Lid count

On a wickedly humid ride in this morning after sharing coffee with some fellow riders I did an informal lid count.  I didn't start counting until I was around North Ave. I had ridden in from north of the border.  9 or 22 riders had a helmet. I'm not sure how that trends. Is this more or less coverage than ususal?  It seems about par to me.  As I was riding with my friend Dr. Dan and told him I was counting he told me about another doctor who had been in an accident and had some orthopedic injuries but his head was fine.  His helmet had been demolished.  Hmm.  As best I could tell everybodythis morning had their zippers zippered, but for some reason 13/22 were metaphorically unzippered.

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 22, 2011 at 7:06am

Yay for helmets.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 22, 2011 at 7:10am

Did you count for crosses worn around the neck, lucky rabbits feet, and other magic talismans?

 

How about gloves? 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 22, 2011 at 7:20am
I wore my gloves! Dam! I forgot my helmet though... DUH! I guess...

James BlackHeron said:

Did you count for crosses worn around the neck, lucky rabbits feet, and other magic talismans?

 

How about gloves? 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on July 22, 2011 at 8:05am
I wore a baseball cap instead today to keep the rain out of my eyes.
Permalink Reply by Chucko on July 22, 2011 at 9:29am
I have to wear a helmet to cover up my dorky looking beanie that keeps the sweat out of my eyes when I ride.
Permalink Reply by David Barish on May 8, 2013 at 7:52am

I saw somebody posted about helmets today and didn't get the joke propounded by a few posters thereafter. It got me thinking about this thread that I had originated a couple years ago and a recent experience...a very positive. one.   A couple weeks ago I had to drive to the loop.  As usual, traffic was quite congested close in.  I sat at a stop light and did a lid count while waiting at Kinzie and LaSalle. I am happy to report that a staggering percentage of riders had helmets.  In a few minute period I counted 15/19 riders had  helmets.  A nice assortments of bikes as well! This very unscientific study demonstrated that lidded riders had nearly doubled in two years.

Permalink Reply by blair on May 8, 2013 at 7:54am

Fixed

David Barish said:

This very unscientific study demonstrated assumes that lidded riders had nearly doubled in two years.

Permalink Reply by Jaik S. on May 8, 2013 at 8:09am

On the topic of helmets...How often do you replace your helmet?

Permalink Reply by Duppie on May 8, 2013 at 8:14am

To even call this a study is an insult to studies world-wide.

This is exact the same discussion about helmets we had last week. One person has certain personal experiences and draws conclusions from it that are clouded by personal preferences.

When do we learn that Opinions + Anecdotal evidence <> Facts?

David Barish said:

I saw somebody posted about helmets today and didn't get the joke propounded by a few posters thereafter. It got me thinking about this thread that I had originated a couple years ago and a recent experience...a very positive. one.   A couple weeks ago I had to drive to the loop.  As usual, traffic was quite congested close in.  I sat at a stop light and did a lid count while waiting at Kinzie and LaSalle. I am happy to report that a staggering percentage of riders had helmets.  In a few minute period I counted 15/19 riders had  helmets.  A nice assortments of bikes as well! This very unscientific study demonstrated that lidded riders had nearly doubled in two years.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on May 8, 2013 at 8:16am

But it is a self-described "unscientific study".  Like beer goes with pretzels but not with popcorn.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on May 8, 2013 at 8:24am

haha!

I hope it was clear that my popcorn comment was made tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek. I did not get the impression that David's comment were made tongue-in-cheek.



Lisa Curcio 4.0 mi said:

But it is a self-described "unscientific study".  Like beer goes with pretzels but not with popcorn.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on May 8, 2013 at 8:36am

Althought tongue in cheek is a common place for me to be it was not where I was when I posted. When I saw helmet after helmet pass me by recently, I was surprised.  Its difficult to churn any particular result from this anecdotal and (as Lisa observed and I stated)unscientific evidence. However, it led me to believe that perhaps more people are wearing helmets. Whether that's true, to what extent etc is unverifiable and unknown.  We are all minor scientists in our lives. We take our little anecdotal studies and then based on what we get we do more study.  At that time (not now) we may be able to draw some real conclusions.  For now I willl say, "downtown commuters may appear to be wearing helmets in greater proportion than they used to."  What will I do with that? I will test the assumption to see if it stands up. I always thought that the phrase "assuming makes an ass of you and me" is a particularly foolish one. We must assume. We test assumptions and we move on. If not, we never learn anything.  I agree we can look like an ass if we make assumptions and delude ourselves into thinking they are facts. 

As far as last week's discussion, I was only making an observation. I do have a point of view (pro helmet) but that really wasn't on the table here. 

Now we will have to see if I saw  a surprising variant or a real trend.  Keep your eyes open.  I might do so on the ride home.  Also, as best as I can tell beer goes with everything.

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