Helmets and Traumatic Brain Injury

This gave me a good laugh.

I'm a big advocate for helmets. I study psychology in school and I learn a lot about brain damage and its impact on us. Helmets are a necessity  They do quite a bit to save your brain and your head. You are your brain, without it you cannot function, so I say, lets all wear helmets!

The main thing that helmets do is they keep a closed head injury from becoming an open head injury. It is obviously preferable to keep your brain inside of your head rather than spread on the pavement. Especially because the consistency of a brain is like pudding, and it will not stay solid for long, but will "melt" out onto the pavement. Wear a helmet, keep your brain inside your head, and keep things from entering your brain.

Even with a closed head injury there is some damage that can be done. Your brain is a very mushy substance that floats in a liquid inside of your skull. When your head hits the pavement it has been accelerating. It hits the ground and stops quite suddenly. Sadly, your floating brain takes longer to stop. It will continue to accelerate until it hits the inside of your skull, this is called the coup. It will then bounce off your skull, move backwards, and then  hit the other side, this is called the contre-coup. Both of these impacts can cause severe damage to your brain known as Tramatic Brain Injury, or TBI.

Coup and Contrecoup

TBI is the leading cause of death and disability for children and adolescents. There are roughly 2,685 deaths a year due to TBI, and at least 37,000 hospitalizations with 435,000 emergency room visits. The most incidence of hospitalization and death occurs from ages 14-18 years old. There are different types of TBI, such as contusions which is bleeding in the brain. Or concussions  which is similar to a contusion but it includes the loss of consciousness. Depending on the severity of these one may develop mild to severe TBI. Loss of many forms of functioning can occur.

Along with concussion and contusion is Axonal Shearing. The inside of your skull is not smooth. My Behavioral Neurobiology teacher gave the good example that it is shaped like a skate park. Ramps, bowls, dips and hills. There are quite a few ridges inside your skull. When your skull rotates quickly and then stops even quicker, like hitting your head on the ground, your brain does not stop rotating and these ridges literally "shear" or tear through your brain matter, causing bleeding and severe neural damage.

Inside the top of your skull. Usually there are no
screws sticking into your head so...ignore those.
Pay attention to the ridges instead.

How does wearing a helmet help to prevent this? Well, most of this damage is cause by your speeding skull being stopped suddenly, while your brain takes a moment longer to slow down. Helmets help lengthen the time it takes to slow your skull down making the deceleration less damaging. As your head hits the ground, the foam in your helmet is crushed by your head. As it crushes it slows your head down gradually, rather than all at once. This causes the damage to be less severe, and can very well save your life, if not your neural functioning. 

This is why you should buy a new helmet if you get into a crash. The foam has been crushed and will not work the same again. It is safer to buy a new helmet. 

Wear a helmet, just do it. 

Make a Wish Bram Stoker!

Today Bram Stoker was remembered in a Google Doodle on Google's homepage. This is Stoker's 165th birthday. Bram Stoker is best known for his still-popular novel, Dracula. I love that book. It is masterfully written. I love the format of the book. It doesn't read like a normal book, but is more a collection of journal entries, letters, and newspaper articles, which all combine to tell the story of the Vampire. It is an engaging read, and one that really scares you at times. I would recommend it to anyone. It's no wonder why it is a "classic".

Vlad Tepes,
or Vlad the Impaler

"So Mason," you may ask, "Why are you putting this up on a blog about Romanian Orphans and Longboarding? I fail to see the connection. Why Bram Stoker? Why Dracula's Dash for Hope too?" Well, I do this because the main inspiration for the character of Dracula is none other than Romanian national hero, Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. Even the name Dracula comes from a Romanian word that means, "The Devil." Transylvania is a region in the central part of Romania. I got to live there for a while. It is a beautiful area of the world, but a little eerie on a foggy winter night.

Vlad was a very bloody ruler who helped to unite Romania. His methods were violent and often involved impaling hundreds of people till they die. The Romanians love him. Why? Not because he was so ruthless, but because he was able to hold the country together and keep the Turks from conquering. There is an anecdote that the Turks sent an army to scout out Romania before the larger force arrived. When the main part of the Turkish army reached the borders of Romania they found their scouts...but not in the condition they expected. Every soldier in the scout army was impaled on a pole and their bodies lined the road that led to Romania. The anecdote says that the Turkish Sultan was so disgusted and horrified that he vomited, and then turned his army around, leaving Romania alone.

