I know you’re probably wondering about the title right now, but there really is a bit of a connection between cycling, Chris Horner, the 2011 Tour de France, and Bigboxstore. Well, we’re not sponsoring the team Chris Horner is in, of course, that’s Radioshack’s business, nor do we have the resources to do so, but we are glad that Chris Horner is still alive after his crash in this year’s Tour de France – and that’s what this post is really all about.
Safety should be of the utmost concern when cycling, and the crashes that have riddled Le Tour de France 2011 really stand to drive that point home. Cycling after all pits a rider 1-on-1 with the open road, and all the dangers that are accompanied with it. Whether or not you’re riding with friends or alone, there are bound to be complications at some time or the other.
The biggest safety concern for any cyclist is protecting his or her head as no other part of the body is more susceptible to life threatening injury. It is because of this that helmets are an absolute necessity for any cyclist, whether he or she rides for recreational or professionally, occasionally or almost everyday, or on a road bike or any other type of bike for that matter.
Fortunately, there are a wide range of helmets out there that vary greatly in terms of price and quality – but never on safety. In fact, if you’re in the market for a good bike helmet, I have a few tips for you when it comes to choosing one.
The April 2008 edition of the cycling magazine Bicycling makes this suggestion when choosing bike helmets in their article Buyer Be Wise, “All helmets sold in the United States meet CPSC safety standards, so a $30 lid is equally as good at protecting your head as a $200 one. Many under-$60 helmets offer fit systems similar to pricier models, often head straps with buckles or dials for easy adjustment. They lack just flashy styling and extra vent holes” (page 32). In short, you simply have to make sure that the helmet you get passes CPSC safety standards and you can be sure that you’ll still be okay after you take a spill on the bike – so buying a helmet from a respectable online wholesaler shouldn’t be a problem as long as they pass those rather stringent standards.
Back to the subject of Chris Horner, it was probably his helmet that kept him alive. He broke his nose and sustained a concussion to his head when he crashed, but he survived – an equally hard crash made without the helmet would probably be fatal. True, you might have seen from the video, he was so disoriented after the crash that it isn’t even funny, but he can still get up from his crash to race another day. In fact, doctors have said that he is doing significantly better.
I have a friend who suffered a crash just two weeks ago, without a helmet, but gladly at significantly lower speeds. My friend suffered a broken collarbone and a similar temporary loss of memory and disorientation from a crash on a bike moving at around 23 kilometers per hour – the peloton was travelling in excess of 40 kilometers per hour when Chris Horner crashed. Now image might what might have happened if my friend was travelling at the same speed. It wouldn’t have been a good day at all.
