- Jul 28, 2016
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We used one of the original jogger strollers for children. Compared to current versions it was huge, simplistic and had no space for diapers, sippy cups nor drink trays. We went through at least 5 different systems of taking our children with us on our adult bicycles... in seats in front of us or behind and in various types of carriers that attached to the bike. I was so good at testing the limits of each of these systems that I perfected the 'Honey, umm, I broke the bicycle carrier but I think I can get a better system' speech. Our children went with us everyplace; either in a carrier on our backs or on our bikes, until they learned to ride or hike on their own. Once, when I was very pregnant, tired, had misjudged how far my 2 year old could walk comfortably and knew that I didn't have it in me to carry her the rest of the way home I suggested, out of desperation, that instead of walking the rest of the home, she fly. I demonstrated, arms out, making a happy whirring noise. It worked! For a while, our neighbours used us as a clock alternativesince they knew they were running late if they were still eating breakfast when our bicycle group rolled down the street toward school. As you have probably guessed, we love the great outdoors, even if it comes in the form of a bike ride to preschool.
image courtesy Wikepedia
Have we learned anything about what gets people on bikes? Oh, yeah. One spring, all the kids on our street suddenly got interested in learning to ride a bike. Everybody else was doing it, so each child wanted in on the action. Different ages, different abilities, different fears and handicaps. The kids who already knew how to ride puffed with pride as they gave tips. The parents on the block all got together, traded notes on safety, where was the best slight downhill, how-tos, where can we get a working bike for cheap, what size bike does my kids need, 'rules of the road' that we'd all insist on... and how to most effectively communicate it all to each other and the kids. It was all ad hoc, made up on the spot as best we could and then modified as needed but we figured out which parents had which skills, which kids needed extra help and all the rest of it. Having lots of experience, our family in demand. One of the biggest questions that came up? Helmets. All the adults had grown up without them. All the adults knew that their kids would wear a helmet every time they got on their bikes. Yes, this did create issues.
Some kids loved helmets. Some hated them. As I've seen demonstrated repeatedly, if you put a helmet on too loosely, a kid can just peel it off whenever they like without even undoing the straps. My confidence in that helmet-wearing style being protective in case of accident? Very close to zero. Sometimes it seems that that helmet was mostly there to demonstrate that the parents had done their parental duty to insist on helmet-wearing. Conversely, a helmet that is too tight or ill-fitting in any way seems to guarantee a universal hatred of helmets. Turns out, if a small child's tender under-the-chin skin is pinched into the helmet clasp by a well-meaning adult, that child often becomes really difficult to convince to put on a helmet ever again.
Why is this important? In an article taking a close look at some unintended public health implications of legislating that everyone must wear a helmet each time they get on their bicycle or face a fine, Larry Huston points out the difference between promoting and legislating bike helmets. Cycling became less popular in Western Australia with enforcement of a mandatory bicycle helmet law and the roads became more dangerous for both car and bicycle drivers. Oops!
In Denmark last year, a country where cycling is a way of life, 26 people died in bicycling accidents; Lars Bo Anderson, PhD of the university of Copenhagen calculated that over 6000 lives were saved by the health benefits of cycling. One can focus on the 26 accidents or on the 6000 lives saved from the activity of cycling.
Huston, in an article written from the cardiology perspective, argues that too much focus on enforcing helmets and too little on the health benefits of getting on our bikes can hurt us. He'd rather spend our money, efforts and messaging resources on getting people on bikes, especially in his native US where cycle commuting is much less popular than elsewhere. He makes a distinction between legislation in countries where it commuter cycling is already very popular versus in places where it is not. He brings up the feeling of freedom that cycling down the street to work can bring, as a factor that significantly weighs in for himself personally. He thinks that anybody who gets in a bike race or goes races down a mountain bike trail is crazy. And he makes an argument that, in order to promote bicycling in places where it is not popular, it needs to be thought of as routine, like getting on a bus, train or car is now. You can read his article here: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CardioBrief/65801?xid=nl_mpt_International_2017-06-16&eun=g883822d0r.
What do I think?
I think our experience matters.
It matters that, as a lifelong bicycling promoter, I and others agree with Huston on the importance of making the mental transition toward cycling being routine or 'normal'. It matters a lot. I saw this happen on our block. It was astounding.
It matters that a child's first cycling experiences are fun. If you want them to wear a helmet, it matters that their experiences in one are positive. Make every effort to not pinch that soft skin under the chin (and don't kick yourself too much if you do. It happens
) Get an experienced person to adjust that spider's web of straps that keeps your child's helmet strapped on and/or take the time to learn it yourself. Learning how to adjust helmet straps for comfort and safety and my gung-ho cycling attitude are probably the most positive things I personally have done to promote biking.
I think that statistics can be made to support just about any point of view... depending on what point you'd like to make. Just as you can focus on the 26 cycling deaths in Denmark last year, you can also focus on the estimated 6000 lives saved by cycling that same year. You can, further, look into how many people were injured in cycling accidents with head injuries that left them debilitated. Equally, you can look into how many people were saved from other chronic debilitating illnesses by routinely commuting on their bicycle. My experience tells me that you'll have to dig deeper to get that last statistic and that you'd need considerably more determination to find them, as our current system is not built to track measures of things like prevention.
