Time for a New Helmet

Went mountain biking on my lunch break yesterday, as I often do, here in town. Trails aren't too crazy - lots of roots, some steep climbs, some loose surfaces - but overall pretty mild. I was just there Monday for my weekly group ride, and ride the place often enough I know it well. Good ride overall, with a PR on the first/biggest climb, and at a quick enough pace to add some extra distance.

Then as I was wrapping up, my head found a low-hanging branch that wasn't there two days earlier. It wasn't enough to cause a crash, but I definitely felt the impact, and put a couple of sizable dents and scrapes on my helmet. I still had a headache two hours later, and thanks to having a neuropsychologist wife who knows all the bad things that could potentially be, we made a trip to urgent care to confirm it was a mild concussion and nothing more serious. Symptoms were nothing worse than a headache, and I'm fine this morning.

The helmet did its job. The kind of amazing thing is I've been riding seriously enough to know I need to wear a helmet since the early 90's, and this is the first one I've destroyed. Usually they get replaced because of age, or when they get gross, and this one was quickly approaching both of those points. I'll be happy to continue with this mandatory replacement interval in the future.