Stories about Vlad are fascinating, macabre, and at times they can be far-fetched. My favorite, however, is Bram Stoker's story. Thanks Bram, I appreciate what you've done for us all in giving us the gift of your book.

Now...the question, do vampires exist? Were they really killed. Here are two thoughts for you to think about. In order to kill a vampire one must drive a wooden stake through their heart and chop off their head. SPOILER ALERT: In the book, Dracula is hastily "killed" with a Bowie knife to the heart, and a kukuri knife to chop off his head. This is close, but where is the wooden stake? Did it work? I believe that this is the question that led to the Dracula sequel, written by Bram's descendant Dacre Stoker. I've never read it, so tell me what you think.

Bram Stoker

Another evidence for vampires, is someone I met in Romania. We used to teach free English classes to people in the cities in which we lived. On lady we taught was about six foot three inches tall, and apparently a judo champion, very intimidating  She always wore black, with a turtleneck or a high collar. Sometimes dressed like a pirate, knee high boots and frilly sleeves with a vest. Her son was a really nice kid who was also really tall, thin and had a "goth" look. We could never tell how old she was, 29 or 50. One time we asked the class what they all did for work. Her answer, she is a real estate agent for a Count who lives in a castle in Transylvania  Sound like Jonathan Harker to anyone else. Vampire? Well, I'm not saying yes, but I'm not saying no.

Wear A Helmet

There is an attitude that bothers me quite a bit. In the culture of bike riding, skateboarding, longboarding, etc, kids think that is is not cool to wear a helmet. That is looks dumb. I'm not going to lie, but the instant I see someone riding without a helmet I assume they are a person of sub-par intelligence. If they had any shred of smarts, and their mind was an asset to them, surely they would want to protect their brain. If they don't want to protect their brain I guess its not that important to them, which means their brain must not be that high-functioning or helpful. AKA they're dumb. 

I hope I haven't put it too strongly, but when you buy a board, or a bike, a scooter, or a motorcycle you should buy a helmet at the same time. 

I study psychology in school and we look at a lot of different brain damage. When I hear someone tell me they won't wear a helmet because it will make them look stupid, I tell them they will look more stupid when they suffer Traumatic Brain Injury and have to live life as a vegetable. I'm pretty passionate about wearing helmets, and I plan on posting much more on it later. Until then, here is a friendly message from the Brain Injury Association

Kahuna Big Stick

As a college student, it goes without saying that I am poor. That is just the life we all lead, and its not that big a problem, I eat, I have a place to live, I'm doing really well. I am also paying for this trip from my own pocket. However longboard equipment gets expensive. I have been petitioning help and I would like to introduce one of my sponsors.

Paddle Handle

The rubber blade

I've been wondering how to get more endurance and mileage out of each day, and I thought a stick to push with would be good. At first I contemplated using a crutch, or a broomstick with a rubber tip. Thankfully, a company that saw where they could help stepped in and gave me some assistance  Kahuna Creations is a company that makes longboards and also a really cool little invention they call the Big Stick. Its like a paddle, but at the end there is a rubber blade of sorts that you can use to push off the road. A genius idea. They helped me out in acquiring two sticks, one for me and one for Kenton.

I have been nothing but impressed with them and their product.

I got the adjustable stick which will be helpful to carry on my backpack on the trip. It is much more sturdy than I anticipated and the rubber end is quite durable. I've been able to go on rides for four or five miles and my feet never touch the ground. It adds a whole new element to longboarding! It is also a really good core and arm workout. I went out for an hour when I got it and I was beyond sore the next day. For distance longboarding this thing is a must-have.

I really love having it. I get some funny looks sometimes, but I like to think everyone is just jealous of how awesome I am.

Over the weekend a friend and I went up Provo Canyon to ride around and look at the fall leaves. It was so beautiful we decided to take some pictures while we were up there, we rode a casual three or four miles. It was a perfect day, and using the Kahuna Stick was a lot of fun.

My lovely friend and photographer, Jamie Wheeler. She's a little upset
 because I made her wear a helmet.

The fall leaves were amazing. 

I feel a little vain with this montage of me. 

I hope you are all of jealous of the beautiful day I got to spend. 

