Cyclist killed in Olympic Park: BBC Northampton interview

Following the bus accident which killed a cyclist in the Olympic Park on 1 August, 2012, I was asked to be on the BBC Northampton Breakfast show to talk about cycle safety, and helmet law.

This is something I have spoke about many times before, and I still feel very strongly that the cycle lawys shoudl be addressed.

Tragic consequences of riding without a helmet

This was shared with me by someone through facebook - It is from the Wiggle Blog.

It is Definately worth a read. Helmets DO save lives.

Should kids wear helmets? should adults wear helmets?

I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw this article in FIRST NEWS, a weekly children’s newspaper.

It states that there is little point in adults wearing helmets because they do not protect against and that not enough people died from cycling related accidents for it to be made law.

Melinda Hewitt: Helmets save lives

April 19th 2011 was a lovely day. I'd picked up my bike from the shop after getting it serviced and was really looking forward to riding home. It's only 24 miles or so and although it is uphill, it's not an unpleasant ride. My partner was going for a run with colleagues before he came home so I sent him a text to let him know what time to expect me back then he could plan dinner for us.

Week 16: Clinical Psychologist report.

I have been looking forward to this day for a while. I good old black and white assessment on how I am doing. Head injury is a funny thing. You lose all grasp on what symptoms are the head injury and what are just you and life in general. It is such a fine line and sometimes no line at all. You also do not ever reach a time when you think ‘ah, I’m better now’. Neither can you say when you start feeling better, it all happens incrementally over time.

Mountain biker gets taken out by an Antelope

Mountain bikers are just some: no obstacle is too much. However, there are still surprises. as Evan der Spuy found out during a mountain bike race at Albert Falls in KwaZulu-Natal. Watch this video... 

Interview with BBC Northampton breakfast

BBC radio Northampton

I was approached by BBC Northampton, as the schools had gone back, and they were doing a little bit of research on helmet safety. Tom Percival, the reporter who called me said that he had noticed that many school children did not wear a helmet when they cycled to school. He wanted my take on it, and could we do it on air? Sure.

Head injury week 11: the clinical psychologist

Been back at work for a couple of weeks now. The load is still proving to be a challenge. I am not sure how much is me and how much is the fact that I do in fact have more work to do. It’s hard to separate the symptoms. I do know that my memory is proving to be a challenge though!

Helmets Save Lives

CONTACT ME TO ADD YOUR ENDORSEMENT TO THIS MESSAGE, or YOUR STORY

I always wear a cycle helmet. do you? Mine is more through habit than safety though, till Saturday 16 July 2011, when I was found by a passing motorist. I was lying unconscious in the middle of a roundabout.

A helmet saved my life that day. I came to discover that I wasn't the only one. Cycle helmets DO save lives Here are our stories:

11 stories / personal accounts have been added, to date.

Michael Downes

I started racing triathlon in 2008 after my elder sister finished one and I was jealous. I'm a swimmer so I hadn't been on a bike since I was a child and I certainly didn't have any kit. Now I'm a little accident prone so a helmet was a must.... Since then I've had two hospital trips where my helmet prevented things from being a lot worse. The most recent of these was in June 2011.

Ben Madden

I recently learned of this awfully tragic story involving a teenage cyclist and a deer. It just goes to show, ANYTHING can happen, and its not just the traffic that can pose a danger to cyclists.

RIP Ben.

Please please please, wear a helmet. 

Head injury: Week 10 – the return to work

I thought I was doing ok to be honest. I managed to get to China and back, all seemed to be moving in the right direction, yes? Well, no.... at least in part.

Don’t run before you can walk

To be fair, I was actually quite nervous about the return to work. It has been two months, my workload has changed dramatically, what if I can’t cope? What will people think of me if I forget stuff, or repeat ask questions in conversation? I went to see a clinical psychologist this week. I am still wondering why the brain injury team has sent me there.

Team acknowledgements: the journey to Beijing

On the surface, this would seem like a story about a one woman mission to achieve. That is not the case at all. I would like to acknowledge the people along the way that helped in the TEAM EFFORT to get me to the start line and round that world championship race, enabling me to achieve my original top 20 goal. Without them all, I would not have made it to Beijing.

Head Injury Week 5 and 6: getting there?

It wasn’t till I reflected on the past few weeks that I remembered and realised that there have been more small improvements. There are still a string of frustrating side effects though: I am now at the point that I tend to forget that some things could still be related to the head injury.

Beijing (the world championships) is now frighteningly close, only just over a week away. I feel completely unprepared. I have to work hard to focus on the fact that my targets and goals are very much changed from their original, and that I am still in fact lucky to be alive. I am still going on my reverse pacing plan, start easy, finish up running for my life, so to speak!

I WILL go to Beijing!

I have had a tough ride these past few weeks, mostly mentally, may I add. Dealing with a head injury has proved much more of a challenge than I could ever have imagined. Imagine all training and fitness ability is removed from you in an instant, only 6 weeks before the most important race of the season: the World Championships. It's very hard not to spiral into a downward depression realising all your season goals have just been taken away from you.


NLP has taught me a few valuable lessons though. You need to deal with the now. What's the point of fretting about yesterday? Or tomorrow? Or what everyone else thinks? I have not found this easy though. I simply couldn't work out the value and purpose of going to a race where I knew I would pull out a sub par performance. I reached the point where I was investigating how much of the money I could claim back and where I might find a consultant willing to write the letter.

Head injury week 3 and 4: Project regain fitness begins

I have come to realise that a head injury is a little known and little appreciated thing. Why? Because I wish I had £5 for each person that has said to me this week ‘oh, gosh I am glad to see you have fully recovered now’.

I spoke to another head injury victim today. He was not a cyclist, it was completely different circumstances. However there were similarities. Natural assumptions. The problem with a head injury is all the symptoms are inside my head so how do YOU know how well I am? You don’t. You aren’t expected to. Therefore you assume. We all do.

The current symptoms:

Phil Glenister: Helmets save lives

Helmets save lives, and without them, they don't.

It actually relates to my wife’s cousin, a teacher, whom was cycling to school several years ago, without a helmet on, on the last day of summer term.

Head Injury Week 2: up and running (sort of!)

The forced go slow and new scatter brain that I seem to have developed is becoming very frustrating. I just can’t think or do as fast as I used to be able to do. Its like a need a pause button while my brain processes stuff. The number of times that I have had the ‘well?’ kind of looks from my husband – its getting quite regular.

HELMETS SAVE LIVES: BBC Look East interview

This is the interview that BBC look East put out on the 29 July. It was repeated several times during the day.

If you have not done so already, please visit my helmet appeal campaign page, and read some of the other testimonials that are on there.

Thank you, and keep safe.

Andrew Neill: Helmets Save Lives

In March 2010, I was hit by a car whilst training for a charity triathlon.

My back was broken in 2 places, amongst many other injuries.

The only part of my body not marked or injured was my head. Purely because I was wearing a helmet.

I wrote a diary of my time in hospital, purely to keep my mind active whilst being immobile. www.bhit.org (a charity that promotes the use of cycle helmets for children).