How Not To Die on a Bicycle

A Chronically Concussed Girl In Search of Less Concussions

10 min readMay 19, 2019

My Story

I suffered a pretty serious concussion while skiing in Spring of 2017, and a few follow-up concussions in the following weeks, due effects from the first concussion (woohoo). I now have the effects of long-term PCS, or post-concussion syndrome, and for over a year post-concussion, dealt with chronic headaches, noise sensitivity, light sensitivity, balance issues, some memory and cognitive challenges, and nausea.

While I have most of my functioning back, the experience left me with a distinct desire to never experience a concussion again. (A 24/hour, 365 day headache can do that to you.) Unfortunately, the more concussions you have, the worse the next one is likely to be. I was reasonably safety-conscious before, but now that my life-as-I-know-it truly does depend on my safety-consciousness, I have put more conscious thought and effort into implementing the reasonable safety precautions that I do have control over.

How Not to Die-On-A-Bike

Ultimately, the answer is that no helmet or any other safety gear can completely protect you, and if that is your goal, you need to stay at home eating nutritiously and exercising until your risk-free existence ends by lonely, natural causes. (OK, not quite, but you see what I am saying). Risk is inherent to everything, and hard to quantify because each scenario can be so different. However, there are some basic no-brainer (ha) things you can do.

The best safety option is to not get hit at all, rather than relying on a helmet to do limited damage control.

Avoiding dangerous streets can go a long way to avoiding accidents. I took this route numerous times in Berlin, and kept forgetting about the long-term construction and traffic jams. Ugh. (Photo by me).

Your Top Ten Best Bets

Be visible. Cars go fast. Drivers are distracted. Literally anything you can do so you glint out of the corner of their eye, is a good thing. Having a helmet is great. Not getting hit is better. Be visible by wearing bright colours and reflective gear. Slap bands around your ankles. Reflectors on the back of your helmet. Ideally a high-vis vest.
Use (strong) bike lights. See above for why. A white front light, and rear red light. Ideally, actually, two front and two back. See above.
Use a bike bell. You know how much those cost? Five bucks. You know how long it takes you to put on your bike? ! 1.5 minutes (I timed). You know what it saves you? Running into other people on sidewalks/bikepaths/etc who aren’t paying attention, and hurting yourself or others.
Pay attention. Don’t bike while texting, after a drink/more, or while listening to music or talking on the phone. Cars need to be aware of you, you also need to be aware of cars — and lights, and holes in the pavement, and pedestrians, and signposts, and, the list goes on. Distracted biking is just as bad as distracted driving.
Shoulder-check. Always. See above. Any form of lane-change or turn needs a shoulder-check, even if you’re just swerving around a slow pedestrian on a bike path. There could be a car or bike coming up behind you that you didn’t hear, and *poof* we have a crash.
Use bike paths OR less busy streets. Having your own space is infinitely better than trying to keep cars out of it. A Segregated, lane, i.e, with a running barrier between your bike lane and the road, is the best option. If not, I would take a less-busy non-bikelane road over a road that is busy, but the bike lane is not segregated. If it’s not segregated, YMMV (literally) on how valuable the bike path is, as driver’s don’t always pay attention to the fact that there is a bike lane.
Actually follow the rules. This seems obvious, but I have definitely run red lights instead of stopping at orange ones, made sketchy turns, or otherwise skipped road rules in order to cut time… which likely increases my concussion risk far and above what a good helmet can do to reduce it.
Avoid flying off your bike by your own damn fault. And by that I mean, such things like: tuck your pantleg into your sock so it doesn’t snag and rip you off your bike (or better, slap a reflective band around it, see “be visible), don’t zip down a hill at 50K when you have no idea if it has loose gravel or potholes or stop signs that are going to literally throw you off, actually watch the road instead of getting distracted by bright flashy things, etc etc.
Get over wanting to be cool. “But that super hipster person just zipped on their vintage road bike in their dark clothing, Blundstone shoes, and helmet-less man-bun, while holding their coffee…” Get over it. The real cyclists? They’ve got two rear lights, two front lights, good helmets, bells, a lifetime habit of shoulder checking, and reflective material all over them. Their cool-ness does not derive from being stupid.
Get brakes that work — well. And get them fixed if they are not really good. Being able to stop is important!

