Kids say the darndest things!

I was riding home from work on Monday. A front went though in the afternoon. The temperature dropped and the wind came around from the north at 20-30 miles per hour. Naturally, I faced a headwind almost all the way home. About a mile from the house, I was pretty well cooked.

When I stopped at a red light on 86th Street, two teenage kids approached, walking on the sidewalk. They saw me standing in the center of the lane, waiting for the light to change.

"Hey! What are you doing in the middle of the road!" one yelled.

"Just going home from work, like everyone else", I replied.

"You're gonna get hit by a car riding like that!"

"No. I won't."

The light changed, and I rode off.

Kids only parrot what they've been told, and I've encountered kids like this before. The level of misinformation and outright lies about cycling is astounding. And it's difficult to counter when I'm waiting at a red light. Kids and adults believe that riding a bicycle on the road is an incredibly dangerous pursuit best left to those with a death-wish.

A few years ago, I was waiting for my son outside the elementary school. I worked an earlier shift then, just so I could meet him at the door at the end of the day. One of the fifth-graders told me with the certainty of the very young that I shouldn't ride my bike on the road. "It's too dangerous!" she said. "My MOM said so!" That settled it as far as she was concerned.

When these kids start driving, we'll have another bumper crop of totally clueless motorists telling us what's best for our safety.

Oh, the joy.