On Oct. 24, you published a photo of a young man jumping his bike over steps at Mechanics Park in Biddeford with the headline, “Cycling, A Green Form of Transportation.”

Please, in the future, don’t publish photos of riders doing tricks like this who are not wearing helmets. Photos like these inspire younger kids to try the same stuff, but falling is an unavoidable part of the learning curve. Helmets prevent concussions.

I used to run a bike shop that sold BMX bikes, and the magazines, as far back as 1980, would not publish photos of riders without helmets.

I recently met a friend who had crashed her bike and broke several bones, her arm in a sling. She told me that she had slipped on ice, while walking, four times last winter, each time receiving a concussion, but had been wearing her helmet when she crashed her bike. The helmet protected her head “like a cloud.”

Helmets work! Please wear one when you ride!

Matthew Rawdon

Cumberland