I (crazy package lady) just received a bike helmet that I had ordered on eBay to be used when I hit the streets with my new beach cruiser. I had it delivered to my office to ensure that it arrived safely, as I do with all my packages. Holding the new helmet in my hands, I just couldn't resist trying it on and sitting down at my computer and typing. I privately enjoyed the image it would give my coworkers as they walked by.

Rachael, my office roommate, had absentmindedly looked away from her work and spotted me off to her left looking very serious yet with a bike helmet on my head and sitting on my fitness ball (over 3 months now and no more back problems) and she started cracking up--so did I. My other colleague, Paul, after seeing me in my head gear asked if the ball was getting too dangerous.

I didn't want to buy or wear a helmet, I figured I was just cycling on paths along the beach, but on the way back from Santa Monica a few weekends ago we took a bike path on a popular blvd and I thought, better safe than sorry. I also saw these stats:

• A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.
   
• Direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $81 million each year.