So, dust off your old bike and take it for a ride. See how you like it. See what local trails you like, what weather conditions you enjoy riding in, the works. Doing so, you'll learn something that nobody else can tell you.
1. image of bicycle titled "Bicycle in Plymouth at the start of the 20th century" from Wikepedia, History of the Bicycle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle
2. Larry Huston, The Unintended Consequences Of Bicycle Helmets; We should encourage people to cycle, not scare them away. , Medpage Today OpEd, June 5, 2017, http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CardioBrief/65801?xid=nl_mpt_International_2017-06-16&eun=g883822d0r
Have we learned anything about what gets people on bikes? Oh, yeah. One spring, all the kids on our street suddenly got interested in learning to ride a bike. Everybody else was doing it, so each child wanted in on the action. Different ages, different abilities, different fears and handicaps. The kids who already knew how to ride puffed with pride as they gave tips. The parents on the block all got together, traded notes on safety, where was the best slight downhill, how-tos, where can we get a working bike for cheap, what size bike does my kids need, 'rules of the road' that we'd all insist on... and how to most effectively communicate it all to each other and the kids. It was all ad hoc, made up on the spot as best we could and then modified as needed but we figured out which parents had which skills, which kids needed extra help and all the rest of it. Having lots of experience, our family in demand. One of the biggest questions that came up? Helmets. All the adults had grown up without them. All the adults knew that their kids would wear a helmet every time they got on their bikes. Yes, this did create issues.
Some kids loved helmets. Some hated them. As I've seen demonstrated repeatedly, if you put a helmet on too loosely, a kid can just peel it off whenever they like without even undoing the straps. My confidence in that helmet-wearing style being protective in case of accident? Very close to zero. Sometimes it seems that that helmet was mostly there to demonstrate that the parents had done their parental duty to insist on helmet-wearing. Conversely, a helmet that is too tight or ill-fitting in any way seems to guarantee a universal hatred of helmets. Turns out, if a small child's tender under-the-chin skin is pinched into the helmet clasp by a well-meaning adult, that child often becomes really difficult to convince to put on a helmet ever again.
Why is this important? In an article taking a close look at some unintended public health implications of legislating that everyone must wear a helmet each time they get on their bicycle or face a fine, Larry Huston points out the difference between promoting and legislating bike helmets. Cycling became less popular in Western Australia with enforcement of a mandatory bicycle helmet law and the roads became more dangerous for both car and bicycle drivers. Oops!
In Denmark last year, a country where cycling is a way of life, 26 people died in bicycling accidents; Lars Bo Anderson, PhD of the university of Copenhagen calculated that over 6000 lives were saved by the health benefits of cycling. One can focus on the 26 accidents or on the 6000 lives saved from the activity of cycling.Huston, in an article written from the cardiology perspective, argues that too much focus on enforcing helmets and too little on the health benefits of getting on our bikes can hurt us. He'd rather spend our money, efforts and messaging resources on getting people on bikes, especially in his native US where cycle commuting is much less popular than elsewhere. He makes a distinction between legislation in countries where it commuter cycling is already very popular versus in places where it is not. He brings up the feeling of freedom that cycling down the street to work can bring, as a factor that significantly weighs in for himself personally. He thinks that anybody who gets in a bike race or goes races down a mountain bike trail is crazy. And he makes an argument that, in order to promote bicycling in places where it is not popular, it needs to be thought of as routine, like getting on a bus, train or car is now. You can read his article here: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CardioBrief/65801?xid=nl_mpt_International_2017-06-16&eun=g883822d0r.
What do I think?
I think our experience matters.
It matters that, as a lifelong bicycling promoter, I and others agree with Huston on the importance of making the mental transition toward cycling being routine or 'normal'. It matters a lot. I saw this happen on our block. It was astounding.
It matters that a child's first cycling experiences are fun. If you want them to wear a helmet, it matters that their experiences in one are positive. Make every effort to not pinch that soft skin under the chin (and don't kick yourself too much if you do. It happens
) Get an experienced person to adjust that spider's web of straps that keeps your child's helmet strapped on and/or take the time to learn it yourself. Learning how to adjust helmet straps for comfort and safety and my gung-ho cycling attitude are probably the most positive things I personally have done to promote biking.I think that statistics can be made to support just about any point of view... depending on what point you'd like to make. Just as you can focus on the 26 cycling deaths in Denmark last year, you can also focus on the estimated 6000 lives saved by cycling that same year. You can, further, look into how many people were injured in cycling accidents with head injuries that left them debilitated. Equally, you can look into how many people were saved from other chronic debilitating illnesses by routinely commuting on their bicycle. My experience tells me that you'll have to dig deeper to get that last statistic and that you'd need considerably more determination to find them, as our current system is not built to track measures of things like prevention.
So, dust off your old bike and take it for a ride. See how you like it. See what local trails you like, what weather conditions you enjoy riding in, the works. Doing so, you'll learn something that nobody else can tell you.
1. image of bicycle titled "Bicycle in Plymouth at the start of the 20th century" from Wikepedia, History of the Bicycle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle
2. Larry Huston, The Unintended Consequences Of Bicycle Helmets; We should encourage people to cycle, not scare them away. , Medpage Today OpEd, June 5, 2017, http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CardioBrief/65801?xid=nl_mpt_International_2017-06-16&eun=g883822d0r
