Using my head

Woahhh, thwack, crunch, unghhh, oof, ha ha ha!

It was in a fit of giggles that I ended up in a heap in a brambly ditch on Thursday's night ride last week.

Thursday night's mountainbike route. Look out for that tree

In a continuing effort to purge a lingering cold, I'd set off up Altar Lane. Pausing at the top to recover I met  a group of local bikers and together we explored the cheeky trails on Harden Moor.  Descending through St. Ive's I misjudged:

1. My speed
2. The adhesive qualities of my front tyre
3. The frictional properties of muddy pine needles
4. The proximity of a tree

Bang. There I was in a ditch having used, first, my left shoulder and then my head to stop myself against a particularly unyeilding larch tree. My helmet (a 6 year old, budget Giro Indicator) had certainly done its job as I was almost completely unscathed while the helmet's cradle had snapped, absorbing energy that otherwise would have been borne by my head.

Helmet showing minor damage to the shell

Snapped cradle means a replacement

Three days later my body is still a little stiff and bruised but thankfully my cerebral qualities, such as they are, are still intact. My new helmet's a Giro Hex.