By David Berman
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January 7, 2025
Please don’t. Never, ever, ride a bicycle outside. It is not a matter of if you are going to fall or have an accident. It is only a matter of when. Over the past several weeks, including this morning on my way to work, several people riding a bicycle almost died. One was a good friend of mine who recently spent more than a week in the ICU, had emergency cervical spine decompression, a chest tube placed to reinflate his lung, and still does not have full function of one of his arms. The other was this morning. A person riding a bicycle fell on the 86th street transverse and, luckily for her, a person driving a car saw her on the road in the middle of the [busy] street, placed his car in the middle of the street and protected her from traffic traveling in both directions. Given it was pitch black with very little illumination from streetlamps located dozens of yards apart – a miracle she did not get run over by traffic. He got out of his car, lifted her off the pavement and carried her to the sidewalk. The ONLY bicycle you should ride is a Peloton or similar indoor bike, which I think is one of the best forms of exercise available. I have over 17,500 miles on my Peloton, without ever traveling one inch. Wishes for a great day to all, each one a gift, Hugs too, David/