Saving the World - on a bicycle

"Are you NUTS? It's so dangerous. I would never ride a bike in New York."

A day doesn't go by that I don't get warned about my impending vehicular doom. Friends, family, even a guy on the street have said I'm on a suicide mission. Of course, that guy was taking a smoke break.

I respond with a combination of practicality (helmet, ear-drum rattling air horn and enough reflective lights to make me look like Las Vegas on Wheels) and magical thinking (since my best friend's former babysitter's cycling boyfriend was decapitated by a UPS truck, what are the odds?). So I figured perhaps it was best I actually get informed.

The results may surprise you.