[Jesse_Ray]

I agree with the author concerning places with somewhat-level terrain, with short distances between home, work, and grocery stores, with police officers posted around these locations to ensure good traffic, and so on.

On the other hand, many places are not like that. Where I live, distances between important locations is often twenty-five miles or so, there are many hills that go up for hundreds of feet, there are many sharp curves, many cliff-like areas without rails, no sidewalks, hardly any police to ensure sane traffic conditions, people driving twenty or thirty MPH over the speed limit, vehicles taking shortcuts by cutting into opposite lanes, people driving home from bars and liquor stores in other counties which are not "dry", etc. Around places like this, biking is a fine way to die.

[angdis]

Fortunately most of don't live in such places! Cycling is a very good way to get around. Urban areas in particular have been making accommodations at a fantastic pace.

[shurane]

I think this advice is more geared towards city environments than it is to suburban ones, which are plagued with cars everywhere!