Real Pedal Power?

I have to admit that I know nothing about molecular chemistry.  It's one of those areas, like much of physics, that sounds interesting but for which I lack the background, and possibly the aptitude (My math skills are, depending on your point of view, comically or frightfully bad!) to understand.

So when I read this article, all I knew was that scientists somehow managed to synthesize molecules that operate like the pedals of a bicycle. It sounded really cool.

 From what I understand, these molecules can be activated by light to act as "switches", moving from one structural state to another as they move like the pedals around a bottom bracket.  However, they do not perform a full rotation, but move back and forth in arcs around the "axle."

In contrast, other kinds of molecules exhibit large-scale rotation around one bond, and need much more space than the "pedal" molecules need in order to make the "switch".

Why is this important?  Well, "switching" is necessary in order to create the molecular structures necessary in a number of applicatons, from pharmaceuticals to computers.  I would imagine that it is also vital to much "green" technology.  

I once built a wheel that looked like this.  I didn't ride it, though!

As I understand, these molecules change their structure in a way analagous to that of water it becomes ice or vapor.  When water is heated, its vapor needs more space because it expands.  On the other hand, when water cools down to 4 degrees C, it contracts but, unlike other liquids, expands when it freezes. You can see this when a river or lake ices over.) Just as liquid water acts differently from vapor or ice when you try to combine it with other things, whether and how molecules bond depends on their structural state.  So, the necessary molecular structures for a number of things, from pharmaceuticals to plastics, can be created only when the molecules can reach the right state.  And that can only happen when the would-be "switches" are allowed to switch.  

If water in a pipe freezes, it will expand the pipe until it bursts.  On the other hand, if molecules in other environments are so restricted, they just don't move and therefore don't make the necessary "switches." That is the reason why researchers and engineers have been limited in what they can create.

The "pedal" motion, as it turns out, is more compact than other kinds of molecular motion.  This means the atoms that are part of the molecule aren't displaced much, if at all--which,  in turn, means that the molecule doesn't (and doesn't have to) move as much.  This could allow scientists and engineers to create new kinds of structures.

Of course, we as cyclists always knew that the pedaling motion was very economical and efficient--and, when performed even by people of ordinary ability, graceful.  Is it any wonder, then, that so much of today's technology--including that of automobiles and aircraft--came directly or indirectly from bicycles.  Now it looks like even more sophisticated technology will soon owe its debt to our beloved two-wheeled vehicles--in this case, our method of propulsion!

Telling Bike Stories In Portland

I have been called a storyteller--sometimes as a compliment, other times as a derogatory epithet, and on a few occasions as a statement of fact.  

Indeed I am one, for better or worse.  Students in one of my classes are reading Plato's Trial and Death of Socrates; I can only imagine what either philosopher would make of me,or this blog.  All I could tell them is that everything I tell is  true.  Really!

Still, I admit I have a weakness for a good story.  Whether it's fact or fiction, poetry or polemics, I like any story that stimulates, inspires or simply entertains me.  I'll also admit that I can be as taken with the person telling the story as with the story itself.

So, if I could get to Portland on Friday night, I'd go to Alberta Abbey.  It's hosting a bicycle-themed storytelling event called Live The Revolution.  Admission is $17 at the door; tickets still can be bought for $15 in advance. Proceeds will benefit The Street Trust's efforts to support cycling, walking and public transit. 

Oh, and there's a raffle.  Prizes include two Public C1 bicycles, a messenger bag, REI gear, a set of wheels from Sugar Wheels, a Thule trailer and gift certificates.

(The Street Trust was formerly known as the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.)

Drug Dealers, Rapists, Murderers...And Cyclists!

Donald Trump has labelled Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, rapists and murderers.

In my grandparents' generation, Italian immigrants were almost automatically seen as criminals and the Irish who came a generation earlier were viewed as drunken brawlers.  And Asians, particularly Japanese-Americans during World War II, were depicted as shifty and untrustworthy.

These days, when someone uses the word "thug", it's assumed that person is referring to a black male.  Likewise, "Arab" and "Muslim" are uttered interchangeably; both are used as synonyms for "terrorist."   

Now it seems that, at least in the meida, "cyclist" has become the new stereotype.  Whenever some drunk or distracted driver runs one of us down, we made the misguided choice of riding a bicycle--never mind that we were riding in a "protected" lane and the driver veered into it. But we are not, in those situations, labeled as "cyclists."

