That was the question. Two weeks ago today, terrible news broke out across Toronto. A 38 year-old woman, mother and yoga teacher was killed by a truck while biking to pick her 5 year-old son up from school. She was also pregnant.

Her name was Jenna Morrison. I didn’t know her, but I wish I had. The outpouring of community support, as evidenced in a bike ride vigil that took place last week, demonstrated the scope of Jenna’s outreach to her peers. I spent many hours (too many, probably) feeling awful about this tragedy. As a mother myself I just can’t help but think of her poor son and husband, about the mother they loved and lost, and the sibling they will never know.

On the other end, I kept thinking about the brand shiny new bike in the attic right now–Sam’s Christmas gift–his first real two-wheeler. (He says two-wheelers that start out with training wheels don’t count).

We love to take family bike rides, but with the tragic Nov. 7th accident so fresh in my mind, I half-wanted to return the present. Even when Brian decided to bike to work last Monday–”It’s one of the last biking days of the year,” he said–my stomach lurched. “Be careful,” I kept saying, and only after “Don’t bike honey, please, don’t!” didn’t work.

But after a friend e-mailed me this ingenious idea :

my terror and paranoia softened. What kind of mother would I be if I portrayed cycling as anything less than one of the funnest, fastest and free (in more ways than one) ways to get around? I feel it would be doing a disservice to Jenna Morrison’s memory to view biking with fear. Watch the footage of her bike vigil, or watch the exhaust come out of your car–both are reasons to ride.

(Sidenote: the ‘LightLane’ is not yet for sale. The concept was developed for a design competition striving to promote transportation by bicycle. Although the LightLane did not win the competition it received overwhelming praise; thus the inventors remain in development perfecting the product. I’m not entirely sure how it works–certainly it requires lasers and reed switches–and I wouldn’t know where to begin estimating its cost).

“The car is a cage: it isolates people from their surroundings and ferries the passengers to a destination. A car driver rarely cares about the journey, rather it’s always about a place to be. Not so for us two wheeled folk. Whether you ride a pedal bike, scooter, e-bike or motorcycle, what unites us all is our appreciation for the environments we are in,” writes the Lilyboys motorcycle blog.

And, although I’d sooner give my left lung than let Sam (or Brian for that matter!) on a motorcycle, I’d have to say I agree. Sam will still get the Christmas present little boys dream of, but he’ll be unwrapping a new helmet, neon jacket and electric lights along with it. Promoting a sense of unity with one’s environment while doing one’s duties to protect it are valuable lessons no child should be without.

Please ride safely!

Sheryl