Few things make you as happy as spending time in nature, riding your board, and
spending time with good friends. Good day.

Thanks Kahuna for the help. I really appreciate it. 

Longboard Helps: How to Change Bearings

A few weeks ago Freya, my scooter, was damaged in a parking lot while I was at work. I finished my shift to find that someone had moved her, knocked off the mirror, and added a few new scratches. To make it even worse the scooter would not start. Therefore I was back to longboarding to get around. Carrying the big Sector Nine board around campus gets a little tiring and so I was looking for something smaller for school. I settled on a blue Stereo Vinyl Cruiser which I found for a pretty good price.

Its a nice little board, very old school, and very fun to ride around. However the stock bearings it came with were junk and wouldn't spin very fast. I replaced them with new bearings and decided to take the opportunity to explain about skate bearings.

For the longest time I had no idea what bearings were, how to clean them, or how to replace them when needed. I've decided to help out all the budding boarders and explain it now. Your board has the deck where you stand, under the deck are the metal trucks. Your wheels attach to the trucks, however, rubber wheels don't spin too well against metal. In between the wheels and the trucks are the bearings. Metal rings that have little metal spheres inside. This spins which allows your wheels to spin. After time the spheres wear out or get dirty and you need to replace the bearings.



How to Change Bearings

All you need is your board and a small wrench with which you can take the bolt off the end of the trucks.

Take the wrench and carefully unscrew the bolt off the trucks. Then take your wheel off. Be careful because there will be two small washer rings called bearing spacers, be sure not to lose them. 

Carefully unscrew the bolt...

...and take the wheel off the trucks

Then, all you need is the trucks and your wheel. Angle the bearing on the very end of the trucks and push carefully on the wheel. The bearing should just pop out. 

If you want to save the old bearings, for another board or just to
clean them, be very careful not to push too hard and damage
the bearings

Then you take your new bearings and push them into the wheel. They might not go in all the way just by using your fingers. Do not pound on them to make them fit better! Instead, put the wheel back on the trucks and tighten the nut as far as you can and this will push the bearings in all the way. Then loosen the nut until the wheel can spin freely and wiggle a little bit on the trucks. You have just succeeded in replacing your bearings. Congratulations. Its not too bad is it? But if no one every told you, you would have no idea. Now get out and ride on your board, after an hour or so the bearings should be broken in enough and spinning beautifully.

Speaking of Safety...When Bambi Attacks!

I was at work just yesterday when someone told me of a longboarding accident they had heard about on the news. It was not the kind of longboard accident I had ever heard of before, or even something I had been afraid of in the past. Going 40 mph in a practice run for a downhill race, a longboarder was knocked off of his board...by a deer. This seemed funny to me after my recent post on safe riding. I guess you can't think of everything while you're out there. Good this this kid was wearing a helmet.

I had a video posted on this but it has been removed. Click on the news link above to see another video on it.

Longboard Helps: How to Brake

Unforgiving rock hard asphalt. Covered in little gravel pebbles and tar. 20 grit sandpaper surface. This is what is waiting to welcome you if you fall off your longboard. This is not a welcome most wish to have. Longboarding can be a very fun sport, but if not done safely it can cause serious injury or even death. One thing to keep in mind is that the faster you go, the harder you fall. Therefore it is paramount that you keep your speed in check.

If you get going too fast not only does your danger level build, but you may experience the dreaded SPEED WOBBLES!!! (Dun dun duuuun). At certain high speeds and with certain board set ups, your board will start to uncontrollably pitch from left to right and eventually throw you off. Take this poor sad man for example. He had a bad case of the speed wobbles, and the lucky guy was stupid enough NOT to wear a helmet. Bad decision every time! He's lucky he missed the car and made it to the grass.

I remember my worst case of the speed wobbles. I decided it would be a good idea to put my longboard trucks on my skateboard. Then, stupid and without a helmet, I decided to bomb a hill. I was surprised at how sharp my turns were on my board. However I forgot that the shorter the board, the less stable at high speeds, and soon my carving turned into wobbling. The full force of my stupidity hit me and I wondered what to do. I decided to bail before I got going too fast. I jumped off my board...took two running steps...tripped...did a flip....landed on my back and rolled four or five feet where I came to a stop on the curb of the road.

