As you can see I started early. In the photo I'm already a "veteran" at 12 y/o. I was lucky to grow up in England, when, relatively speaking, the roads were blissfully free of motor traffic. I didn't think twice (and neither did my parents, evidently) of heading out into the South Shropshire Hills for a 60 mile spin.

In North America, due to a well-established hatred for the infernal combustion engine, I resisted driving until just shy of my thirties, when I took my driver's test. I still didn't own a car. The one I own now is parked and uninsured.

I have waited for the world to mature enough to discover the joys of bicycle travel but things just keep deteriorating. (And now gas is going down ... and don't get me started about the looming industry bailout)

I failed to convince my offspring of the same. They married acolytes of all things infernal-combustion: cars, motorcycles, ATVs.

Just to piss me off.