Guest Bender: Julie from Savvy Eats

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HAPPY BELATED VALENTINE’S DAY! <3 <3 <3

And now…

Happy President‘s Day!


Does anyone else have the day off today? I’m grateful for the extra 1/2 day in Arizona :mrgreen:

Bobby and I had our engagement shoot on Saturday and I think I can speak for both of us — it was a lot of fun! The photographers are actually a husband and wife team who joined forces in order to make sure that both the bride and groom are covered on the big day. They are great motivators and made it easy for us to relax. Plus the locations we went to were a lot of fun!

We started at the Arizona Train Depot, which had a lot of old trains and tracks with interesting shapes that created great shadows in the afternoon light. Then we headed over to the Mesa Arts Center, which was filled was cool sculptures, fountains and colors. I can’t wait to see how they turned out! I’ll be sure to share them with all of you, if you’re interested 🙂

As always, the weekend away went by way too fast. I’ve got some great Papa Bender meals to share with you in the next few days. For now, I want to introduce our next Guest Bender!

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If you’ve ever worn a bike without a helmet — and I’m not judging because I am absolutely guilty, especially when I was riding around campus in college — you should definitely read Julie’s story. It will definitely make you think twice before heading out on your next two wheel adventure.

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Hello to all of Jenn’s readers!  My name is Julie, and I am the writer of Savvy Eats. I’m pleased to guest post for Eating Bender today.

Thirteen years ago, I was at my friend’s birthday party.  On our way outside to play, her mom pulled me aside.  She looked so serious and upset, that I assumed I was in trouble for something, but instead she told me that there had been an accident, and that my dad was in the hospital.

Early that morning, my dad was out with his friend on a bike ride, when a car of teenagers approached them.  After attempting, and failing, to force his friend off the road, the car fishtailed into my dad, causing him to fly down the hill.  He broke six ribs, his collarbone, and punctured a lung.

What saved his life?  His helmet, which shattered into about a dozen pieces, but protected his head.

So many people tell me, “I ride carefully, so why should I bother with a helmet?”  My dad was riding carefully, too, but he had no control over what a group of stupid kids decided to do.

What can you do to stay as safe as possible when out on your bike?

  • Wear. Your. Helmet. If my dad hadn’t been wearing his, he wouldn’t have survived the accident.  And, make sure your helmet is in good shape!  If you have been in a crash, your helmet looks cracked, or it is over about 5 years old, it needs to be replaced.
  • Carry an ID and Cell Phone. Though my dad’s accident was in the pre-cell phone days, and in a rural area, he was lucky enough to be with a friend who could bike as fast as possible to the nearest house to call 911.  Make sure you keep an ID and phone with you in case of emergency.  Both my fiancé and my dad recently got a RoadID, which can list their name and emergency contacts, as well as any other important information you may want to include.

  • Light Your Bike! If you will be out when it is dark, or even dusky, please get good headlights and taillights for your bike.  You want cars and other cyclists to be able to see you!
  • Obey All Traffic Laws. A lot of people don’t realize that bikes are subject to the same traffic laws as cars.  Stop at red lights, yield to pedestrians, and signal when you are turning.  Not only will you be safer, but drivers, pedestrians, and other cyclists will like you more.

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I want to thank Julie for sharing such important information with us. She also writes a great food blog and is getting in married in May! Stop by and say hello 🙂

Do you always wear a helmet? What are some of your most important safety tips?

Here’s wishing you all a fabulous holiday! Want to learn more than you ever thought you’d want to know about President’s Day? Check out this post from Snopes.com!

Abrazos!

14 Comments

  1. HOLY CRAP! that is such an amazing story, so glad your dad is ok, i can’t imagine what possessed those kids to do such a horrible thing. wow, helmets are so important. sadly i’ve known too many classmates who have died from skateboarding accidents and weren’t wearing helmets :(. i don’t ride a bike now, but sometimes i think i should be wearing one just walking around berkeley, drivers do NOT yield to pedestrians!

  2. You know I’m hoping to see engagement pictures 🙂

    I do wear a helmet – but being on UW’s campus freaks me out because so many students don’t wear helmets, and I’ve seen drivers get road rage just from seeing someone on a bike :-

    • I know! I blame the kids who refuse to follow traffic laws and do stupid things…they give all the cyclists in Madison a bad name!

      My favorite was the time when it was raining and the pedestrians had the ‘walk’ sign to cross the street. A bicyclist, who had a red light at the time, physically pushed people out of the way with his bike so that he could run the red light! As one of the people pushed out of his way, I was not a happy camper.

  3. Engagement photos are so fun! I hope we get to see some soon 🙂

    I ALWAYS wear a helmet. It doesn’t make sense to me why someone would ride a bike and not have a helmet.

  5. I think we all would love to see the engagement photos. It sounds like the two of you had a blast!

    My company does give us today off. But I decided to work it, in exchange for an extra days vacation. 🙂

  8. Can’t wait to see the engagement pictures!!

    I always wear a helmet. My dad use to work for a company that manufactured helmets and it was grilled into us that helmets were a must. Thank goodness your dad was wearing a helmet, what a great post!

  9. I would SO be interested in seeing those pics! I bet they’re great 😉

    Great guest post. I feel like wearing a helmet is the simplest, yet most underrated safety tip out there. Thanks for this reminder!

  11. Thank you for this post! I’m a huge advocate of helmet wearing because of a similar incident that happened to my cousin. So many people choose not to wear a helmet because it isn’t “cool.” I hope this post changes someone’s mind.

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