I lay there bleeding, groaning and wondering why I ever did something so dumb. My little brother came racing by me on his board, "Mason! Are you okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!" And he shot right by me as I lay there in the road. I eventually pulled myself off the curb and onto the grass and waited for my brother to come save me. Five or ten minutes later he returned and was somehow surprised, after my ragdoll asphalt acrobatics, that I was still laying down. He took me home and I was fine except for some roadburn and bruises. I am lucky beyond all reason that I didn't hit my head. When I flipped I really should have slapped my forehead on the ground. I got a lucky chance, and I've always worn a helmet ever since.

I can tell you from experience, check your speed, stay in control. Going fast is fun, you do look cool, until you hit a rock and go flying, or get speed-wobble-thrown and get all cut up. Controlling your speed is one of the first things you should learn.

"Mason, hold on a second," you may ask me, "there are no brakes on a longboard. How on earth can you control your speed. "Good question," I respond, "there are a few ways. Lets talk about them."

Ride It Out or Bail
If you feel confident enough you can just have faith and keep riding until your board slows down. If you're on a hill that levels out at the end you may be able to hold fast and ride it out. If you feel uncomfortable my advice is to bail before you get going too fast. Jump onto some grass. The sooner you get off, the slower you'll be going, and the risk of injury is minimized.

Skidding
If your board has a kicktail you can push it down to the ground and use that as a brake. I would suggest getting a tailguard if you prefer this method or else the road is going to eat up your board. To be honest I would not suggest this method of slowing down. Lifting your two front wheels off the ground while going at high speeds is not the brightest or safest idea.

Sliding
A fun but more expensive way to slow down is to slide. Basically your board goes perpendicular to your direction of motion and your wheels slide sideways on the road and you slow down. Its fun, and it looks really cool. I suggest looking up some videos on how to do this. It can get a little pricey because it causes damage to your wheels, causing flat spots that bump as you ride, and sliding-gloves are recommended as well. This can add up. This video below shows some pretty cool slides as well as some impressive footwork.

Carving
Turning your board from one side to the other, or carving, will slow you down. The harder you carve the more you decelerate (my physics teacher would hate that I just used that word). This is a lot of fun for riding  and a preferred method of braking. Carve those hills! My one word of advice is not to play "Chicken" with the curb because you lose every time, the curb won't move out of the way, and Bonnie Tyler will not sing about her hero.

Windbraking
If you are going at a speed of 25 or more miles per hour you can stand up and spread your arms, pull your jacket out wide, just do everything to create as much wind resistance as possible. Certain companies sell "sails" you can buy, the problem is that wind conditions have to be near perfect, and one crash will tear up the "sail" material. Windbraking won't stop you but it may slow you down just a bit. There are still better methods however.

Brakes on Your Board
Some companies do make brakes for your board. I'm not sure how well they work but they look cool. You can check them out here Skatebrake.com and Brakeboard.com.

Foot Braking
Besides carving this is my preferred method of braking. Basically you are dragging your foot on the ground and this slows you down. This can bring you from high speeds to a standstill if you want. You need good balance because what you do is take your back foot (or whichever one feels most comfortable for you) and you drag it on the ground. Start by putting the front pad and toes on the ground and slowly lower your heel down and try to apply pressure using the whole surface of your sole. As you can see from my earlier post on shoes, this does eat up the sole of your shoe. However, I think its better to have asphalt damage to your shoe than your face. This is why I recommend going with a cheap pair of shoes, a pair you bought specifically to trash. Practice foot braking because, in my opinion, it is the cheapest and best way to slow down.

Kahuna Big Stick

An ingenious idea of a "paddle" for riding was used by Kahuna Creations. It is basically a paddle handle on one end of a stick and vulcanized rubber on the other end. This is primarily a propulsion device, but it can be dragged on the ground to slow you down. It is a lot of fun to use for pushing forward or braking, I would suggest anybody getting one. Dragging it for braking does cause some wear on the rubber but you can buy replacements for pretty cheap.

Now that you know all of these methods, get out and practice them. They will make you a more dynamic rider, and really increase your fun when you aren't falling and getting injured all the time. Most important though, WEAR A HELMET!!! Safe speeds and safe riding is no substitute for a good helmet. You can go brain dead moving at five mph or fifty. Wearing a helmet is your best tool to minimize injury. My personal favorite are Triple 8 helmets, and I'll explain why later, but just get some sort of lid on your head.