I went out to bring home my Christmas present from Mrs. the Poet today which ate up most of the afternoon and a good chunk of what was left of the morning after my first cup of coffee took effect. The neck roll of this helmet is a bit on the snug side if you are used to a Bellistic, but after a few minutes it is not an issue. I have to build mirrors for it to make it as useful as my Bellistic, but Mrs. the Poet pronounced it as “beautiful”, and I can see several design features that make it more protective than the Bellistic, so I’m happy with it for the most part. Of course I’m a tinkerer so no off-the-shelf product escapes my customizing touch, but aside from the aforementioned mirrors I think a little black paint on the underside of the visor while I’m mounting the mirrors to keep reflected glare from getting in my eyes will be the extent of it for this particular helmet. Note to BellSports: I wear a full-face helmet just about every day including 4 Hotter’n’Hell Hundreds since 2002. If you need a beta tester for all-mountain full-face helmets you really couldn’t do much better than yr fthfl svnt for testing the ability to shed heat and how well the ventilation works. This summer alone I rode more than 50 times where the temperature exceeded 100°F at some point of the ride. I plan on riding the HHH again in 2012, so if you’re interested, I’m available.
Second note to my anon donor to the Kickstand, I know who you are now. Nobody said anything, but I have access to information other than what comes through the 5 senses, plus I am one hell of a deductive reasoner, the brain damage didn’t touch that. I won’t spill the beans, your secret is safe with me. Oh wait, I’m the one that wasn’t supposed to know who you were. Still safe, I won’t tell anyone with Internet access.
Up first, what BikingInLA Calls a murder of a cyclist. Bicyclist Killed in Hit-and-Run in Pomona The reason Ted(?) calls this a murder is the dragging of the cyclist after the impact. I have been inside and outside vehicles that have hit large dogs (not close to adult human mass) and take it from me you know in an instant that you have hit something. To continue on with the cyclist (or the bicycle) under the car indicates a degree of intention on the part of the driver. If there wasn’t intention to kill before the impact (and despite my personal experience with that 99.9999% of drivers are not homicidal maniacs), there is ample evidence of intent to kill after the impact… As I finished filtering the feed another link came in, they now have the murderer in custody… Gabriel Perez Facio, Pomona Cyclist, Killed in Hit-and-Run; Dragged Half-Block by SUV
Another CA story, as a driver that hit a cyclist in 2008 faces trial for her crimes. Updated: Testimony concludes in vehicular manslaughter trial and this head line from a sidebar: Motorist guilty of vehicular manslaughter in cyclist’s death means that she will get at least some jail time for her killing a cyclist. The verdict has determined the driver pulled in front of the cyclist as she was trying to cross an intersection with a 2-way stop at the time. It took over 3 years, but a small measure of justice has been done.
From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, a hit-and-run driver is arrested. Man Arrested in Hit-and-Run that Killed 13-Year-Old Brien Andrew Alvezios The driver was trying to hide pieces of the weapon vehicle in his pockets and under the passenger seat when he was caught, he should be charged with a lot more than hit-and-run…
LifeStyle! from the Carolinas, as a cyclist hit from behind gets bits and pieces of his life back during his rehab. Injured cyclist undergoing rehabilitation I hate how they point out the lack of a helmet on a cyclist that was hit at a speed more than 3 times the design impact speed of a US bicycle helmet.
And that’s all I have today, tomorrow I will do my end of year thoughts, plus whatever is in the Feed, while I take my wife to learn how to use the Nook she got for Christmas, and go participate in a NYE D&D game. I realize that will require me to be in more than one place at the same time, I’ll figure it out somehow.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 
I would have thought the tip on the batteries in the light would have given it away.
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I still say the helmet would have offered at least some protection- perhaps enough to save a life. After all, there is ample evidence that my own bicycle helmet saved mine when I went over a 30 ft. cliff and landed on granite boulders. I shattered half my ribs, nearly lost my kidney and spleen, punctured both lungs, and fractured 5 vertebrae, including 3 in my neck- including the C1 level. Yet… I had only a small skull fracture, and that was in an area not protected by my helmet. The helmet itself was utterly destroyed. It served its function, though, and I’ll gladly buy a new one in case I need such protection again.
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I just wore my new Bell Sanction full-face helmet to the store, so it’s not like I think helmets are worthless, I just know and accept their limitations. I had 7 separate hits recorded on the helmet I was wearing when I was hit, but I still lost 1/3 of my IQ points from the wreck without even a single fracture above the waist. Helmets aren’t designed to prevent brain damage, just skull fractures at speeds of up to 12.5 MPH. And unless we start demanding better, that’s as good as we will get.
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