It's still November so go helmet yourself

There are only four weeks left until this year is over, which means that very soon we will have a new president who is going to make our country great again.

These last few weeks flew by too quickly. I didn't even had a chance to do much bicycling even though weather was favorable, as I was out sick for over a week. That's what happens when you decide to grow little human children of your own. They go to preschool and bring back home viruses you have never heard of before. In no time, everyone in your household gets sick.

Nevertheless, there's been some interesting news circulating recently. First of all, our roads still suck. Their outdated design is killing us and lately we can also add Driving and Using Phone Applications (DUPA, which means ass in Polish), to the list of main reasons why we drop like flies on U.S. roads.

Don't think the situation will improve in 2017. We just love driving too much. Driving is safe, right? It doesn't require those stupid foam hats. Well, they don't have to be made out of styrofoam actually. Apparently, helmets could be made out of paper too. This folding blue banana won even an international award:

Not sure why this origami was awarded at all, since according to the inventor it's not sure whether "you can make a helmet cool" (No, you can't.), but apparently, "you can design it so it's not embarrassing". Unfortunately, this paper pasta strainer is:

Interestingly, this funky device was invented by an American, even though I would think that Australians would be the first to develop it. The good thing is that they finally start asking themselves the question that should've been so trivial to answer decades ago - should cyclists be forced to wear helmets? Results are promising:

On the other hand, who knows - maybe there are just 645 cyclists in Australia who don't feel like wearing one?

Finally, because it's the end of the year, let's talk about the future. You may find various different reports forecasting what new "standards" and "must haves" we will see introduced in the cycling world in 2017. For me, the most interesting one predicts the rise of sub-compact - or simply-speaking, road cranksets made for an average Joe who never uses a 53/11T combo because he's not a superhuman on steroids. Sub-compact crankset may let him use more than just 3 largest cogs of his cassette. Too bad this "novelty" is still up to come. A few years too late but better late than never, I guess.

My sub-compact crankset. No need to wait until 2017.

Alright, it's getting late. That's it for now. I'm going to bed but I will put my paper strainer on first, because "it absolutely makes sense to wear one—always".