Bicycle Infrastructure

[schmitzm03]

Lots of stakes in the ground at Bluff Street Park laying out the new trail to go under 35W. There are also flags where the stairway connecting the Dinkytown Greenway to 15th Ave. will be.

Walked by the park this afternoon. Here's a pic:

[Nathan]

http://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/ ... cebook-868

[froggie]

Regarding bike helmets, I'd argue that, yes, better infrastructure will bring out more cyclists, with the "safety in numbers" philosophy holding true. However, there are other valid reasons to wear a bike helmet. People often think too much about cars being the main issue with cyclist safety, but they are by far not the only potential safety issues as my "pothole scars" will attest to. One pothole in particular (by Minnehaha Falls) resulted in me banging my head on the street, and I fully credit my helmet for saving my brains from being scrambled further.

[Mdcastle]

For me I'd flatly refuse to ever ride a bike again if I had to wear a helmet. Of course since I ride on recreational trails only and always drive to go bike riding I'm not sure society would be worse off in my case...

[NickP]

Why the helmet hate if I may ask?

[LakeCharles]

Why the helmet hate if I may ask?

Vanity.

[Mdcastle]

Why the helmet hate if I may ask?

They're hot and dorky and uncomfortable. I don't feel their necessary as safe as bicycling is, at least on dedicated trails (I never ride on a street for any reason, even a bicycle lane). I found myself riding more aggressively with one, probably negating any benefit.

[ECtransplant]

Helmets make biking to work a non starter for a lot of people

[woofner]

It bugs me how helmet advocates twist the opposing viewpoint into 'no helmets.' I don't think anyone is saying helmets should be banned. Wear a helmet if it makes you feel more comfortable, that's fine. Just don't ask me to wear a helmet, and definitely don't make it a legal requirement.

[LakeCharles]

I don't take that view, and I don't think I'd qualify myself as a 'helmet advocate.' I'm just surprised that anyone even notices them. I bike to work, on both roads and trails. Thankfully I've never been in a serious accident, but I've had just as many crashes on trails as on roads, and my helmet certainly helped me. And I literally do not notice it on my head. I often walk into work with it on because I forgot it was there. So for me, it has zero cost (besides the upfront $40 cost, but I already own it now), and if it saves even a minor bump on my head when I slip on some sand on the trail I came out positive.

[NickP]

I apologize woof if my statement came across as such. It was not my intention. I was just curious why some people did not like helmets. I view them similar to seatbelts in cars in that they provide a great level of safety/body protection.

[mplsjaromir]

I like taking a Niceride and doing multimodal trips. Carrying a helmet everywhere you go because you might feel like biking seems like a chore. I certainty do not look down on people that use bicycle helmets. I ride at a very relaxed pace that prioritizes leisure over speed. The trade off between convenience and comfort and potential safety makes wearing a helmet a habit I do not have. Those who ride high end bikes for dozens of miles at a time are well served by helmets.

If I was that concerned about safety I would probably wear a helmet and a five point safety harness when driving and wrist guards when walking.

[twincitizen]

I think a big part of the decision is how far you're riding and on which type of infrastructure.

I almost never don the helmet if I'm staying within Uptown/Whittier or hopping on the Greenway (one block away) for a recreational ride.

However, if I were commuting to work (5.5 miles, mostly with a bike lane but a busy/scary street) or to the U of M (also 5ish miles, but mostly Greenway>Hiawatha trail>thru campus), I would wear my helmet 100% of the time. I also wear my helmet while riding at night (mostly). It's white and shiny and certainly can't hurt my chances of being seen. I don't wear a reflective jacket or vest.

[talindsay]

Bicycling in mixed traffic, especially commuting, a helmet is a really good idea. I wear my helmet 100% of the time on my road bike. On nice ride I've never worn a helmet because I use it for short trips around campus and I keep my nice helmet with my road bike. For me the two uses are very different - on my road bike I'm cross training at high speeds on the shoulders of rural highways with 23mm tires between me and the asphalt; on nice ride I'm going slowly I'm pedestrian zones with a big, heavy, ugly bike with fat tires.

But I don't understand objections to helmets or arguments about discomfort. If your helmet is uncomfortable you did a crappy job of choosing your helmet. And helmets have no drawback and lots of benefits. Wear one or not, but the only reasons to not wear one are laziness, lack of availability, and vanity.That middle one is legitimate for bike share; the other two are more points for argument.

[woofner]

See, it's funny because the type of nannying in the post above is really common among helmet advocates, but now that more people are cycling and choosing not to wear helmets, helmet advocates imagine an inverse in which there are is an all-powerful anti-helmet lobby about to initiate a citywide helmet sweep and hold a series of helmet burnings. I don't wear a helmet when I ride a bike because I don't wear a helmet while doing the multitude of other activities in which I could injure my brain. I also don't tell you not to wear a helmet. Why do you feel the need to call me lazy or vain?

Anyway the issue isn't whether it's safer to wear a helmet or not, unquestionably it is. Just as certainly you can die on a bicycle while wearing a helmet, even of brain injuries. But the issue is whether nannying people's head protection discourages people from cycling. It seems pretty clear that it does.

[LakeCharles]

helmet advocates imagine an inverse in which there are is an all-powerful anti-helmet lobby about to initiate a citywide helmet sweep and hold a series of helmet burnings.

Who is saying that?

I don't wear a helmet when I ride a bike because I don't wear a helmet while doing the multitude of other activities in which I could injure my brain.

Like downhill skiing or dirt bike riding? Helmets provide the most value when you are moving more than 10-15 miles per hour. There aren't that many activities we do routinely that reach those speeds, and it seems like in the common ones people wear helmets. Obviously not all do, but bicycling doesn't seem like some weird outlier here.

But the issue is whether nannying people's head protection discourages people from cycling. It seems pretty clear that it does.

I think people are eager to get new adopters to be safe. If it becomes the norm to wear one, the dorky label goes away, and then we're only left with hot and uncomfortable as obstacles, which design can fix. Though the 'hot' one seems strange. If that were a major issue you'd think we'd see lots of helmets in May/June/September, and very few in July/August.

I agree that people (including me) can be overzealous. But I don't think we're persecuting you as badly as you think we are. Last thing I'll say on this, I agree it should remain a personal decision whether to wear one or not.

[talindsay]

Funny you take a persecution line because I didn't tell you to wear a helmet and I started by staying that I never wear a helmet on nice ride. My point was that there are three reasons not to wear a helmet: laziness, lack of availability, and vanity. are there other reasons? don't get defensive, just suggest other reasons if they exist. When I don't wear one it's a mix of one and two, factored with the risks against the benefits. for me, the benefits outweigh risks on nice ride but the risks are the bigger factor on my road bike.

[Anondson]

... laziness, lack of availability, and vanity. are there other reasons?

Dismissive of its necessity. Though you'd probably call it laziness as well?

[talindsay]

... laziness, lack of availability, and vanity. are there other reasons?

Dismissive of its necessity. Though you'd probably call it laziness as well?

Fair enough, maybe that's a separate category. I guess I was abstracting out the actual benefit/risk analysis from the reasons, but perhaps that's a different scenario.

[ECtransplant]

Maybe you guys put this in with vanity, but helmet hair is a no go for a lot people