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Helmets do change bike riding from fun and carefree to a mode of transportation - at least a little bit. For me, having grown up without the helmet, its a real drag to strap it on for minor trips. However, I acknowledge its better safe than sorry, and good examples need to be set. For certain trips on more traffked I think they're absolutely necessary, and don't feel the same resentment.
I see far more adults riding bikes.
I have a few teenage neighbors and NONE of them have bikes. They use skateboards or walk or just hang around. One will go no where unless he has mommy's car despite his 'dudes' living right around the corner.
My husband has noted that he finds this very strange. When he was a kid and teen he was always out riding his bike.
My son is 11 and doesn't ride due to his physical problems. Maybe some day.
My kids don't think twice about helmets, they and their friends even customize them with stickers and paint and gel pens and stuff, they have fun with it. They've been wearing them since they were old enough to ride with me in the child seat attached to my bike, so it's no big deal to them. They just associate helmets with bikes like we do seatbelts with cars now. It took some time for my husband and I to get used to wearing helmets, because we never wore them when we were kids... but now it's no big deal.
Yesterday we rode about 17 miles on our bikes - from where we live to the big outdoor pool and back home (it's 8.6 miles one way). Today we only rode a few miles along the river bike trail to one of my oldest son's friends houses who has a pool.
A lot of kids these days have rollerblades, skateboards, or scooters instead of bikes. That is something I've noticed, too... we prefer bikes a sa family because we do grocery shopping, go to the pool and the river, go to the tennis courts, and sometimes go to the mall on our bikes... and so you can carry more on bikes. I think, though, that more people are getting skates and scooters because of an increase in bike theft. Everytime you lock your bike up, you take a risk that it won't be there for you when you return... skates and scooters you can carry with you.
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