Earlier this year, I asked Kentucky cyclists what their greatest fears were. In a totally unscientific tallying of the responses, here's my impression: The two most commonly cited fears were, unsurprisingly, getting hit by a moving car and getting doored. I can sympathize. I'm looking in the rear window of every single parked car I ride past  to see if there is a driver getting ready to exit the vehicle and throw me into traffic. 

I also asked what Kentucky cyclists fear that I had not considered. Boy, you all are creative bunch. Among the things you fear (and that I now have to consider) are:  

• Handle bars torque while at top speed going downhill.
• Vision impaired in both eyes due to cloud of gnats.
• Having your butt crack peek out of your pants as you bend forward to reduce wind resistance.
• Having a can thrown at you from a passing car window, looking down and then being smashed by a semi only to then have a bee sting you! 
• Being lasso'd in the middle of fricken nowhere and thrown in the back of a truck of a psycho woman and carted off to some hole in the ground.
• When in Kentucky... being bitten by dogs.
• Unexpected rain.
• River Road and people from the East end.
• I can't say that every single thing on this list is actionable in a court of law, but if you or a bicyclist you know are injured by a driver's carelessness, please, get a lawyer. If it's me, great. If not, that's fine, too. But, you need to get a lawyer so that the driver compensates you for all of your injuries. This includes your medical bills, lost time at work, property damage, and your physical pain and emotional suffering. 

Great infographic from ChangeLab Solutions about the trajectory of transportation policy in America and the effort to reclaim the bicycles' rightful place on our roadways. Plus, great quote from Susan B. Anthony:   

“I think [bicycling] has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat.”

— Susan B. Anthony

Riding my dad's old Raleigh ten-speed to my law office this morning, I started thinking about all the things that could go wrong for a bicycler, all the things that have  gone wrong for me. Being a bicycler is a lot like being a lawyer: it feels like the right thing to do, but seems fraught with more peril than is necessary. So, bicyclers, what do you fear when you hop in the saddle? (Because some of these events pose the risk of serious injury or death, when gauging your fears, weigh your perceived likelihood of the event occurring multiplied by the consequences of that event's occurrence.)

I'll tally these answers up and report back next week.