Bike helmets: Effective? Compulsory?

I’ve always been concerned about the welfare of my head. Especially my brain. Bike helmets went on sale in the US before Australia. So in the mid 1970s, soon after they became available in the US, I bought one. Mail order. A Bell Biker (pictured), serial number 367, it was probably the first commercially-bought bike helmet in Australia. It was big and boofy, and I had great faith it’d protect my skull and brain if needed. Thankfully it was never needed. I wore it for many years – until its sweat-hardened straps chafed my cheeks and chin skin. In Australia, since 1990 the law’s compelled people riding bikes to wear helmets. Last Sunday’s episode of the excellent ABC radio documentary Background Briefing was titled ‘Bicycle helmet laws’. The ABC’s blurb says ‘The law here is that cyclists must wear helmets, but in Europe it is not mandatory, and yet it’s much safer to cycle. Some say helmets make cycling more dangerous and others that they actually cause brain injury and the law should be repealed’. You can listen, and read the transcript, here [1]. It’s said the helmet efficacy/compulsion debate [2, 3] makes the climate change debate look like a walk in the park. Me? I remain an avid proponent. For if a crunch comes, I’d rather be wearing a helmet.

P.S. This letter to the MJA contains an important cautionary note for parents of young children [4]. Don’t let your kids wear bike helmets when they’re not riding bikes. Please.

One fewer car

Do you know the difference in meaning between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’? ‘Less’ refers to something that can’t be counted, e.g. flour, love, blue. And ‘fewer’ refers to something that can, e.g. people, plates, cars. Lots of bikes bear ‘One less car’ stickers. But I’ve never seen a ‘One fewer car’ sticker. Anyway why should a sloganeer respect correct English usage? All of this notwithstanding, last Sunday the number of cars in a certain Daylesford carport reduced by one – from one to none. Darling Meg, PJ and Zephyr (pictured) have chosen to become a carless household. And last Sunday it happened. They’re the only carless household I know of. Carlessness brings advantages (e.g. environmental, health, financial). And some disadvantages (e.g. time, convenience, comfort). I assume that currently for Meg and PJ the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Or at least they aim to determine if this is so; or not. I understand their decision. Good luck to them for trying. Tomorrow they’re each picking up a cargo bike – called a Kona Ute [1]. Meg tells me hers is green and PJ’s is brown; and both bikes have brown panniers, front (dog) baskets, and super bright front and back lights for country riding. Oh what fun. I look forward to seeing the Kona Utes, and how it all works out. I’ll keep you posted.

Critical Mass comes to Daylesford

Critical Mass. It’s a bicycling event, typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world [1]. CM originated in 1992 in San Francisco aiming to show that SanFran wasn’t bike and cyclist friendly. Cyclists gather at a regular place and time – usually during the afternoon rush hour. They then ride as a bunch, i.e. a mass, to a destination, or back to the starting point. If it happens to delay people in vehicles powered by infernal combustion engines, so be it. CM’s been called a dis-organisation. Also an organised coincidence. It’s a touch anarchic. It’s not a race. It’s a mix of fun and serious activism. Me? I’ve only ever ridden in Melbourne’s CM [2]. And that was back in the middle and late 1990s. But it sure felt good: edgy, cheeky, powerful. For an hour a month, it makes cyclists feel respectable, and respected, road users. CM’s Australian website lists 13 Australian CM locations [3]. Guess what? Tomorrow’s the last Friday in September. And it’s the day when CM comes to Daylesford [4]. The details are on the poster (click to enlarge). The initiator? Darling Meg. Of course. She says it’s to increase bike awareness in Daylesford. And she’s been ‘busting to do it– just waiting for the warmer weather’. Also that she looks forward to riding with me; and may this be the first CM of many. Amen to both. Good on you, darling Meg. And good on you, CM.

