mailbag

(1) Besides "certain death," a trusted colleague from Pittsburgh observed, commuting by bike would amount to "16 mile[s] over various rivers, mountains, and non-bicycle-accessible highways."

All fair enough.

Although I had not asked. Since HotU blog launched, I have heard this response several times over -- often defensive, always unsolicited -- about the need to drive. That leads to an important point. We as a society have created auto dependency. For many of us, living without cars is not an option. Not open for discussion. We burn gas, regardless of the ramifications. We also fail to understand why people want to fly airplanes into our buildings.

(2) Two readers responded to my decidedly unpractical choices in "Carrying Capacity of a 47 Year Old Man." Kip, a neo-thoreauvian, sent me a link for panniers. And a young radical named Josh kindly offered his kid-carrier, which would do fine for groceries. Thanks gentlemen, I will pass for now, balancing stuff on the handlebars is part of the fun.

(3) Which leads to my son's bicycle shutdown. I am happy to report that the front gate is fixed, and that kid and I rode to school all last week. More on that in the near future. My friend Merle, an environmental ethicist friend, relayed his own experiences while biking with a child in foster care.

The kid under his charge loved the adventure, though sometimes too much -- and took off into a busy intersection one day.

Thanksfully the kid made it. He survived the mishap and is now adopted.

But is that not the great lesson for young bicyclists?

"Both hands," I am often reminding my son, "you are traffic." Traveling by bike is pure joy. Bicycling involves risk. We weigh risk against adventure. And what more important lesson is there for a child to learn: how to balance danger against reward?

Thanks for all the questions and comments. Please keep those thoughts chuning and those wheels turning!