![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Things better than a glass slipper.
Aug. 20th, 2010 07:26 pmThe new Bern helmet was sitting on the porch in front of Steve's apartment when I got home last night.
I actually had to shorten the chin harness, unlike the Bell "Bellisima," which was let out as far as it would go. Fit is comfortably secure and did not produce a headache on the 8 mile jaunt I took this afternoon out to Alameda Point and back.
The padding is a huge improvement. In addition to a thin Cross-of-Lorraine arrangement (jpg courtesy of http://wl33.com/2010/05/bern-helmets-get-serious-about-safety-and-style/) inside the top of the helmet, there's a relatively cushy ring of padding all the way around. All of it attaches to the polystyrene inner shell with patches of Velcro and a couple of snaps, so you can pull it all out, wash it with a mild soap and water when it inevitably gets stanky, and re-insert it. I was riding into the sun beginning at about 4:40 PM PDT without sunglasses. The narrow visor is low enough on my head that it actually did what a visor is for and protected my eyes from the glare. A glance at my reflection as I passed a shop window on Lincoln confirms that it's very Big And White and Shiny: the vents are mostly in the top, so there's a lot of unbroken surface.
Big and Black and Dull. 
Big and White and Shiny!
Given![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
horsefriend2 's warning about incompatible paints and plastics, I wasn't surprised to find a warning in the little booklet in half a dozen languages that came with it that boiled down to Do Not Modify This Helmet! Yet, the hang tag on the chin harness included a decal with Bern's logo on it that practically begged to be stuck to the exterior (even though there's a smaller Bern logo already on the thing) and there are several labels affixed to the interior shell. Clearly some adhesives are more equal than other. Bike-helmet-compatible reflective decals seem the best option if I want to gussy it up at all.
(Note to self: I need to find a white or light colored jacket for those occasions when I'm likely to be out on the bike near dark.)
Anyway, I put the Bell in my backpack and rode out to Cycles of Change at the Point and donated that sucker. It'll fit someone else. Came home a slightly different route than usual, just 'cause. Felt good. Still haven't taken her out of first gear.
James had been promising to send me "some books" he doesn't have room to keep. Four of the five boxes arrived this afternoon. There was a fifth box, but it was addressed to one of my neighbors. I walked down and left it on their porch. I did not see my fifth box at their house, so I emailed James with the tracking numbers of the ones I did get and hopefully the USPS will get the last box here in the next few days.
Holy bibliomania! Only one title duplicated anything I already own, and that's on the Unicorn Tapestries. Mostly Japanese-interest stuff, with some other things mixed in. I need to sit down and go through them at some point, but wow, what a haul.
I actually had to shorten the chin harness, unlike the Bell "Bellisima," which was let out as far as it would go. Fit is comfortably secure and did not produce a headache on the 8 mile jaunt I took this afternoon out to Alameda Point and back.
The padding is a huge improvement. In addition to a thin Cross-of-Lorraine arrangement (jpg courtesy of http://wl33.com/2010/05/bern-helmets-get-serious-about-safety-and-style/) inside the top of the helmet, there's a relatively cushy ring of padding all the way around. All of it attaches to the polystyrene inner shell with patches of Velcro and a couple of snaps, so you can pull it all out, wash it with a mild soap and water when it inevitably gets stanky, and re-insert it. I was riding into the sun beginning at about 4:40 PM PDT without sunglasses. The narrow visor is low enough on my head that it actually did what a visor is for and protected my eyes from the glare. A glance at my reflection as I passed a shop window on Lincoln confirms that it's very Big And White and Shiny: the vents are mostly in the top, so there's a lot of unbroken surface.
Big and Black and Dull. Big and White and Shiny!Given
horsefriend2 's warning about incompatible paints and plastics, I wasn't surprised to find a warning in the little booklet in half a dozen languages that came with it that boiled down to Do Not Modify This Helmet! Yet, the hang tag on the chin harness included a decal with Bern's logo on it that practically begged to be stuck to the exterior (even though there's a smaller Bern logo already on the thing) and there are several labels affixed to the interior shell. Clearly some adhesives are more equal than other. Bike-helmet-compatible reflective decals seem the best option if I want to gussy it up at all. (Note to self: I need to find a white or light colored jacket for those occasions when I'm likely to be out on the bike near dark.)
Anyway, I put the Bell in my backpack and rode out to Cycles of Change at the Point and donated that sucker. It'll fit someone else. Came home a slightly different route than usual, just 'cause. Felt good. Still haven't taken her out of first gear.
James had been promising to send me "some books" he doesn't have room to keep. Four of the five boxes arrived this afternoon. There was a fifth box, but it was addressed to one of my neighbors. I walked down and left it on their porch. I did not see my fifth box at their house, so I emailed James with the tracking numbers of the ones I did get and hopefully the USPS will get the last box here in the next few days.
Holy bibliomania! Only one title duplicated anything I already own, and that's on the Unicorn Tapestries. Mostly Japanese-interest stuff, with some other things mixed in. I need to sit down and go through them at some point, but wow, what a haul.
