You can find the proposed rule changes posted here.
In particular there's a note about banning helmet cams.
I plead everyone that ever learned an iota of something from my helmet cams to write your local rep (find your rep here) and let them know that helmet cams help you race better and safer.
I saw some other stuff in red but my focus was on the helmet cam one.
Please.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
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Any idea as to what may have motivated them to propose such a change? It doesn't seem like one that would be implemented to eliminate someone getting an unfair advantage, and it also doesn't seem to contribute to rider safety. If not for those two reasons, then what other rationale would they offer to justify the change?
I don't have a direct stake in this since I'm not in the US but for what it's worth, your videos have taught me more about racing than any other single resource. It would be a real loss if you were forced to stop making them.
I don't know what prompted the rule proposal. I don't know if there was a crash or lawsuit or something.
The incident pointed to in the 2009 proposal (which failed) was one where a rider stopped because someone crashed in front of them, then got rear ended maybe 4 or 5 seconds later by someone sprinting. The rider who stopped was accused of stopping "to film the crash" or something to that effect. This was discussed ad nauseum in bikeforums.net after it was posted.
The rider claims to have stopped because of the crash in front, and it was the final sprint, and there was no use in sprinting now.
It's questionable why the other rider was sprinting since the overall feel of the pack was one of "everyone is sitting up" (lots of guys sitting up) and then one guy comes through at full speed. I believe there's a bike on the ground in front of the cam rider, but you can't see the rider. The cam guy I think had a bike mounted cam. He had another on his seat post pointing backwards - that caught the sprinting rider's doomed effort in full.
If there's a similar incident this year, I don't know about it.
The rule would also preclude using helmet lights. I don't know the mtb rules but if the ban is for "safety" reasons then it stands that it should be illegal to use helmet mounted lights.
Also it would be a $20 fine to stick your glasses in your helmet, as so many riders do nowadays. That's not an original part of your helmet, except maybe the Rudy helmet with a glasses slot designed into it (but they'd probably have to be Rudy glasses to avoid the fine).
The riders would feel the biggest loss though.
Done!
Sent the following message to my rep:
I am not a USAC member yet, but I will be next year. I'm writing to you to express opposition to the proposed rule change to ban helmet cams. I have no desire to utilize one when I start racing next year. But, the knowledge I have gained from observing other's videos have, I feel, better equipped me for when I do start racing. Please do what you are able to prevent this rule from taking effect so that others may learn from these videos as well.
Aki, thanks for making us aware of this. I just wrote to my LA rep and the regional USAC rep. I really hope this is voted down, mainly because of how much I've enjoyed yours and others' videos, but also because I recently bought a helmet cam of my own and was really looking forward to racing with it next season.
THis may not be the case but the rule states the helmet cam or any other item not "initially manufactured with the helmet". This implies the concern might be the mounts used on the helmets altering the integrity of or the safety of a helmet. I can see that. If you land on your head (or your side) and the camera is torqued it could break the helmet in some fashion. In theory... I suppose...
Maybe this guy Tom Simonson just looks fat on camera and doesn't like them...
P.S. Interestingly, this leaves an opening for helmets MADE to have cameras attached to them. With so many cameras out there, I'll bet there's a market for it.
I was talking to a friend yesterday and said that Contour needs to make a helmet to comply with this rule (if it becomes a rule). Camera would be optional. The possibilities expand there - what if the helmet had portholes so you could mount, say, two forward cameras and two rear (two long tubes in the helmet where you could slide a helmet in from the front or the rear).
Etc etc etc.
Just one more thing to fall off a bike in a race.
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