When bicycle helmets make no sense

[snopes]

Comment: Are these biking photographs real?

[Andrew of Ware]

The photographs could well be real. Victor Lewis is, I have discovered, a well known sports bicycle photographer.

Here's a page from the 'Descent World' site about him.

Another selection of his photographs were here. Included are the photographs in the OP. Captions state that the photographs were taken on some of Ireland's most dangerous cliffs and it gives the names of the cyclists.

[Lunasa]

The rocks do look a lot like the Cliffs of Moher.

[Cestrian]

If it was me... those backpacks would contain parachutes

I know it seems unlikely to urban eyes, but I do always wonder why people act surprised when there's evidence of mountain bikes up mountains. There's a clue in the name.

[Stoneage Dinosaur]

Hans & Peaty Ireland Pub Trip on Youtube has a brief video clip of the cyclists on the side of the cliffs (at around 1:08).

[KingDavid8]

That rock shelf in the third picture (where the guy's doing a wheelie) looks like it's about to give way.

David

Originally Posted by KingDavid8

That rock shelf in the third picture (where the guy's doing a wheelie) looks like it's about to give way.

David

It does kind of look like Wylie Coyote should be jumping up and down on the end of it, doesnt it?

Originally Posted by trollface

I know it seems unlikely to urban eyes, but I do always wonder why people act surprised when there's evidence of mountain bikes up mountains. There's a clue in the name.

Maybe those should be called cliff bikes. Big difference between biking a mountain trail and doing what they are doing!

What's also scary is that their feet are usually clipped into the pedals!

Rainmom

[Little Pink Pill]

That last one made my rear end feel all funny.

[JoeBentley]

Not to be funny but giving how slow you would have to transverse the narrow ledges, wouldn't it be easier and faster to simply get off the backs, walk them along the edges, and then get back on when you get back to a more manageable part of the trial?

Or is there some sort of mountain purist philosophy that says you can't get off the bike?

[Jay Tea]

Those guys aren't going anywhere, that's obvious, they're on that ledge purely for the purposes of some cool pictures - mountain bikers do this in the same sort of mannar that those guys do the 'extreme ironing'. It all makes for some great shots and pulling a wheelie etc is pretty daring/stupid, but its not as if they've been negotiating those cliffs or anything - they're just posing.

[Cervus]

I'm not sure why the title is "When bicycle helmets make no sense". OK, I get that if you fall off the edge, a helmet isn't going to do much to save you. But say the guy doing the wheelie fell and landed on the ledge, or fell against the cliff face. Assuming they're posed photographs, at least they're promoting the use of helmets as essential gear no matter where you're biking.

[Lunasa]

Hans Rey Adventure Team shows the photos as well.

Locals warned us of the upward drafts, that blow people off the cliffs - and sure enough the wind was picking up over night. We got an early start, and even the extra strong italian coffee I brewed couldn't clear our heads. Even though the conditions and weather were less than good, this was our one and only chance to ride the cliffs, so we did. It was a rad feeling to ride along the exposed edges and jump over some of the gaps. As time went on we started to feel more and more comfortable and daring.

The Cliffs of Moher are known to take a few lives a year of people walking the cliffs... cycling them in wet, windy weather is incredibly foolish. They should be happy to be alive. But then that's probably part of the fun.

The site also gives an email address for Victor Lucas, if anyone wants to ask about the photos.

[JoeBentley]

Originally Posted by Cervus

I'm not sure why the title is "When bicycle helmets make no sense". OK, I get that if you fall off the edge, a helmet isn't going to do much to save you. But say the guy doing the wheelie fell and landed on the ledge, or fell against the cliff face. Assuming they're posed photographs, at least they're promoting the use of helmets as essential gear no matter where you're biking.

Also they logically had to ride up a normal mountain bike trial to get to these cliffs, places where a fall might very well be lessened considerably by a helmet, and will logically have to go back down those very same or similar trials again. So what are they supposed to do, take the helmets off during this brief period where the danger is too great for the helmet to be effective? It's not like the helmets are hurting anything.

[Elkhound]

Originally Posted by Rainmom

What's also scary is that their feet are usually clipped into the pedals!

Rainmom

Although I must confess that I have never done anything as extreme as what these guys are shown doing--I am not totally crazy, after all--it is actually safer to have one's feet clipped to the pedals than otherwise. I know this may seem counterintuative, but as an experienced cyclist I can tell you that it is so.

The reason? If one wipes out without one's feet clipped, one is likely to go flying as one is an 'object in motion' and the bike becomes an 'object at rest' and Newton's Laws come into effect. If one's feet are clipped to the pedals, the rider and bicycle are one and if there is a fall it will just be a matter of flopping over.

(Granted, that this situation may be an exception. Never having been in this situation, I wouldn't know. [And never planning to be, thank you very much!])

[Jay Tea]

As far as I know, clips help cadence, riders in dangerous situations (and these guys 'are' posing. there are only a few metres of exposed ledge you can actually wheel a bike on there) need their feet free for balance in tricky situations, such as bunny hopping and slow turns.

[Elkhound]

Originally Posted by Jay Tea

As far as I know, clips help cadence, riders in dangerous situations (and these guys 'are' posing. there are only a few metres of exposed ledge you can actually wheel a bike on there) need their feet free for balance in tricky situations, such as bunny hopping and slow turns.

I use clipless pedals. Special cleats in my shoes lock into slots in the pedals. If I have to stick out my foot for the reasons you cite, a quick twist will release them.

The advantage of using toe-clips or cleats are not only (as you say) keeping a good cadence, but also that one's rising foot provides some impetus--it isn't on for a free ride as with freefooting.

[Jay Tea]

The thing is though, the time it takes you to make this 'quick twist' is often all the time you have - I suppose it does depend on the terrain you're cycling in. I spend a lot of time flying through the air, making Jay shaped holes in holly bushes...

[Mosherette]

Originally Posted by JoeBentley

Also they logically had to ride up a normal mountain bike trial to get to these cliffs, places where a fall might very well be lessened considerably by a helmet, and will logically have to go back down those very same or similar trials again.

Heh, not at the Cliffs of Moher there's not. Nice big car park about 20 yards from where that picture's taken, and if the usual crowds of tourists are around they would make riding to the edge rather hard.

These pictures worry me less than the large amount of unsteady looking tourists I saw standing leaning right over the edge of the very same thick bed of rock where I was there.