Instead, the c-word seems to refer only to those who are breaking the law--or, in one recent case, windows.

Now, I'll be the first to say that the pack who rode the wrong way on a Chelsea street--especially the member(s) who smashed the rear window of someone's new car and who smacked into a police officer--should be prosecuted.  The news reports I've seen and heard about it, however, seem designed to whip up as much hysteria as possible against anyone who pedals two wheels on this city's streets.  You can hear it in the way "reporters" (Where have journalistic standards gone?) elicit reactions from bystanders.  To hear them, cyclists are as much a menace to this city as MS-13 is to some immigrant communities.

To make a bad "report" even worse, the accompanying video, which purports to be a record of the rampage, actually has nothing to do with it.

Will Robots Replace Riders?

Maybe I hang out with all the wrong people:  I have yet to meet anybody who likes the idea of a driverless car.  They may not enjoy driving, but they are skeptical that a computer program, or whatever would guide the vehicle, can make the same kinds of judgments a driver could make.

Then there are those people who enjoy driving.  I don't imagine many of them would be crazy about losing one of their pleasures.

So why, then, would anyone want to teach a computer how to ride a bicycle?

Computer scientist Matthew Cook, from what I can see, isn't trying to make a machine that can usurp the role of a cyclist.  Rather, he says, "we do not have great insight into how we ride a bicycle" no matter how well we may ride.

 

In 2004, when he was at the California Institute of Technology, he created a simulator and made 800 unsteered runs with it to see how far it could go when there is no one to steer it.   The image above shows the tracks of those runs, initiated when the "bicycle" was pushed to left to right, and how far they went before falling down.  Oscillations from side to side, visible in the chart, occurred because the bicycle was moving too slowly to keep itself stable.

As a result of this work, he found that it took a simple network of only two neurons to keep the bike stable:  one to calculate the required lean of the bicycle to execute a given judgment in direction, and another to translate that change into an amount of torque to apply to the handlebars.

Cook says his work could have "many applications", but doesn't specify what they are.  My guess is that it might be helpful for people to regain skills and faculties lost or impaired in crashes and other traumatic events:  Simulators like Cook's might, for example, provide insights into how our minds and bodies allow us to do some of the things--like balancing a bicycle or walking--we do instinctively. Also, I could see how "test dummies" for bikes could be developed to better test helmets and other products.

I just hope no one develops robots that can push us aside and take our bikes!  

Watermelon Cooler?

In my youth, one of my riding partners was a bartender.  This got me to thinking about him:

I imagine that something like this would make him very popular with some cyclists!

For those of us who don't imbibe and ride, this might be for us:

"Watermelon wheels" sounds like an unflattering nickname for a slow or unskilled cyclist--or one you just don't like!

New Trial For Driver Who Mowed Down Five Cyclists

A year and a half ago, I reported one of the most horrific auto-on-bike crashes I've ever heard about.   Melissa Fevig-Hughes, Tony Nelson, Debbie Bradley, Larry Paulik and Suzanne Sippel, all experienced cyclists who'd ridden together for more than a decade, were run down by a blue Chevrolet pickup truck.  They died almost immediately; the crash seriously injured four fellow club members who were riding with them.

In the minutes before that tragedy, police were looking for that truck after three different callers said it was being driven erratically.  When he was apprehended, he was intoxicated and therefore charged with DUI.

Charles Pickett Jr would be charged with five counts of second-degree murder.  He appealed his conviction all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court, which last week said it wouldn't hear his argument that he shouldn't be tried for murder in the case.  

Now he is set to stand trial again in the Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.  A settlement conference is set for Friday, 13 April (!) and jury selection for the trial is to start on Monday the 23rd.

Nothing will bring those cyclists back.  But it's good to know that someone, at least, is taking the needless deaths of cyclists seriously.

    

If Triathloners Don't See Their Shadows....

Today is Groundhog Day.  The media will focus this country's attention on the most famous groundhog of all, Punxsutawney Phil. He's said to be the only one who really knows whether spring is just around the corner or winter will keep its grip on us for another six weeks.

