Make mine a double-wide

Picture taken near the North Mesa 
athletic fields. Actually, I suspect 
the width is for ADA compliance.

Bicycling's June issue has a heart wrenching story ("Why Johnny Can't Ride") about a family that had to fight a land war in Asia against its own school district in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in order for their son to ride his bike to school. Few parents are this determined. As Bicycling's Chief Editor, Peter Flax, said in his own column, "... "...Many of us see ourselves as weekend warriors or bike racers or busy people who like to ride, and we don't fully wield our own power to make our communities a little better for bicycling". That is the whole problem in a nutshell. I penned a short email to Mr. Flax, whose 1.3 mile ride to school he shares with his own son I see as "One small ride for a man, a giant ride for mankind".

The epidemic of sedentary based diseases in the U.S, including Type II diabetes and obesity, poignantly demonstrated by the new, upsized outhouse pictured here, would be less of an issue if as a society, we overcame our irrational fears and societal prohibitions against letting our kids ride to school. Better yet, ride to work while you are at it. Thanks.