Of fixies and bureaucratic goons

Today I write of the intersection of two things – one I love (i.e. bicycles [1]) and the other I hate (i.e. government). Actually I don’t hate the institution of government all the time. Just when it acts wastefully, stupidly or irrationally. Which is most if not all the time. Back to bikes. ‘Fixie’ (pictured) is the cool name for a fixed-wheel bike, i.e. one whose pedals turn whenever its wheels turn [2, 3]. Fixies are the purest, most aesthetic form of bicycle. In fact they’re minimalist machines. When riding a fixie – which I’ve never done, though I’d love to – you speed up by turning the pedals faster, and you slow down (and eventually stop) by turning them slower. So brakes are superfluous. Redundant. But that doesn’t bother the government – to wit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC]. Some government halfwit’s decreed all bikes must have brakes. So the ACCC’s goons are fining bike shops and wholesalers who sell fixies without brakes [4]. No matter fixie riders know how to ride, and stop, safely. No matter statistics show inexperience is the main cause of cycling accidents. And no matter cycling is cheap and attractive prevention and therapy for our nation’s obesity epidemic. No sir. The ACCC’s fundamentalist bureaucrats know nought of such matters. So they’re asking the public to dob in offenders. Luckily fixie riders tend to be iconoclasts. But pity more people don’t scorn politicians and bureaucrats. Ho hum.

Och aye!

In the northern spring of 1998, Sweetheart Vivienne and I rode our tandem bicycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Our 1,175 miles (1,891 km) journey took 37 days. And on almost all of them it rained. As we pedalled through western Scotland, Sweetheart Vivienne exclaimed she didn’t mind that rain at all – as it’s so pure they make Scotch whisky from it. They do indeed [1]. Scotland’s famous for its whisky. In many ways. A lesser known one concerns the SS Politician [2] – a cargo ship that in 1941 ran aground in a gale off the Outer Hebrides, near the island of Eriskay [3] – with 264,000 bottles of whisky on board. The islanders, alcohol starved due to WWII rationing, looted the ship to the tune of 24,000 bottles. These events prompted Scottish author Sir Compton Mackenzie [4] to write his novel Whisky Galore in 1947 [5]. And in 1949 Whisky Galore!, a comedy film, was released [6]. In the 69 years since 1941, only a few of the remaining bottles have been salvaged from the SS Politician’s wreck. Next 18 August one of these bottles (pictured) – of Ballantine’s [7]– will be auctioned in Edinburgh [8]. The salvaged whisky’s rarity, and the romance associated with it, is generating great interest. The expected price is A$2,000-3,000. A spokesman of the auction house Bonhams [9, 10], said the whisky’s ‘still very drinkable’. Me? I’m not bidding. I’d rather cycle through the Scottish rain than drink Scotch whisky. Och aye!

P.S. My Dad, whose 98th birthday’s today, was partial to a nip of Scotch.

farmdoc's blog post number 622

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. the F1 blogosphere was awash (can a blogosphere be awash?) with posts about the Australian Grand Prix being without a naming rights sponsor 2½ months before this year’s event [1]. All indicators point to the event being moribund – if not dead. But the government continues its life support. Why?

2. in last Sunday’s Sunday Age, its production editor, a Mr Coulter, wrote an article advocating buses to replace Melbourne’s trams [2]. As you didn’t mention the buses’ fuel, your view is not worth the paper it’s written on, sir.

3. this Age piece confirmed the benefit of businesses having easy-to-remember phone numbers [3]. They’re useful for individuals too. Mine ends in 1230.

4. Nutrition Diva wrote that frozen vegetables lose little nutritional value during freezing; and in the off-season they may be more nutritious than fresh vegies from far away [4]. What about the packaging?

5. this ABC News item tells of 1,300 people – labelling them ‘peace activists’ – who are in Egypt hoping to cross into Gaza to protest against Israel’ economic blockade of Gaza [5]. What – no mention of Gilad Shalit? How very convenient of these bleeding heart do-gooders to overlook the Hamas’s barbarian treatment of him, let alone its stated aim of eliminating a UN member state. A pox on all 1,300 of them.

6. treehugger.com put up an item about San Francisco offering free water to the public [6]. It’s happening, PJ. Not yet at the global tipping point, but every step’s one step towards it. Roll on, GlobalTap.

7. also in treehugger was a story of a group of girls in northern England who’ve started a campaign to make bicycling stylish for girls – who are under represented among cyclists [7]. This is one for you, Meg. Roll on, BikeBeauty.

