Trying out a "cape"

[Pinky]

"John B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> I fell for it too :-(
>
> I know I shouldn't have, but you were quite wrong on your assertion that
> no one
> else is affected by your choice.
>
> John B
>
Rubbish. I refute that statement utterly.

I have not voted for anything.

I wear shorts every day throughout the year. That is not a vote for wearing
shorts. If I am teetotal -- that is not a vote for banning alcohol. I cycle
every day -- that is not a vote for cycling. I like wearing a rain cape --
it is not a vote for compulsory capes. No one can assume any opinion that
I might hold just by observing some action that I might take

My actions are totally my own. The perpetual assertion by posters like you
that I am voting for compulsory helmet wear is total cr*p -- and the weakest
of arguments.

I shall not continue to respond to this subject. And that is not a sign of
the failure the statement of my position but rather one of being totally fed
up by people like you trying to put me in the wrong.

I have made my decision and no one has any right to gainsay me

Ended and closed

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.
www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

 

[John B]

Pinky wrote:

> "John B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> >
> > I fell for it too :-(
> >
> > I know I shouldn't have, but you were quite wrong on your assertion that
> > no one
> > else is affected by your choice.
> >
> > John B
> >
> Rubbish. I refute that statement utterly.
>
> I have not voted for anything.

Regrettably the government has indicated that when helmet useage reaches a
certain level (ISTR its around 70%) then a MHL would gain its full support.
By wearing a helmet it moves the position closer to that figure.
I realise it is hard to accept.

> I wear shorts every day throughout the year. That is not a vote for wearing
> shorts. If I am teetotal -- that is not a vote for banning alcohol. I cycle
> every day -- that is not a vote for cycling. I like wearing a rain cape --
> it is not a vote for compulsory capes. No one can assume any opinion that
> I might hold just by observing some action that I might take

Quite right, but none of those activities have had any move to make them
compulsory.

> My actions are totally my own.

I agree, and I fully respect them.
Presently it is your choice and that is how I would wish it to remain.


> The perpetual assertion by posters like you
> that I am voting for compulsory helmet wear is total cr*p -- and the weakest
> of arguments.

You cannot escape the fact that by wearing helmets you move the situation
closer to the introduction of a MHL.
I very occasionally wear one, and I cringe over hypocrisy that surrounds me
when doing so.

> I shall not continue to respond to this subject. And that is not a sign of
> the failure the statement of my position but rather one of being totally fed
> up by people like you trying to put me in the wrong.

There is certainly no need to get stroppy.
Presently the choice is entirely your own and that is how it must stay. You
should be encouraged that there are people out there who try and educate others
not to move towards the position where a MHL would be introduced with ease.
Of course if you support the introduction of MHL (I don't know whether you do
or not) then of course the debate is very different.

> I have made my decision and no one has any right to gainsay me

Quite right too, and I hope it remains possible for you to have that choice.

> Ended and closed



John B

 

[Brendan Halpin]

John B <[email protected]> writes:

> Regrettably the government has indicated that when helmet useage reaches a
> certain level (ISTR its around 70%) then a MHL would gain its full support.
> By wearing a helmet it moves the position closer to that figure.
> I realise it is hard to accept.

This is not a problem with helmet wearing, it is a problem with
your politicians. Using it as an argument against helmet wearing is
a case of responding on the wrong front.

Brendan
--
Brendan Halpin, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Ireland
Tel: w +353-61-213147 f +353-61-202569 h +353-61-338562; Room F2-025 x 3147
mailto:[email protected] http://www.ul.ie/sociology/brendan.halpin.html

 

[John B]

Brendan Halpin wrote:

> John B <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > Regrettably the government has indicated that when helmet useage reaches a
> > certain level (ISTR its around 70%) then a MHL would gain its full support.
> > By wearing a helmet it moves the position closer to that figure.
> > I realise it is hard to accept.
>
> This is not a problem with helmet wearing, it is a problem with
> your politicians. Using it as an argument against helmet wearing is
> a case of responding on the wrong front.

I agree. But I'm not sure what the answer really is.

The emphasis should *always* be on how safe cycling is, and what the benefits
are to general well-being, from health to environment.
Unfortunately there are some *very* entranched views in the opposite camp who
hold a variety of agendas ranging from misguided safety concerns through to the
more extreme who wish to see all cyclists removed from the roads completely :-(

Meanwhile I shall trundle along (usually) lidless in the knowledge that it may
help delay a MHL.

John B

 

[Chris Malcolm]

Pinky <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Chris Malcolm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Mike the unimaginative <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> "Pinky" <[email protected]> wrote in
> <snip><snip>.

