Over the past six years, I've tried Test A three times, and "honorably retired" a pretty nice (& expen$ive) helmet each time. A couple of my riding buddies wouldn't be here today if they hadn't been wearing a helmet as well. So I'm a believer.

It's true that helmets probably won't help you all that much if you get hit by a car, or a bus... but then there's that story of the fellow whose head was run over by a delivery truck early last year -- his helmet took the licking, and he kept on ticking. So yeah, they do help even then...

But 80% of bike crashes don't involve other vehicles. Most of the time we just flat fall off our bikes, and that's the kind of situation that helmets are really designed to work in.

Your brain can't heal itself when you hurt it. That's the big reason to wear a helmet. As adults, we also wear helmets to set a good example for children, who are even more vulnerable to these sorts of mishaps than we are.

Your equestrian helmet will probably protect you on your bike as well... just be prepared for some odd looks

Tom