kerrrRUNCH

Don't worry I haven't just taken a spill. If that were the case there would be a much more intersting pic of my injuries over there ----->.

Or possibly not!!

The story is - in some ways - more worrying.

I was stood on the train the other day, actually crammed would be a better word, following a commute back from Leeds. It was rush hour, I had my bike and so the only place for my helm was to hold it directly in front of me. Now given that it's about a 25min journey and given my being English I couldn't possibly make eye contact with, let alone talk to, any of the plentiful supply of perfect strangers, and so was forced to examine my helm closely by way of entertainment.

On examining I discovered that there was a crack in it - running the full depth of the polystyrene stuff from - about where main break is in the picture is actually. In fact just where, should I hit something and come off I would expect my helm to take the brunt (unless it's the kerb. In which case experience shows ones knee takes the brunt leaving any form of protective equipment one may have deployed completely unscathed but I digress).

Now as you might imagine I found this quite disturbing. Disturbing as

1. I had no idea when this occurred (no not during the knee thing).
2. I had just weaved my way through rush hour Leeds traffic and muppetish pedestrians.
3. Last but not least - I had to do the same to get home from the station when I got off the train.

Not only did I have to do the same - but I had to do the same along a very busy main road known (at least in my mind) for the stupidity of it's drivers - by Hudd's standard's anyway - nothing compered to the driving on Chapletown rd. But that's another story.

Anyway, needless to say I got back in one piece (having been veeeeery careful).

This prompted me to make a lovely purchase (actually P. did as a prezzie; isn't she nice) - more on that later. And also for my older younger brother to destruction test my old lid. Hence the pic.

It took him three large jumps to render it to that state - and that was with a crack in the front. Sufficed to say my confidence in MET lids to stop your head exploding in a bike launching scenario is greatly increased.