Picture I snapped from a segregated bike/pedestrian path on a bridge in West Berlin. (Photo by me)

Let’s Talk Bike Helmets

Aside from my top three tips of being-visible, paying attention, and not-being-stupid, your other best bet is to wear a helmet, as any helmet at all is better than your direct skull hitting something. Some helmets, though, are significantly better than others.

What Makes a Good Helmet? The Basics

CPSC certification, at the very least. Look for the sticker on the inside.
“In-mold construction” — this means that the foam inside was created in conjunction with the helmet’s hard shell, in contrast to created separately and glued in, which is as cheap as it sounds. In-mould construction absorbs impact much better.
It fits. Your helmet isn’t helpful if it slides with some force. You should be able to put your helmet on your head, without the chin strap tied, and shake your head around without it moving. (*The chin strap is there to keep it from totally flying off your head in case of a hit — use it).
It’s kept in good condition, and hasn’t been hit. Check if the foam on the inside of your helmet has cracks. If it does, replace it. If you’ve had a hit, replace it — helmets are one-hit structures. And stop dropping your helmet or letting it get banged around. Every impact it has, is less ability to protect you from impact if you’re actually hit wearing it. Additionally: if it’s been in use ~5 years, replace it, definitely after 8. (*The age question is a bit up to you I couldn’t find something conclusive. I’ve heard three, but my research seemed to have reasonably debunked that. One website I trust said 8, the bike guy at the stop says 5, which seems reasonable, depending on how much you wear it, and how well you treat it).
Visible. I.e not black. If you hate high-viz fluorescent yellow, go for a nice red, and/or with white reflector patches on the back. Safe is better than pretty. This is hard for me, but, alas.

What Makes a Better Helmet?

Coverage. Mountain bike helmets, or the “round-style” bucket/commuter helmets usually have better coverage of the back of your head. Think ski or snow-board helmet style. You are less likely to hit the back of your head while biking than compared to snow sports, hence, why racing bike helmets look the way they do — but if you’re going to wear a bike helmet, why not wear a better one?
Outer shell that will not snag, i.e the outside is smooth and doesn’t have angular or poky bits that will drag when you fall and cause a lovely ripping and jerking force on your head. Air vents are fine, but should not stick out. I.e many speedy-looking racing helmets are an issue. (See here for more info).
A system accounting for rotational energy/force, i.e, look for either MIPS or WaveCell Technology. This is the most important point I can emphasize that I think most people don’t know. Currently, most helmets are only CPSC approved, which means they are certified to protect your skull from fracturing (yay!) but do NOT address concussions or other brain injuries, especially during slower crashes, or crashes at oblique angles. This is where “rotational energy” can screw your, i.e send your brain bouncing around inside your skull, even if your skull doesn’t break open. We want to reduce that force. Anything that helps that initial force “spin off” rather than … spin your brain inside your head so it hits the inside of your skull *cough cough* is a GOOD THING.

The MIPS system is a time-tested technology that better-quality helmet brands use (make sure you look for the sticker — there can be helmet models with MIPS and non-MIPS version). Various brands use it. Alternatively, a new brand, Bertrand, just came out with WaveCell, which they claim is better. MIPS claims it is not. You can do your own research. The important thing is that both kind rank highly on Virginia Tech University’s ranking of bicycle helmet safety.

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Virginia Tech does helmet-safety testing for cycling, hockey, and other sports. You can use it as a reliable list to check if a helmet addressed concussion risk, not just major brain-injury risk like CPSC. Any helmet from there at 4 or 5 stars is (truly) your safest bet.

