Dear Doctor Science,
How come no matter which direction I ride my bicycle, the wind blows
against me?
— Christopher Coughlin from Colorado Springs, CO
Were you born after 1950? I detect in your question a kind of “the
world owes me a living” whine that’s so prevalent in people of that
generation. Instead of feeling gratitude for the fact that you have a
bicycle, or two legs to ride it, you complain that bike riding moves
you through the sea of air, producing the effect of a wind on your
face. If you rode your bike in a vacuum, the troublesome wind would
vanish, but the cumbersome life support system you’d have to wear to
accomplish this would make a little headwind seem like a blessing.