Chad Comello

Tag: biking

  • Every day is helmet day!

    It always blows my mind when I see people of all ages biking around with no helmets on.

    Teenagers, I get it—they’re too cool for school and have undeveloped prefrontal cortexes, so they’re dumb by design. And motorcyclists without helmets? They clearly have a death wish. Good luck to them.

    But grownups? Especially parents riding with their kids who are also without helmets? What are you doing?

    Are you afraid of looking dorky? Because when I see someone without a helmet, I don’t think “Whoa, that person looks totally rad.” I think, “I hope their health insurance is good enough to cover the hospital bills coming their way.”

    And if you’re thinking, “Why do I need a helmet when I’m not on the road? I’m just going on a leisurely ride through the park.” Good question—do you know how many times I’ve been biking on a bike path and had a squirrel or bird zoom past and force me to suddenly swerve away? Or witnessed another biker get T-boned by a car despite riding on the sidewalk? Not zero!

    If you wear a seatbelt in a car, you should wear a helmet on a bike.

    But don’t just listen to me. Listen to the “Every Day is Helmet Day” PSA that aired nonstop throughout the mid-’90s in the Madison area and remains burned into my brain:

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  • Rules for Biking

    I recently went on a bike ride to the library with my 5 year old. It was the first time he was on his own (training-wheeled) bike instead of riding along in the trailer and it was really fun. He was so jazzed up about it, which caused him to start monologuing his thoughts throughout the entire ride.

    Some of those thoughts morphed into what he considers the Rules for Biking, which are as follows:

    1. “Always look forward, except when there’s wildlife or really beautiful parks, and you can just look for a second.”

    2. “If you get a scrape on your leg, it looks cool. Not too much cool, just still a little bit of cool.”

    3. “Everyone who loves biking should stick together.”

    Bonus quote: “Ahhhh, don’t you just love having the wind in your face?”

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