Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday photos

Yes, it's been a while. It's been too cold to wear the fingerless gloves, and when I have the winter gloves on, I can't get the camera out quickly to grab the action shots that I find interesting. I tried wearing the fingerless gloves on some cold days last week, and the result is that all the skin on my fingertips is cracking off - right down to the first knuckle. My poor old fingers just don't like being semi-frozen any more.

The blogsphere has been alive lately with the sound and fury of a mighty battle over compulsory bike helmets. My favourite discussion was held at Catallaxy - mainly because they're not serious cyclists and don't get bogged down in the usual pro- and anti- jihads that the helmet argument usually creates.

I didn't really get involved. I wear a helmet all the time - during my last prang, my helmet impacted with the tarmac with a sickening crunch. That could have been my scone. If wearing them becomes voluntary, I'll still wear one. However, I am also thinking about getting a cargo bike for short trips to the shops. As any trip on the cargo bike would be a slow meander down quiet side streets, a helmet would be a stupid idea, and I wouldn't wear one. As adults, we should be able to assess the risks associated with our activities and make up our own minds about how to proceed.

So this week, we have a collection of photos showing cyclists with and without helmets. As I often read rants in the Daily Telegraph from motorists that claim that "all" cyclists are breaking the law by now wearing them, I also counted the number that I saw each day with and without helmets.

Here's one without.

The guy in orange moving to the right isn't wearing one.

All the people in the next two photos, and the 30-odd other cyclists that I counted today, were wearing helmets - and wearing them properly (ie, not tilted back, chin strap done up properly). That's pretty typical. On any given day, 10-15% will either have no helmet with them, or will have it dangling from their handlebars or sitting on their head with the straps undone.

And that's just how it was today.