Don't lose your head...

The huge difference between biking in the US versus the Netherlands is that in the Low Countries, bicycling is built into the infrastructure. Over there, bikes have their own lanes, mostly separated from driving lanes by a curb; their own traffic lights, with little red and green bike icons; bike ramps alongside many stairways; and bike parking lots everywhere, including paid, guarded lots for owners of really posh rides. Best of all, it's written into the law (or so I'm told) that in any collision between a car and a bike, the car is at fault. Which makes drivers really, really careful -- also because they're outnumbered by cyclists anyway.

With all those safety measures, I'd gotten used to riding without a helmet. But now that I'm back in New York, it's time to protect my head again... and luckily, Cool Hunting, which seems to be on a bike jag these days, just wrote up a list of the 5 coolest helmets out there. I was really tempted by jorg & olif's sleek horse-riding-inspired helmet, above, but ended up springing for the multi-sport Baker helmet from Bern. It'll come in handy in case I decide to take up snowboarding or rock climbing, too...