Yikes! Who needs a helmet?

[Zen]

(The guy on the left is actually more in need of a belt than a helmet. )

Everytime I see pants like that I just want to run up from behind, yank their pants down around their ankles and run away

[Velobambina]

Are they competing for a Darwin Award?

Geez, I'm glad husband said "no kids" and I came around to seeing his point of view. You wouldn't catch any of my goldens doing anything like this!! LOL

When I was a kid, there was no such thing as bike helmets. But none of us tried stunts like this one.

[Tri Girl]

That's a pretty cool shot- although it's catching a stupid act in the process.

Geez, I'm glad husband said "no kids" and I came around to seeing his point of view. You wouldn't catch any of my goldens doing anything like this!! LOL

DH and I are along that same line of thinking. Now that I'm nearly 35, no babies from these loins- long term-full time responsibility for kids just scares the bejeebers out of me (and I teach-so plenty of maternal connection for me).
Yes, goldens would think better of silly stunts like that (although ours is a bit reckless at times).

When I was a kid, there was no such thing as bike helmets. But none of us tried stunts like this one.

I don't know- DH has admitted to doing some pretty stupid things as a kid (ramping the railroad tracks by his house on his bmx; riding his bike down the town's longest hill while standing on his seat; taking the 4 wheeler out on his grandpa's farm without any kind of helmet or supervision and chasing the bulls and cows with it; climbing the inside of grandpa's abandoned silo and not telling anyone because he'd get in trouble). Sometimes I wonder how he's still alive...

[7rider]

You wouldn't catch any of my goldens doing anything like this!! LOL

I dunno.....I think my rex rabbit, Noah (when he was a young whipper-snapper) might have pulled a stunt like this. He's a crazy bun.

[missymaya]

I see one kid with a helmet but no bike. Someone's a little confused.

[SouthernBelle]

I just want to know what happened after the pic.

[spokewench]

For some reason, I can't see the picture! But, to steal this thread a little. I just went to Germany for two weeks, had a great time and saw a lot. They are so into mass transportation, the buses, the trains, the bike parking,
everything is first class.

What I did notice was that people use their bikes to commute, get their groceries, get around, etc., etc., all when wearing their normal clothes, i.e. ladies in heels, skirts, suits and men in suits, ties, etc. When it rains, they just throw a big poncho over; BUT almost none of them wear helmets!

I was really surprised by the lack of helmets.

[anaphase]

When I was a kid, we would make ramps out of sheets of plywood and paint cans, or 5-gallon buckets filled with rocks and sand. No helmets. It's amazing that no one died or was paralyzed. Plenty of road rash, though. Heh.

Stupid kids. And while I'm at it, "get out of my yard!"

[Starfish]

Everytime I see pants like that I just want to run up from behind, yank their pants down around their ankles and run away

Me too! That's hilarious. I find those pants one of the most ridiculous of the current fads.

Regarding helmets: There was a 12 yo local boy who was killed while using the skate park without a helmet. I work in the evenings in a location where kids come after hours to practice jumps and things, and I've talked to these kids. They all knew this boy.

One night I talked to the group of teenage boys and tried to tell them why helmets were important...that not only could they be killed like their friend, but that they might actually live through an accident and be paralyzed, missing out on X, Y, and Z all their lives (using some examples of priorities teenage boys have...trying to be relevant ).

They listened politely, and I got some laughs from my examples, but I got a lot of excuses...including that they couldn't afford a helmet. I told all of them that if they couldn't afford one, any night of the week they could come work for me for a couple hours and I would pay them by buying them a helmet. Not one has ever taken me up on it. What will it take to get some of these kids using helmets?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

That's lightweight stuff compared to this:
http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/RobertRau...l_schreyer.jpg

[Zen]

What will it take to get some of these kids using helmets?

Nothing short of tragedy.

One of my classmates from high school became an alcoholic. When he got sober he became a triathlete. Tall, handsome, muscular he was but no more. He was hit by a car while cycling without a helmet and is now just a barely walking, barely talking shell. If there is any remnant of his old personality left he's unable to communicate it. I don't know what it's like being in that shell but I think I'd prefer death.