Turns out I’m an idiot after all.
I’ll give you a clue before I start…wear a helmet!
Now go easy on me, I have learnt my lesson.
I was always going to buy a helmet, there just wasn’t anything suitable available in my town.
I knew that if I ordered online, it probably wouldn’t fit properly and I’d have all the fuss of sending it back and so on.
So, in the interim, until I got the chance to visit a near by city, with descent helmet retailers, I’d taken to wearing a very thick beanie hat.
Even though my board easily manages 30km/h, I was most comfortable in the 15-20km/h range.
I believed that at his speed, if I got into trouble, I’d be able to step off and run to a standstill.
So, after two significant incidents, strangely enough, it has proven impossible to exercise this maneuver, both of which were at a mere 15km/h.
Incident one.
I’m riding along a wide tarmac cycle path.
There’s loads of room and I’m only coming across the occasional cyclist.
So, along comes an old chap on a mountain bike from the opposite direction.
I pick an obvious line at the edge of the path well in advance.
As we get closer, it becomes clear he can’t see me so I release the throttle and freewheel.
As we got closer, I didn’t want to swerve as this may confuse matters so I tuck in hard to the edge of the path in the hope that he will make the slight evasive maneuver required to avoid a head on crash.
Nope, didn’t happen and we crashed.
To avoid an undignified coming together of bodies, I somehow leapt over his right shoulder, like a Ninja, and landed on my head.
This hurt for a minute or two and gave me a little brain shake but the thick beanie saved the day from any scalp vs tarmac interaction.
The old chap was unharmed and yes, he didn’t see me.
Incident two.
I’m riding along another even wider cycle track with no-one around.
I’m practicing some swerving/slalom at around 15km/h.
There is a grass verge each side of the track and after a brief wobble, the wheels are on the muddy grass and I’m in the air.
I land on my shoulder but I can’t prevent my head from hitting the tarmac.
The forces are too great and I’m tumbling anyway.
Worse still, the collar of my coat pushed my beanie off just before I hit the ground and there’s damage to my head.
Not only did I suffer brain shake again but blood is running out of my scalp from a large flapping gash with my skull showing beyond.
I sat there for a while, mad as hell, and in a little pain, before getting back on the board and heading home.
Made it home ok and got the wife to take me to hospital.
3 hours in A&E, a painful cleaning operation of the wound and four stitches later and I’m leaving the hospital.
Why didn’t I buy the helmet immediately after the first incident?
I guess I thought the crash wasn’t a usual type and the next one would be saved by my running plan.
Believe me, when you crash unexpectedly, there’s no time to run.
I know its just another “buy a helmet” story, but it has to be said again.
Here’s the pic of my head after the A&E visit.
I know, a pic before the stitches would have been better but I wasn’t in the mood.
Note the flecks of flesh in my hair.
You could have slid a small coin under the flap before it was stitched down.
Come on guys, I was lucky…twice.
This is my helmet which I wear every trip.
Apart from this, I am really enjoying my board.
It has performed flawlessly.
I’ll update again in the near future.
Cheers for now,
Andy.
ps, If you ride without a helmet…you’re an idiot…like me.