Why Wood and Helmets Don't Mix

I love this hot sticky weather. There is nothing better than slipping on a sleeveless jersey and heading out the door with no socks and being warmed up almost instantly. Today was just like that, humid and hot, the roads still wet from last nights soaker. I jumped on my fixed gear not wanting to get my white Record Ace dirty, I like white bikes, but not cleaning them after a wet ride.

There is a small pea gravel trail running through some woods that I like to cut through to get to another road I frequent. There are several areas of boardwalk on the trail that cross the wet spots and today they were particularly slippery. As I descended the final bridge my front wheel washed out and spit me down, hard. I have crashed dozens of time over the years, in racing falling is part of the game but this time it caught me off guard, I never even took my hands off the bars as I slapped my head onto the 2 X 6 railing that serves as an edge to the boardwalk.

That would normally been bad enough but the Deer Flies descended on me like a dog on a pork link . Jumping up I noticed a chunk of wood with a fresh break alongside the trail. Like a Karate Master breaking a board, my noggin split the wood off the edge. The flies created enough of an urgency to make me get out of there toot-sweet. After getting back on the road I pulled my Giro helmet off which had suffered two cracks. My brain also got sloshed around a bit but the nice thing about wet boards is that they don't leave much road rash. I was lucky.

I was more upset about not keeping the bike up than hurt and I believe in the "get back on the horse" mentality so I circled around and decided to ride that trail again. I could see the skid marks and the broken chunk of wood. [that I carried the few miles home.] The point is this: The helmet did it's job. Earlier this week we taught a bike fitness segment at a local high school. It is kind of sad to see 60 kids who think it cannot happen to them, who don't think it matters. I wish they could have seen this one. Keep on riding, wear your helmet and be prepared. I like to think that my positive outcome this morning was because of my skill level but it was probably mostly luck, but wearing that helmet was not! Enjoy this hot weather and as always SO2 [stay on two].