Yeah. I've been a serious risk taker. But the way you do risk and live is to know what's risky and what's just stupid. Things have moved way off into stupid land these days. I see people doing stuff that's just crazy, like going over a 20 foot drop on a back wheel and wondering why they smashed their crotch into the cross bar. It's gotten seriously nuts. Even 5 feet can break you if you don't hit just right.

These days, I've quit the downhill stuff for the most part. Prefer the risks on roads. I do a lot of uphill mountain biking. It's a better workout anyway.

People have been riding bikes for a long time, without that many injuries, before helmets were invented.

The other problem with the helmet is people believe they make them safer, ergo higher risk taking.

Common sense is replaced by the helmets.

This article is stupid. The only risk the writer most likely takes is fatty cream in his coffee. I just dropped corral loop here in Lake Tahoe with my buds. High speeds, big drops, insane views, cold beer and great friends. "The only risk in life is the one you do not take'.

This country is going to sh!t I swear to christ...

What amazes me is that they probably had to spend money to figure this out. According to all the statistics out there most of us should be dead by now. I'm now 41 and grew up riding in a car without a seatbelt, been around smokers most of my life (ok this one may kill me), never wore a helmet while riding a bike, and countless other things that should have killed me.

"Perhaps surprisingly, the researchers found no relationship between helmet wearing and the overall severity of a rider's injuries."

- But mandating helmet use sure sells a lot of helmets.........

Yep, I agree helmets are no protection for your neck . . . that's why I wear a Leatt neck brace.

I ride motorized off road two-wheelers, a sport where you see many wearing neck protection. I wonder why pedal-bikers don't wear them???

The helmet that protects the head causes more neck injuries ( put your hand on the back of your neck and look up and around to see why). It is the same for ski boots, ankle injuries stopped but leg injuries increased. Motorcyclists now wear helmets causing less head injuries and deaths But causing more neck injuries and less deaths but more paralizing injuries. It's a tough choice! The bottom line is; You can not stop all injuries, unless all you do is watch which is not good for your health either.

Ya know... you don't *have* to pretend you are in downhill competition when you go into the woods. This is more of a "judgment/behavior matching your skill" thing.

It IS possible to pick trails without 5' drops and you don't usually have to hop over that 15" log laid in the trail - there's always a cut-around.