Oh yeah — that’s the kind of bike path I like to see ;) Biking outside of peak traffic hours is also a great way to avoid accidents, if you can wake up earlier or stay a bit later! (Photo by me).

So…. “Can you just tell me what to buy?”

Not exactly, because, as noted above, it is really important that your helmet actually fits your head — therefore, you need to try it on for yourself. It makes no sense to order a helmet online that has good safety ratings, but does not fit you. However, here are general guidelines —

Try it on IRL (sorry, had to say it again)
As a rule of thumb, from what I’ve seen, anything less than $80 USD/$100 CAD probably isn’t going to be as safe as it could be, as it won’t have MIPS/WaveCell. However, there are some non-MIPS options on the Virginia Tech list that are less than that, and rank alright. However, Anything less than $30 USD/50 CAD *really* probably isn’t great, as it won’t have in-mold construction. But again, still bette than nothing.
The Lazer “Cyclone” with MIPS is a great default bet, it ranked on the highest of Virginia tech’s ratings, has MIPS, comes in “flash yellow” or orange (aka high-vis), and is only $80 USD.
The Giro Chronicle with MIPS or Smith Route with MIPS — both ~$100 USD, and the Chronicle in particular is a mountain bike meaning good back-of-head protection.
Bern’s “Union” with MIPS ranks high on the Virginia Tech tests, is $110 USD, and has full head coverage and no “poky” vents while still nicely breathable.

What I chose: I bought the $150 USD “Specter” with WaveCell by Bontrager. It is WaveCell, not MIPS, so taking on a risk on something with less long-term testing, but which still tested at the top of Virginia Tech’s listing, and I guess I like the feeling of security of their marketing re. concussions. A might-not-be-better-but-likely-won’t-be-worse, so I dropped the cash. (Note: different from the other non-WaveCell versions of the Specter!)

Of course, then there are the myriads of online opinions which had comments, ex, “the lack of visor made bikers squint and the helmet was uncomfortable with sunglasses, so bikers and so were more likely to crash with it than other helmets…” etc. IDK. At a certain point, you just need to buy a helmet, and make sure you are doing the other things above to prevent a hit in the first place. The Specter fit me well, and since I have a small head, most other good helmets didn’t work for me, so I went with this. Hopefully, I never have to test it out in a crash, but if I do, at least I can feel like I did what I could, rather than go through a concussion experience again wondering if I could have prevented it.

So there you have it! Everything I know to date about bike safety and bike helmets. I hope this was useful, will keep you safe(r), and saves you some time from getting lost in mountains of research like I did… because most of us don’t have time to research everything we will use in life.

Happy/Safe Cycling!

Another early morning bike ride in Berlin. (Photo by me).

(OH — A Few Notes on Questions/Excuses).

“But I read an article/ have an anecdote about how wearing a helmet makes drivers behave less safely around you…” A true fact to some extent. However, it’s a risk mitigation question. Do you want to be helmet-less, and maybe have less of a chance of a hit, but if you do, your brain is probably scrambled eggs and toast? Or, wear a helmet, maybe cars feel more cocky around you, but if something does happen, your skull does not crack open. You know? Plus, I think that a helmet, in combination with, say, high-vis yellow fluorescent gear, reminds cars that actually, you are warning them you exist and to keep some space.

“But where do I put my helmet if I am going somewhere… it’s so annoying.” Lock it to your bike by slipping your lock through the air vent in your helmet. Done.

“But it messes up my hair.” OK, I feel this, but also, really? Get over yourself. Get some perspective. Get a a better haircut. Or start taking the bus.

“But $$$$.” OK, even $200/5 years = less than 50 bucks a year. I hope you think your cognitive abilities are worth that.

“But I move a lot and can’t get pack a helmet or afford new one each time…” Minervans, I am looking at you, and I call bullshit. A helmet is about 350–500 grams, depending, maybe more. You can pack that. Throw in some high vis leg bands while you are at it. Just make sure when you put it in your suitcase, it is protected from the impact of other heavy suitcases landing on top of it. (I put mine in my carry-on).