Now I’m no expert, but I’ve never had a problem wearing protective gear.

I’m no ‘Safety Nazi’ but when it comes to body and bonce, if I am going to do anything which remotely puts either at risk of injury, I’ll wear whatever the ‘industry-standard’ is. Whether it is mandated by law (motorcycle and cycle helmets) or is simple common sense (MX boots, pants, shoulder pads and gloves) when riding a dirt bike off-road

One of the reasons is that in a lifetime either participating in, or reporting on activities as diverse as motorcycle and car racing, and triathlon and road and off-road (MTB) cycling, I have both experienced first-hand, and been on the spot when things have gone pear-shaped.

Sudden, in most cases completely accidental, death has a terrible and both immediate and lingering effect on everyone directly and also indirectly involved in an event. The reason many are immediately cancelled in the aftermath of a fatal accident.

Serious injury also leaves a kind of pall over a place and time. Though, to be fair, I have been lucky.

As a kid I remember skidding on pea gravel left by careless workmen after a pothole repair….and waking up after being knocked out cold for 30 seconds or so. And more recently – again literally – I split a $200+ Giro MTB helmet in two after head-butting the ground when I overbalanced and rode off the edge of a two-metre high wooden obstacle at my local MTB park.

Apparently I calmly picked myself up, dusted myself off and finished my ride….but I can’t remember a thing about that. All I know is that a fellow rider saw it happen and selflessly accompanied me back to the car park when he couldn’t make any sense of what I was saying!

I’ve also – a hundred years ago in a past life (as they say) when I was into trail bikes, and more recently at the MTB park – been the first person to arrive on the scene, and offer assistance to, fellow riders who have hit their heads hard after big crashes.

And, let me tell you for a fact. It ain’t pretty.

In the first case, a casual acquaintance at our local riding spot had taken his full face helmet off to have a chat, and – after the conversation turned to how he took a particular corner, he pulled out the kick starter of his MT125 Honda, did a quick clutched half spin to orient himself in the right direction then hared off to the corner where – after a textbook ‘flying-W,’ landed (with a suitably sickening thud) on a ledge of concrete-hard clay.

“Shit,” I remember thinking, “that’s not good.”

And sure enough when I arrived at the scene seconds later old mate was in full concussion mode, his body writhing, eyes lolling back in their sockets and tongue flicking in and out of his mouth, which was flapping open and shut like that of a freshly caught fish.

With cell phones still years away all I could do (after an involuntary puke!) was roll him into the recovery system, cover his upper body with my riding jacket to try and keep him warm, make sure he didn’t swallow his tongue then wait for the ambulance one of the other riders had raced to a nearby house to call.

Fast forward 30-something years and I happened on a similar scenario at the Mountain Bike Park. This time the typical tearaway teen had cased it big time off a jump, planting himself headfirst when (as I found out later) the ‘bargain on Trade Me’ jump bike he had just bought broke in two at the huge fatigue crack below the steering head the bastard vendor had been remiss to tell him about.

What caused the fracture to his skull, however, was the lack of any collapsible padding under the hard shell of his helmet..which was designed, apparently, for wake boarding, not bike riding, and had all the cushioning of a plastic baking bowl!

This time I didn’t throw up when I saw the poor kid writhing on the ground surrounded by a bunch of mates. Luckily for him (and me!) a local MTB club member with relevant first aid experience of what to do had arrived a few seconds earlier and took control, delegating me to traffic control.

I raise the subject here for two reasons. One is simple and applies to any activity where there is a heightened risk of accident or injury. In our case the obvious one is when we are off-road and miles away from the ‘authorities.’

Just because you are, don’t – ever – think that not wearing your seat belt is a good idea…

The other reason relates to that oxygen thief – Jeremy Teague – who organised a recent demonstration (which attracted just 25 people despite nationwide publicity) AGAINST the law which requires anyone riding a bicycle to wear a helmet.

Claiming he wanted to see more people cycling, he told media covering his demo that having to wear a helmet sent the ‘wrong message’ to people, and in particular to children – that cycling was dangerous. And that if helmets were optional, more would ride bikes.

To which all I can do is roll my eyes, and borrow a quote from ACT Party leader David Seymour in the lead-up to last year’s general election.

Referring to a hapless statement made by NZ First candidate Richard Prosser in regards to returning electricity assets to state ownership, Seymour famously said - and I quote – “I realise in a role such as mine you are supposed to have a certain amount of decorum. But that makes me really angry – what a f***ing  idiot!”

To read every story in the May 2018 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (April 13) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.