Closer to (my) home, there is Staten Island Chuck. He and Phil aren't always in agreement.  Then again, they live about 500 kilometers apart.  It must be said, though, that from 1992 to 2016, Chuck's predictions were accurate 68.4 percent of the time, while Phil got it right only 42.1 percent of the time.

Hey, Chuck's a New Yorker. Waddaya expect?

Anyway, I think I've found an even more accurate way of predicting weather for the next few weeks:

The question is, of course: Do they see their shadows?  

Their shadows are behind them.  Does that mean they can't see them?  Or they can act as if they haven't seen?

Hmm...I wonder whether a groundhog can pretend not to see his shadow. If he did, would that mean spring is at hand?

Update  Phil saw his shadow.  But Chuck didn't.

Before The Dawn

When I first started this blog, there were mornings when my commute involved riding into the sunrise.  I used to enjoy that--certainly more so than the job I had at the time!  Every once in a while, when I get up early enough (which means, ahem, getting to bed early enough), I will actually voyage into the dawn just for fun.

Today, though, began with me pedaling away from the sunrise

and into the darkness.  

Hell Gate

James Wright used the word "darkness" so much, especially in his early poems, that if he'd copyrighted it he'd've died an extremely wealthy man.  At least there were different kinds of darkness in his work.  I wonder what he would have made of the kind I saw today at Hell Gate as I rode over the RFK Memorial Bridge. 

Atlas Rode

It wasn't just a ride.  It was a mission.

Arielle, my trusty Mercian Audax, took me to the site of some mysterious structures.  How they got there, we weren't told.

How long had they stood?  How long would they have stood

had we not gone there to hold them up?  

Once we knew they'd stay up, we exited, Bill and I, across the bridge of George

into the clouds

 

over hill and dale

and back to the city, shining city.

All in a day's riding!

And, no we weren't doping:

Jordan Almonds.

All of the photos--except the ones with Bill--were taken by Bill.

Bicycles And Sundown: History In An Ohio Town

Some cities are, or were, synonymous with certain industries.  The best-known examples in the US are automobile manufacturing in Detroit and steel-making in Pittsburgh. 

Some smaller cities and towns are linked to a particular company or another.  The Hartford insurance company comes to mind:  It's been a part of the Connecticut state capital that shares its name for over 200 years. 

Believe it or not, even during the "Dark Ages" of US cycling, a town in Ohio was best known for the bicycle company that bore its name.

I am talking about Shelby, a community about 150 kilometers southwest of Cleveland.  From 1925 to 1953, the Shelby Bicycle company fabricated its wares in the heart of town.  

Like most American bikes of that period, most Shelbys  were baloon-tired "cruisers".  Although the majority of  Shelby bikes  bore the names of retailers such as Montgomery-Ward, Spiegel, Firestone and Goodyear, and some were sold by AMF, a number of Shelbys were sold under their own name.  And, while Shelby made "theme" bikes--such as a "Lindy" bike honoring Charles Lindbergh and Donald Duck bikes--some were very stylish, even elegant.  Those bikes are prized by collectors.  

Now some folks in the town have formed a society dedicated to Shelby bicycles.  The Shelby Bicycle Historical Society, recently approved as an IRS 501(3)c tax-exempt organization, is looking for members. You don't have to own a Shelby in order to join; you need only to be interested in the bikes or the town's history. It's not there only to celebrate the company's "Whippet" bike Clarence Wagner rode to a cross-country record in 1927; it also exists to commemorate what was once a significant part of the town's economy and history.

There is another part of the town's history that nobody is trying to commemorate.  It was said to be a "sundown" town; according to some former residents, it even had a sign at its border telling black people they had better be out of town when the sun set.  Even after the sign was taken down, some people ran black folks out of town; others wondered aloud whether an African exchange student should be allowed to swim in the local pool.

(Levittown, on Long Island, is only 55 kilometers from my apartment. It, too, was a "sundown" town.  So was nearby Roosevelt--which, ironically, is now almost entirely nonwhite as a result of "blockbusting".)

While I hope that the good folks of Shelby (and America) will face up to their (and our) racist history, I am happy that they are commemorating something that, while it doesn't make up for that history (what can?), is at least an interesting and sometimes even delightful part of the cycling landscape.