>>>> 8 I hate to mention it but I couldn't wear my helmet under the hood
>>>> and I wear it all the time normally!

>> The statistics are a bit dubious. It's possible you might be safer if
>> you didn't wear it while cycling. I suspect it's at its best in the
>> bathroom. Soapy eyes, slippery surfaces, and plenty of hard porcelain
>> protrusions. The bathroom accident statistics are rather scary.

> This remark is uncalled for on a subject which is about capes!

> I wear my helmet all the time. It is my decision and mine alone - I affect
> no one else by that decision.

I'm glad to hear it. WEaring it all the time is more rational than
only wearing it on a bicycle, as some here advocate, apparently under
the misapprehension that cycling is more dangerous than taking a bath
or walking downstairs.

> 1. In winter it helps keep my head warm and dry ( with a cover on it)
> 2. At all times it is
> :- a mounting frame for an extra "see me" LED white light.
> :- a mounting frame for my "wing mirror" ( at 69 yrs my neck bones aren't
> as flexible as they used to be -- I can look back over my lhs but not my
> rhs!). I tried bar end mirrors and didn't like them at all. And with
> "butterfly bars" they aren't a feasible options on my latest velo ( or my
> next one either)
> :- I also have a swing down visor which helps to protect my eyes (from
> wind effects) which also suffer from the aging process.
> 3. I have worn a hat nearly virtually all my adult life when I go out on my
> flat feet. I do not like cycling ( which I do daily) without a hat and I
> find that baseball type caps and woolly balaclavas etc, extremely
> uncomfortable and sweaty. Since I am hardly a speed freak I find the helmet
> is cool in the summer and I do not sweat in it.
> 4. It is brightly coloured ( white) and also carries 2 small strips of
> flashing red LED's at the rear for added "see me" at night ( or in
> rainy/dark conditions).
> 5. It might, and I say "might" with due respect to the anti helmet brigade,
> just help a bit in other areas.
> 6. Above all I feel comfortable , both physically and mentally, wearing it
> and it does not give me any inclination to overcompensate by taking more
> risks. Riding on road, which I do 99% of the time, requires high degrees
> of concentration and awareness -- using all my facilities -- seeing ,
> hearing, vocalising, and a lot of basic use of the sense of touch.

I applaud your ingenuity. There is a nice solution to the rainy
spectacles problem available to those who wear a helmet, which is to
mount a circular rotating visor on a bearing in the centre of the
forehead (of the helmet). The visor should have little wings at the
edge so that it whiles round in the wind as you travel, thus becoming
completely and clearly invisible.

If someone sold such an attachment for a bicycle helmet it might
persuade me to wear one in the rain.

--
Chris Malcolm [email protected] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

 

[Colin]

"Chris Malcolm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Steph Peters <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > How does one signal while wearing a cape? It's impossible with hands
> > inside,
>
> Reach down and out, and lift up hand outside cape?
>
> > but even with my hands through the cuffs and on the outside it feels
> > like I'm not making as visible as signal as usual. I did a lot of extra
> > left turns today in order to avoid trying to signal right.
>
> Get off and walk over?
>

This is a true downside to caped riding, as soon as you signal, the water
poors over your leg. Generally, I take a lot more care on junctions & timing
so as not to be reliant on a signal to have to 'break' in to a flow of
traffic. It I need to signal, I just end up getting a bit wet!

> > Being of the very short persuasion, there's a lot of cape between my
> > shoulders and the tapes that go over the handlebars, so the cape
naturally
> > forms a dish shape which collects water. The tapes can't be moved up
> > because then the cape would drag on the front wheel. I'm reluctant to
make
> > the entire cape shorter, because the extra length is an advantage at the
> > sides and back. Are there any other ways to stop it collecting a pool of
> > water?
>
> I was thinking of a small drain hole attached to a tube going into a
> water bottle.

lol.I quite enjoy seeing how much water I can collect and then either a.
drink it .....ummmm acid rain or b. see how many flies collect in it. (DONT
do both !) These have helped me to pass many a wet mile!

 

[Mike Smith]

Steph Peters wrote:

> Being of the very short persuasion, there's a lot of cape between my
> shoulders and the tapes that go over the handlebars, so the cape naturally
> forms a dish shape which collects water. The tapes can't be moved up
> because then the cape would drag on the front wheel. I'm reluctant to make
> the entire cape shorter, because the extra length is an advantage at the
> sides and back. Are there any other ways to stop it collecting a pool of
> water?

When I wore a cape like that I often disposed of the pool of water over
my ankles and feet as I dismounted, but I'm not recommending that practice.