A few days ago I broke my helmet again. This time I was going too fast on some gravel and sped across a turn that was sharper than I was expecting. I flew off my bike. I broke my third helmet. Time to get another.

I’m totally fine, nothing broken, no stitches or anything like that but I’m still pretty banged up. Most importantly though my head is fine. No concussion or head injury at all. Fortunately my partner is a first responder so honestly a great person to be around when you’re in the middle of nowhere injured and they’ve been keeping an eye on me but I’m definitely past any sort of concussion danger period. I wasn’t that worried anyway.

But that helmet gets to go in the trash and join its friends now. Missed but not forgetten.

I’m an experienced biker…and skater and hiker and kayaker and other stuff too. I’ve gotten myself out of stickier situations than this but it was very hot out and very sunny and I’d had a beer and a decent lunch and was near the end of my long bike journey and I goofed. It happens. And it’s not a big deal because I had my helmet on.

The last time was a skating accident. It was wet and I forgot how slippery skates get when its wet. The previous time I thought it would be fun to ride down stairs. It is and I do it all the time but probably you shouldn’t. At least not without a helmet.

I see people out all the time on all sorts of wheeled things without one and I feel so much anxiety for them. I’m not particularly clumsy or anything but if you do something long enough eventually an accident might happen. I wonder if they know the impact it will have on them and their loved ones if the accident happens to them. I wonder if they know how easy it is to prevent it from being as bad as it could be.

All of my accidents were maybe my fault but I know very few bikers who haven’t had similar, either because of something they did or something someone else did. They’re all okay too because they all wear helmets.

So comrades please just put a helmet on. Your brain is valuable because it contains a lot of who you are, and you’re probably more valuable than you think. We all take care of our bodies and minds in so many ways so please don’t neglect this way. Helmets are cheap, adjusted properly they can be very comfortable too. The right kinds can be personalized with stickers and messages and really become something special to you. Hopefully you buy one and you have it for life and you never need to replace it. But if you do need to replace it that’s good too, because a helmet is so much easier to replace than you are.

Anyway I’m looking forward to buying my next helmet and I hope it lasts me longer than this last one. But if it doesn’t I’ll be glad to because hopefully it means I’m okay when I otherwise might not have been.

So please if you’re going to be doing something that could result in a head injury, no matter how unlikely, just put on a helmet. You’re worth it.