Originally Posted by
John Nelson
Nancy, to be fair, most of us here are touring cyclists who support your trip. So we are telling you what you want to hear and what we want to believe. But I don't think we're providing you with any useful scientific ammunition. Your supporters are really no more credible than your detractors. People will believe what they want to believe, and there's not much you can do about it other than ask your detractors for their sources.
If anybody blasts you for being a bad parent, it's up to that person to provide their sources up front. If that person doesn't have at least that much respect for you, it doesn't make much sense to give that person the benefit of the doubt.
Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
In the case of Nancy's sons, its easy to determine if there is a potential problem: do they get numb from riding? If they do, it's a problem. If they don't, no problem. I assume familial relations are good enough to elicit truthful answers.
This is the nut of it. If there is a problem, you're going to know about it, and it's nuts not to seek some sort of help. If there's no problem, there's no problem, no matter what some busybody thinks. And if the kids are sitting in a fairly upright position and aren't putting a lot of weight on the area in question, then there's every reason to think that there won't be a problem.