8. yesterday my fellow Mole Creek resident Pete the Maremma [8] turned seven years old. Happy birthday, Petey Boy. Mate.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week – and year.

farmdoc's blog post number 587

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…
1. sick of unwanted calls from unwanted people trying to sell me unwanted goods and services, I joined the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s 'Do Not Call Register' [1]. The Australian Direct Marketing Association has called telemarketing 'the lifeblood of commerce in this country'. Screw them.
2. the Liberal Party, bitterly divided over Rudd’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, is in the process of imploding [2]. It couldn’t happen to a nicer lot of people. Rudd’s performance on global warming/climate change is appalling. Theirs is abysmal. Shit eh.
3. talking of which, the Nutrition Diva told me that bananas contain a type of fibre called pectin that absorbs water in the intestines and so can help with diarrhoea. Also bananas are high in potassium, a nutrient that can be depleted by diarrhoea [3]. I love bananas regardless.
4. saw the launch of bicycling tours around my area (i.e. the Great Western Tiers). Maps and podcasts are downloadable from the website [4]. It’s a great idea. But…
5. I saw that so far this year the media have reported nine crashes involving log trucks [5]. These crashes have been State-wide. Nevertheless cyclists are no match for log trucks. And they never will be.
6. it was reported that up to 40 plug-in electric vehicles – either full electric or hybrid – are being developed by the world’s motor manufacturers for launch within three years, propelling electricity to the forefront of alternative transport [6]. That’s great news – both environmentally and geopolitically.
7. I read that male staff at a UK National Trust property are being encouraged to piss on a compost bale, saving the organisation water via less toilet flushing. But also to create nutrient rich compost activator. Yet women are excluded - their piss is considered too acidic! [7]. Ho hum.
8. Sweetheart Vivienne was invited to read from Alzheimer’s: a Love Story – at the prestigious Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas [8]. At 6 p.m. on Monday 15.3.10. Good for her. I’ll be there. You couldn’t keep me away.
Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

farmdoc's blog post number 461

I’ve never owned a German car. For Holocaust reasons. Which seem anachronistic today because Germany’s one of Israel’s best friends. And, seen from distant Tasmania, it’s a progressive and decent nation. And of all the nations on this planet, it’s arguably one of the most – if not the most – environmentally responsible. Because it’s legislated for a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 (making Australia’s 5-15% reduction by 2020 look pitiful), and an 80% reduction by 2050. In this German article, the second headline – ‘Efficiency from the bottom up’ – summarises the government’s call ‘on ordinary citizens to contribute to the fight against global warming’. And obviously they’re heeding the call: Maison d'Envie, a Berlin brothel, is offering patrons a 5 Euro Umweltrabatt (‘eco-discount’) if they can prove they arrived by bike or public transportation. Its owner, Thomas Goetz, claims the eco-discount’s attracting more customers to his brothel while reducing parking and congestion in the neighbourhood. He said ‘It's good for business, it's good for the environment – and it's good for the girls’. ‘Efficiency from the bottom up’ indeed. As a cyclist, I know why the eco-discount’s available on 15-minute and 45-minute bookings but not on 60-minute bookings [1]. And as an environmentalist, I’m considering a bike holiday in Berlin. (Just joking, WriterBee.)

farmdoc's blog post number 36

I remember the first moment I rode a bicycle. The bike, street, weather, onlookers. I recall the lot. I was exultant. It changed my life forever. In 1993 Meg – the second of Vivienne and farmdoc’s four beautiful daughters – did a university project called Objects. She asked people to write a paragraph about an object they chose, then she photographed each person with their object. I wrote: Freedom. Fitness. Environmental responsibility. Simplicity. Congruity of form and function. Hassle free parking.. Traffic jam irrelevance. Travel savings. These are the main reasons I ride a bicycle – for about 100 km per week. And of my six bicycles the Cannondale in the photograph is my favourite – dare I offend the other five – because of the beautiful aluminium frame, its Shimano 600 parts, and the wonderful memories it evokes of several long touring trips. I am a bicycle person and this is my bicycle. Nowadays, I’m not proud to say, I ride less; sometimes not for weeks. But the good news is that Indigo – the oldest of Vivienne and farmdoc’s three beautiful granddaughters – has the bug. She is hooked on riding her bike. Is it genetic? Her mum Kate rode a whole Great Victorian Bike Ride without changing gears once. Anyway Indigo is a natural. And I am exultant. What goes around comes around. Just like a bicycle wheel.