🚀 go-pugleaf

First, I might as well state outright that most of the excuses people
have for not riding bicycles around here sound like so much whining.
*Some* people are disabled.  *Some* people either live or work in the
hills.  *Some* people have jobs that require them to travel all over
the place.  In practice, most people are not disabled, and live and
work in the flatlands.  Six months out of each year, the weather is
approximately what people in Houston run air conditioners to obtain
indoors (though sometimes windier).  Most people, if they do not
exercise regularly, will get fat, so exercise is appropriate for most
people, and many pay for the privilege.

Given that, there are some problems with bicycles that ought to at
least be acknowledged, and maybe worked on.  Here's my list:

1) Collisions with cars can kill you (cars are a given -- sorry, we
   don't get to assume that pigs have wings, either).

2) Six miles is a little much for someone who hasn't ridden a bicycle
   in years.

3) Theft -- a bicycle has no secure place to put valuables.  In fact,
   the bicycle itself is easily stolen.

4) If the air is very bad, or (worse) if the fennel is blooming, I get
   a noseful of of garbage that I may regret.  (In Houston, the
   problem was juniper).

5) For really long journeys, the speed is inadequate.

Number 1 is probably the worst.  I've given up on insisting on my
"right" to the most direct route, and instead optimize for safety.  It
pisses me off every time that I think about it, though.

By-the-way, here's a quick physics fact:

  all else being equal, in a car's collision with a brick wall, the distance
  between you and the bumper is what determines your safety.  Heavy
  cars are safer in car-car collisions, in which their safety is
  obtained at the expense of the occupants of the other car.

David Chase
Sun