurely paces, they're a lot close to the Copenhagen folks than us triathletes.

I agree with FlashBazbo and HuffnPuff above, just mind yo' bizness. I also grew up in the 70s and 80s when we all road without helmets a lot. Now, I always wear a helmet on the road bike. When messing around on the beach cruisers, riding to dinner, at the beach, etc., never. I recall in another thread one of you admitted to screaming at someone from your car for not wearing a helmet, on a beach cruiser, at the beach. Really? Also, teaching your kids to yell at people from the car doesn't seem like a fantastic idea.

Yep, helmets are not the key to cycling safety. They're an improvement, but they provide only limited protection and many, many accidents, probably the majority will have very similar results regardless of helmet use.

The reason cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen have very good safety records is not because of helmet use, it's because cycling is considered a normal activity, and virtually everyone does it, so it's respected and understood. Also the laws and physical infrastructure are in place to facilitate it. That's a world away from countries where cyclists are considered a nuisance, and cycling is considered either a niche sport or a mode of transport for losers who can't afford cars, and where neither the laws nor the physical infrastructure are adequate.

There's a very good argument for not making a big deal out of foregoing a helmet.... If you want to get more people onto bikes, you must make it easy, attractive and cheap. Public bike schemes in cities all over the world would undoubtedly suffer if the users were obliged to wear a helmet. It makes these schemes much less attractive if you have to carry a helmet around all day in case you want to avail of a bike. Anything that gets people on bikes (or taking part in any form of exercise) is likely to reduce healthcare costs and increase average mortality age. I reckon a population with very few cyclists, but those cyclists always wear helmets, is zero competition for a population full of cyclists with a casual approach to helmets.

You're proud of this?
Don't you think it seems you've done both your kids, and society, a great disservice if you've got them yelling at cyclists from car windows.
Teach them to have respect for themselves and their fellows.
You do realise that blaming cyclists for not wearing helmets just feeds the idea that serious accidents between cars and cyclists aren't the motorists fault?

Edit:
In retrospect, maybe I misinterpreted this and you just mean you suggest your kids encourage their friends to wear the helmets they have, rather than actually telling them to go around telling off every cyclist they meet? If so, my comments above are a bit harsh.

Do you flag down or honk at people speeding in their vehicles?
Do you chastise smokers or vapers?
Do you provide nutritional advise to the obese?
Boaters/kayakers/paddleboarders without life jackets?
Neighbors on a roof without safety harness?
The list goes on and on.

If it’s a stranger, just mind your own business.

Do you say something when you see an elderly person walking without a helmet?
Do you wear a helmet in the shower?
Have you ever picked up the drill or the saw and didn't put on your safety goggles?
Do you wear kevlar gloves when you are slicing food?
Do you wear a helmet driving? Why not? Car wrecks are the most common cause of traumatic head injuries.
Do your kids wear helmets at home when they are jumping on the bed? Or horse-playing on the couch?
Do you drive your kids to places? Why would you do that? Car wrecks are the leading cause of death of children.

The answer to your question is: No.

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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.