My favourite summer recreational pastime is cycling. I am not a great cyclist – perhaps I should say I don’t do serious bicycle riding. On a good morning, I might cycle 30 to 40 kilometres, preferably on cycle paths. I do not like cycling in traffic.

On a recent outing on the Don Valley cycle path, where you can get to the Beaches from North York with almost no exposure to traffic, I was struck by the number of older cyclists on the path. For a geriatrician like myself, this was very satisfying. But something stood out quite dramatically – many of the people I saw were not wearing helmets.

When the first few passed me, I thought, “It’s an anomaly – they should know better – maybe I should stop them and give them some unsolicited advice.”

I reconsidered, however, and realized that such a move would likely not be welcome. It didn’t matter that I was a geriatric medicine specialist, this was a matter of “choice,” or so it would seem.

Still, as more and more rode by, I wondered what was going on. Of interest was that most of the un-helmeted cyclists were wearing hats to protect themselves from the sun, some quite elaborate affairs with wide brims, others the more durable Tilley types. I was willing to bet the riders had all slathered on sunscreen to protect their aging skin from the wrath of the sun’s rays, and that they had bottles of water to protect them from the dreaded dehydration.

It made me think about how people look at the idea of risk. In my office practice, I often have patients and their families ask me about the side effects and risks of medications that I am recommending for some medical condition, one which may be serious or disabling and for which a medication holds a reasonable promise of benefit. Sometimes the drug, although not life-saving can have a profound beneficial impact on the condition. Sometimes a surgical procedure is in question, one that might relieve serious symptoms or prevent some awful event such as a bowel obstruction.

Understandably, when the issue of risk of treatment comes up, I try to alleviate anxiety and fear by presenting the benefits and risks in an equation that shows the balance to be on the side of treatment. For most people it works.

With that intrinsic concern about avoiding harm in most people, I wonder what kind of “blanking out” an informed senior would have to do to get on a bicycle without a helmet. We are not talking about an unusual procedure – most of the younger people on the path were wearing helmets.

The fact that a previous premier of Ontario rescinded a law requiring helmets because of some principle of individual choice is besides the point. Most people understand, for example, that the law related to seat belts is in place as part of public safety policy. Maybe older people assume that because they used to cycle without a helmet when they were younger, or because they are not racing, it doesn’t matter. I know, professionally and personally, that it does.

Some years ago while cycling on the same Don Valley cycle path, I took a sharp turn over a bridge – a turn I had taken hundreds of times previously – but with a small amount of rain that had fallen, my wheel skidded and I went head first into the steel and wood railing. I was stunned, my helmet was cracked, but I escaped what likely would have been a serious head injury.

The message at every age: wear a helmet when cycling, for your sake and for your family’s sake!