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Ah of course, makes sense. The question was only half tongue in cheek, couldn’t figure out where the loads were coming from but knew there had to be something.
Tijmen-
i don't think the above description is true at all. the headset works under permanent compression, preload if you like, and its job is to transfer loads and efforts to the actual headtube, the fork blades, etc. in fact the steerer itself is/should only be subject to the steering rotationnal efforts - if headset properly installed.
Glws
Significant. If you hit a bump, or brake, and the front wheel tries to go forwards then the fork legs will try to bend backwards. The steerer is constrained by the upper and lower headset bearings, but there will be quite a lot of load on the bit in the middle, which is essentially what's stopping the fork legs from disappearing under your bottom bracket. Headset bearings are only skinny wee things and won't resolve those sorts of forces.