Thursday, August 4, 2011  Ride Rules  Most of us have
participated in races, shop rides, charity rides, group or club
rides, and  almost all of these events are held with some
strings attached. USAC sanctioned events are governed by an
extensive handbook and officials are on hand to be sure that
technical requirements, such as junior gearing, are enforced and
that other conditions are met in order to assure that
competition is fair and is as safe as possible. Most
participants readily accept these rules as a condition of the
competition. Charity rides always require that riders sign a
waiver in which they accept responsibility for themselves and
accept that participation has some inherent dangers. Shop, club,
and casual group  rides are usually much more casual about
waivers and policies, but they all share one common requirement
and that is that riders are required to wear helmets. Helmets
required? Who sez?  I've never seen a rider show up for a race
or charity ride and try to insist on riding without a hel