i'm not on 'my high horse' if i'm on a bike

This summer has been a particularly crazyy one - mainly due to my fiance's freak bike accident the day before Canada Day (also his birthday!). We'd just moved to Ottawa three days before and were expecting house guests that night, when his bike chain popped off his bike and threw him face and shoulder first onto the road. Even though he broke his shoulder in four places, which really sucked (and continues to suck) for him, he managed to only get a small eyebrow cut that required a few stitches because he was wearing a BIKE HELMET.

If he hadn't worn one, we would have had much bigger problems than him not being able to work for 3 weeks, needing routine surgery, not being able to unpack anything for a month and taking 3-4 months to recover use of his arm. I've been grateful for his choice to wear a cycling helmet everyday since!

This post is dedicated to promoting bike helmet safety for anyone riding a bike, and especially for those who ride their bike in a city. Like so many cyclists who don't want to wear a helmet, you probably love your hairdo and don't want to mess with a good thing (which I can relate to). Because of the unexpected and uncontrollable factors of motorists, small bike malfunctions, or just plain bad luck, it doesn't hurt to love your head even more and put on a helmet. For the fashion-conscious, I've compiled a list of sweet-lookin' helmets that will help you maintain your look and still be safe, as seen below:

This helmet, made by the Danish Design company YAKKAY, combines a helmet with a bit of panache.

This is the Roof R06 Bamboo motorcycle helmet from French designer Claude Morin, which has become the prototype for up-and-coming bicycle helmet designers' use of sustainable, inexpensive, and beautiful materials.

The last helmet is one produced by NYC and designed by Yves Behar, with the intention of promoting bike safety and awareness in the city. Sleek, highly visible, and awesome!

Links and Information:

~For current information on how to fit a helmet to your noggin properly, visit this link to Ontario's Ministry of Transportation website on Bike Safety.

~If you're in Ottawa and want to find out more about cycling safety in our fair town, check out this link to Ottawa's Citizen's for Safe Cycling.

~General Information on Safe Cycling best practices