When Carelessness And Distraction Collide

In my high school, one of the science teachers was also the soccer coach.   I heard that he used to give his students a "problem":  If a ball is rolling at 10 mph, a 140-pound player is running at it from one direction and a 180-pound player is running from another direction, what will be the trajectories of the players and the ball?

Then he would tell his students, "We can go down to the field and find out."  For the rest of class, they would watch the team (which included me) at practice.

Now here's another real-life physics problem, albeit without much humor:  A woman is driving a Buick at 62 MPH in a 45 MPH zone.  She picks up her cell phone.  

What will happen to the cyclist who just happens to be riding along the same road, in the same direction?

Jeffrey Gordon Pierce

Well, the answer to that one is grim, to say the least.  Jeffrey Gordon Pierce, a 53-year-old teacher at the Inman (South Carolina) Intermediate School was thrown off his bike after he was hit by said Buick, driven by Heather Renee Hall, an Inman resident.

Heather Renee Hall

Well, she was an Inman resident until yesterday.  Her new residence, for now, is the Spartanburg County Detention Center.  Jeffrey Gordon Pierce, meanwhile, is in the South Carolina earth:  He died at the scene of the crash.

And, yes, he wore a helmet.  Even that wasn't enough to prevent a horrible crash, let alone influence its outcome, when carelessness and distraction collided.  

Running Rings

There was a time in my life when I used to do Sunday morning "bagel runs" on my bike.  But now that I have a good bagelry (Is that a word?) around the corner from me, I don't have to make a special trip, let alone limit it to Sunday.

I am sure that others still make such trips on their bikes--or, perhaps, "donut runs".

The only fiber is in the bike itself!

Turns out, I can get donuts around the corner from my apartment, too!

Pedal While You Work

Yesterday I talked about one part of "The American Dream" for my grandparents and others of their generation.

Another part of that "dream", for some, was a sedentary job.  It's easy to see the appeal of it when you've done back-breaking work all of your life. 

The problem with sitting is that it's like a drug:  It's a hard habit to break--especially if your work requires it.  And, in the end, too much of it isn't healthy for anyone.

So what do you do if you can't just leave your desk and go out for a bike ride--or to the gym?

You pedal at your desk:

Flexispot, a company that specializes in ergonomic office furniture, debuted this stationery bicycle desk at the Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas the week before last. 

Unlike most office chairs, it doesn't have a back.  So, in that sense, it helps to replicate a real cycling experience:  April Glaser, who tried it, says that she leaned forward "without caving into my shoulders".  Further enhancing the experience are small displays showing speed, distance and time, which you can monitor while you answer your e-mails.  It even has a resistance dial--and a wrist pad and cup holder.

At $500, it doesn't cost much more than most chair and desk combinations.  Perhaps some companies will realize that this bike-desk could actually save them money, with reduced insurance costs and absenteeism. Plus, I think it could be good for morale.

Plus, that pedal power could generate electricity for the office.  Talk about productivity!

And you don't need to wear a helmet.

And What Did You Find In Your Barn?

What have you found in your attic or barn?

Well, I have never had a barn and, at the moment, I don't have an attic.  So I've never come across some masterpiece one of my grandparents bought at a flea market without realizing what they got.  Then again, my grandparents came to this country because they didn't want to shop in flea markets:  To them, not being poor anymore meant buying shiny, new stuff, not "other people's junk."  

Anyway, I've bought stuff in flea markets by choice and, while I've found stuff I like, I have never unwittingly bought something by an old master.  Or any other interesting artifact of history.  If I ever do, perhaps by then I'll have an attic--or a barn--where I can stash it and someone can find it long after I'm gone.

Then again, I don't know that I'd buy such things unwittingly.  If I knew I'd stumbled over a treasure, I'd stay calm, buy it and celebrate after I brought it home.

Especially if it's a rare old bicycle.

Glynn Stockdale in his Penny Farthing Museum, in Cheshire.

That is what Glynn Stockdale did.  He couldn't believe his luck when he found what he calls "the holy grail" of collectors' items. Or, more precisely, when it found him.

The Knutsford, Cheshire resident received a call about a two-wheeled contraption someone found in a disused barn during a demolition.  It's not known how long the vehicle was there, but Stockdale, a self-described bicycle enthusiast, immediately recognized it as a "hobby horse".

The Johnson hobby-horse, 1819

Turns out, Denis Johnson made it in 1819. He made 319 others that year, after getting a patent for it the previous year, and only 12 are known to be in existence today.

