[CR] Hairnets / Leather crash hats, by your leave - a final word? (Ian Briggs)

Now that the discussion (and other exchanges) seems to have come to an end – perhaps I could be indulged by making some of my own humble observations on

the topic which cover some of the ‘bases’… In the UK back in the late 1960s and 1970s when I was in my racing †˜prime’ (loosest possible definition) we were required to wear head protection only

in massed start road races and on the track. Head gear was not required in Cyclo-cross, so very few ‘cross rider s wore a lid when racing – and certainly none of the pros. When regs required them, Black patent Cinelli ‘lids were absolutely de rigeur (NOT coloured, NOT any other brand – anything else was consi dered effete) and usually worn a size too small so that you could perch them stylishly on

the top of your head and slightly to one side with a reversed racing cap underneath. No one imagined that they would offer very much protection, and I believe that few riders ever even thought about the risks of a head injury. Regs st ated that you had to wear a crash hat – so we did; and tried to look as stylish / continental as we could. What I will say though is that we were all very spatially aware in those days, even under the hardest racing conditions, to the extent that one of t he most frequent cries heard in the bunch was “HOLD YOUR LINE!†. People expected consideration and discipline from other riders and got it almost without exception. ‘Switching’ was not approved of even in the fier cest of sprints. In six years of road racing / crits / track in and/or against 1st, 2nd and

3rd Categories I saw very few crashes and certainly nothing worse than torn

shorts and a nasty bloody bum rash… It may have been different in amateur racing in Belgium, France and Holland

of course – but I can only say as I found it in the UK. To this day I never wear a crash helmet unless the regulations oblige me to

do so (there – I said it, so sue me!). So it gets popped on for UK ‘Cross races - as the regs now require, and when I’m riding anywhere in Sp ain, where it ’s the law of the land. In France I never take or wear a helmet (n ot required for casual riding), and I never use one when riding time trials or audax in the UK. The personal reasons for this are (1) I’m instinctively reactionary / bloody minded (2) they’re v.uncomfortable and (3) I seriously believe that the advent of mass helmet wearing has led to a lot of riders of all abilities developing a false sense of security / invulnerability when wearing a lid ( i.e. many of them ride like a----s) – a sense that we never had in the old da ys when we only had a ‘hair net’ or perhaps nothing at all. To be frank I am much more concerned when out on a bike to make myself as visible as possible to other road users and invest almost ridiculous amount s of cash in cateye front and rear lamps (three rears on my training bike today for instance) and even use them switched on in daylight. I am also (without

wishing to seem immodest) almost anally retentive – nay assertive; when it comes to following the rules of the road and also making my intentions very clear to other road users. Bizarrely, recent behavioural research (in Australia I think?) supports my concerns / theory, in that car drivers there were found to give cyclists no t wearing crash hats an average of 7 cms more space when overtaking them than

they did passing a cyclist wearing a crash hat… Go figure that one!
   I think they said that the researchers theorised that motorists subconsciously perc eived cyclists without ‘lids as less threatening. Anyway, there’s my two cents worth. Sorry if any of the content off ends (take me to task off list please) or has drifted off-topic. Happy trails. Ian Briggs LUTON UK (mailto:classicrendezvous@bikelist.org)