ICE ICE Baby

It's been a beautiful weekend of weather here in the North West of England, fantastic for road cycling.  Not too hot at around 20 degrees with a nice breeze to keep you cool.  Resultantly roadies were out in their droves and I was quite amazed at how many I saw not wearing helmets.


I'm not aware of any accident data that says when the sun shines you're less likely to be knocked off your bike.  If you are a regular road user, you will know just how many close scrapes you experience and the number of drivers still texting or using phones whilst driving.  I had two instances today, one farmer driving a 4x4 on a single track road texting and another driver who undertook me to go around me at a junction.  Both totally unnecessary.  


I would never cycle without wearing a helmet, speak to James Cracknell about helmets, even better watch this video clip.   

Helmets are designed to allow the heat to leave your head and given the increasing number of collisions on the road, whatever the weather - in my view - you should have one on.

When you ride a lot on your own, it's vital that you take whatever measures you can to ensure your safety.  Many people store an 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) number in their telephone, so that the emergency services can contact a loved one or next of kin. About a year ago, I noticed our club secretary with one of these strips on his helmet and thought what a good idea it is.

Helmet ID from Polan

It's effectively a weather proof pull strip, which sticks on your helmet, storing all your essential medical information, contact numbers etc in an easily locatable place for a paramedic to immediately remove and consult.  You can buy them here, they're not expensive and ultimately may well save your life, particularly if you have allergens to any particular types of medication.


I went down this route on the basis that if I had a bad accident, my phone screen might break or become separated from me.  Being stuck on my helmet would mean I'd never forget it when I ride.


There are a number of different ways you can do a similar thing, such as wristbands or dogtags or even a piece of paper in your back pocket.  Whatever you do, it's vital that you can be identified, so I'd recommend that you invest in a product which does the job.


Month So Far


I clicked over 400 miles for the month today, which given the workload I've had is better than I'd expected.  I've taken to getting up a little earlier on a Saturday/Sunday and squeezing an extra twenty or so miles onto my routes to bump the mileage up as part of my London to Paris training.


You can just tell when you;ve done more miles as your fitness/stamina starts to kick-in, bike felt pretty good today.  All being well, April should be a similar month.  Fingers crossed.