Aside from the fact that it's nearly two centuries old, why did the Johnson hobby-horse so excite him?  Well, most historians agree that the first bicycle--or, at least the first vehicle to be recognized as such--was made by Karl von Drais in 1816.  Like the Johnson creation, it consisted of two wheels and was propelled, not by pedals, but by the rider pushing his or her feet along the ground.  Its popularity spread to the upper classes-- of Paris (where it was called the Draisienne) and London.  Soon, versions of the Draisienne were being made in England and France.

Thus, Mr. Stockdale may well have acquired one of the very first--if not the very first--bicycle made in England.  And Johnson may have been the first to make a dropped-bar version of the bike for women to accomodate the long skirts they wore at that time.

It's a good thing Mr. Stockdale got a hold of it.  He is no ordinary bike enthusiast:  A former interior designer, he started his penny farthing museum in Cheshire in 1989. That museum, of course, will be the Johnson bike's new home.

Are Starlings Afraid Of Her?

[T]he cyclists go in flocks like starlings, gathering together, skimming in & out.

Yes, I wrote that...in another life.  If only....

Actually, it was written about a quarter century before I was born, by someone whose talent I wish I could have, if only for a day.  And she was writing about cyclists in a city she was visiting.

I have visited that city, too.  I am sure, though, that there wasn't a cloud hanging over it--unless you count the Cold War, which shrouded every place--as there was during her sojourn there.

Most people in that city were living relatively peaceful lives.  But in a neighboring country, a xenophobic demagogue had seized the reins of power by, essentially, convincing people that foreigners and members of minority groups were responsible for everything that had gone wrong in their nation.  And his sense of hair styling was, shall we say, out of the ordinary.

No, I'm not talking about The Orange One. I am referring, of course, to the author of Mein Kampf.

Now, he wasn't nearly as good a writer as the person who penned the quote at the beginning of this post. (A professor of mine once told me that most translations make MK sound better-written than it actually is.)  But he would, within a few years, invade the country where the cyclists skimmed in and out on its capital's streets.

Telegram deliverers in Amsterdam, 1930

That capital is, of course, Amsterdam.  And the observant visitor was none other than Virginia Woolf, who recorded that verbal image of its cyclists in her diary.

Today is her 136th birthday.  She never looked better--her writing, I mean.

What Would They Say To Each Other?

Well-behaved women seldom make history.

By now, you've probably seen that saying on more than a few bumper stickers.  You might have even heard it.  

Just for fun, I've asked people who said it first.  The answers have included almost every kind of woman imaginable, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Marilyn Monroe and Gloria Steinem to Kim Kardashian.

Kim Kardashian?  I'm not even sure "seldom" is in her vocabulary!

I confess:  Until I knew better, I would have believed that Eleanor Roosevelt uttered it.  For that matter, I could have believed it came from Sinead O'Connor or even Madonna.  But, alas, the pithy quote spilled from the pen of an academic with whom even I wasn't familiar. (Shh..don't tell anybody!)

She is none other than Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a Pulitzer-Prize winning historian.  That saying, however, was not part of the work that would earn her acclaim:  it was tucked in an article she wrote as a graduate student.  Ironically, some three decades later, she would use that aphorism as the title of a book, precisely because it was everywhere.

Now, I must say, with all due respect to Professor Ulrich, I generally try to behave myself, and even try to resemble a lady, at least in some ways.  I also must say that I am constitutionally incapable of being so well-behaved at every moment.  Yes, there are times when I "lose it" and use words graduate students rarely use in papers they're trying to publish in the hopes of becoming professors.

I won't repeat those words here.  Fortunately--for me, anyway--most of the drivers (and errant pedestrians) who were at the receiving end of my "good old Anglo Saxon words" never saw me again. 

Let's face it:  When a driver who's texting almost kills you, it's hard not to yell and curse.   Those "four letter words" are most accessible when we're under stress and in danger, especially when it's caused by someone else's negligence or stupidity.  

But what if bikes and cars could talk?  What would they say to each other in such situations?

That question isn't as fanciful as you might think.  Trek is partnering with Ford and Tome Software to come up with a bicycle-to-vehicle (B2V) communications system that alerts drivers to bicycles that might be ahead of them in dangerous areas of the road.  

