>Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com> wrote:
>)Any unicycling close to the limits of a rider’s ability may result in a
>)fall, thus such a rider should wear a helmet and other protective
>)equipment.
doosh@best.com (Tom Holub) wrote:
>I agree.
>) A fall can also occur in all other (safer) types of )unicycling for
>numerous reasons (bump, dip or pothole in the road, )insufficient
>concentration, a distraction, foot slipping off pedal, etc. )or any
>combination of these), so a helmet and possibly other protective
>)equipment is still recommended for less risky unicycling as well.
>)The risk of falling while jogging is probably several orders of
>)magnitude less than the risk of falling while unicycling. Falling while
>)jogging is rare, so there is no compelling reason for a jogger to wear
>a )helmet.
>Falling while unicycling in unchallenging conditions, for reasonably
>experienced unicyclists, is about rare as falling while jogging. I ride
>almost every day, and I can’t recall a fall during normal riding within
>the past year. I fell a few times in the first couple of months after I
>learned, and I still fall occasionally working on new skills. Though
>none of my falls have endangered my head at all. I had several falls
>while running cross-country in high school. None of those endangered my
>head either.
The experiences of a single unicyclist over the course of a single year
when “unicycling in unchallenging conditions” can’t seriously be used as
the basis for risk assessment for all unicyclists, regardless of relative
experience.
Tom has been very lucky so far. He doesn’t recall a fall within the past
year? (: Perhaps, he forgot the fall on his head? 
Seriously, does Tom’s
fall free “normal riding” ensure that he will never fall in the future
(several decades) while “unicycling in unchallenging conditions”? Chances
are good that he will have a bad fall “in unchallenging conditions”
sometime in his lifetime (no matter how experienced or talented he is). If
he persists in wearing protective gear only when he expects the unicycling
to be challenging, he will probably be devoid of any protective gear if he
falls under “unchallenging conditions”.
Consider the possibility that we are not always in total control of our
riding. A fast moving baseball crossing our path at just the wrong moment
… A car behind us that doesn’t directly hit us, but clips us enough so
we lose control … There are many rare and not so rare circumstances that
instantly make unicycling in unchallenging conditions become extremely
challenging or simply impossible.
>I’m all for safety, but let’s be realistic.
Realistically, you can never predict with 100.000000% accuracy when any
unicyclist, regardless of experience and talent, will fall. Thus, the only
way to be 100.000000% certain that a unicyclist is wearing protective when
a fall occurs is for this unicyclist to wear this protective gear
100.000000% of the time that he rides.
Statistics come into play here in unicycling falls as in all things that
occur in life. Not every unicyclist in every classificaion of experience
and talent (.i.e. skill level) will have a fall in his lifetime under
“unchallenging conditions” (for unicyclists of that skill level), but a
significant percentage will, and of those a (very) small number may
sustain a serious injury or worse. (From what we have heard from Tom, he
may very well be “unchallenging unicycling” injury free throughout his
lifetime, but others of equal skill may not be so lucky.)
If we had accurate data on the circumstances of unicycling falls, we might
be able to say more on this topic with greater certainty. We could assign
risk probabilities to the various types of unicycling as percentages of
injurious falls and the severity of such injuries with protecive equipment
and without protective equipment. With such data or despite such data,
individuals of legal age and parents of minors could better decide for
themselves or their children what protective equipment is prudent to use
for each type of unicycling. (One can only hope that they error on the
side of safety when determining when protective equipment is worn.)
Sincerely,
Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com
) )Or perhaps we could persue the