One thing I find interesting is that the partners are trying make their system "brand agnostic", so it's not tied to one platform or product. (And we can't have Net Neutrality?) For the next year, he will be working at the Mcity autonomous vehicle test site at the University of Michigan to develop software that can go into bike and car accessories and apps.

 "This is something that will absolutely save lives if we do this, " says Tome founder and CEO Jake Sigal.  

I don't doubt him.  I just wonder what he will have bikes and cars saying to each other in a B2V communications system.  Will they be well-behaved?

Which Way Was He Supposed To Go?

Few things vex me more than a designated bike lane that's poorly designed, constructed or maintained--or that ends abruptly or simply doesn't go anywhere.

Such lanes are not merely annoying or inconvenient:  Riding them is, as often as not, more dangerous than sharing the roadway with motorized traffic.

That is especially true if the direction of the bike lane is not clearly indicated--or, as in one case in northern California, a new lane is under construction or has been constructed to replace an existing one, but there is no indication of which one the cyclist should use.

For Matthew James Newman, such confusion proved fatal.  According to his widow a lawyer representing the family, Newman was riding along Highway 29 when he came to a railroad crossing.  

The safest--really, the only safe-- way to cross railroad tracks is at a 90 degree angle. According to reports, there was no way to do that where Newman met his fate:  the road crossed at a "severe" angle.  When he approached, his wheel got caught in a flangeway and he was thrown off his bike, which injured his head.  He died the next day from his injuries.

Now, some might argue that he was at fault for not wearing a helmet. But the suit his family has filed alleges that Caltrans was at fault for not clearly marking the hazard. 

Actually, that intersection had been marked with a sign warning riders to get off their bikes and walk across.  At least it was until some time before Newman made his fateful crossing.  When that sign was taken down is not the main issue, however.  Rather, it is another sign that was or wasn't nearby:  one indicating whether a new route was open to cyclists.

According to the family's attorney, Bill Johnson of Bennett & Johnson LLP in Oakland, the new path still appeared to be under construction--at least to Newman. "It was ambiguous and confusing which route he was supposed to take," according to Johnson. "If you didn't make the right decision, you were in peril."

Had there been a clear indication that Newman should have taken the new path, he would have, according to his family and Johnson.  He had traveled the route he took once, years before, so he probably thought he was making the "safer" choice.  Apparently, though, during that time he'd forgotten about the way it crossed the tracks.  

In addition to Caltrans, the suit includes the Ghilotti Brothers Construction company of San Rafael.  Johnson believes they were doing work on the bike path at the time of the incident, and therefore shared the responsibility for warning of dangerous conditions.

If He Doesn't Think It Should Require Bravery, Why Should You?

"Riding a bicycle or crossing a street shouldn't require bravery."

I'm told that your insurance premiums increase automatically if you try to do either on Queens Boulevard.  But the words that opened this post weren't uttered by a fellow resident of my NYC borough.

That person also said he wants to see a network of cycle and walking routes "a 12-year-old would want to use".  

He explained "people do the easiest thing", so whatever is created to encourage cycling and walking must be "easy, attractive and safe--all three, in that order".  Otherwise, it will be all but impossible to entice drivers in his city--where 30 percent of all car trips are less than one kilometer in length--to trade four wheels for two wheels or feet.

Our cycling/pedestrian advocate isn't trying to turn his city into Portland.  Rather, he wants to alleviate its traffic problems, and to reduce levels of air pollution and obesity--which, he wisely points out, will save far greater amounts of money than would be initially spent on a practical, safe network of bicycle and pedestrian lanes.

That last argument could gain more traction in his country, which has a single-payer (i.e., taxpayer-funded) system of health care, than in the US or other nations with profit-driven health care systems.  

You might have guessed by now that the fellow is on the other side of the Atlantic.  Right you are:  He is British, and the city he's talking about is his home town of Manchester.

That fellow is Greater Manchester's Cycling and Walking Commissioner and a British Cycling policy advisor.  But you probably know him better for his exploits while pedaling on a world stage.

I am talking about none other than an Olympic Gold Medalist,erstwhile Hour Record holder and winner of six Tour de France stages:  Chris Boardman.  

If he doesn't think riding a bicycle or crossing a street should require bravery, why should you--or anyone else?