He must be one hell of a tipper.

...The b escaped. "It's supposed to *not* shake your bones," etc. Though both had solid-rubber tires (or worse), the large, tension-spoked front wheel of an Ordinary provides a degree of cushioning for the worst bumps.

Pneumatic tires (and chain drives) helped make safety bikes practical.

The caveats are that "a majority of the actual voters" and "a majority of those qualified to vote" are far from synonyms, and it only takes a tiny majority to flip between red and blue.

In the past 50+ years, higher turnout = Dem victory. My GOP parents hoped for bad weather every Election Day.

Many do, especially in recent years. It's not impossible the term lingered -- my Dad called the refrigerator an "icebox" most of his life -- but an Ordinary isn't a boneshaker. It's supposed to *not* shake your ones. That was the point of 'em to begin with.

Strictly speaking, a "boneshaker" precedes the Ordinary and has two wheels of about the same size, pedals on the front wheel, a rudimentary frame and no suspension. The wheels are much closer than a modern "safety" bicycle.

Big wheel ordinaries are an effort to get more speed and a smoother ride.

That is...not ribs....

That seems needlessly cruel to coroners and brain researchers.

(It's also apparently impossible to steer.)

The interesting thing to me, and it's of a piece with the puzzles, ambiguity and internal contradictions of the series, is that Ordinary, as equipped, is nearly impossible to mount or dismount. Was it intentional? I don't know.

This deadly chaos is the enemy, even more than the politicians and fools who long for it. If it comes, it will leave damage for generations afterward. I'm no longer sure we will prevent it but we had damned well better try. 5/end

Arguably, the ending is a little too easy -- but it's miles and years from the ending of the larger (and, I hope, fictional) story it is told within, a story whose beginnings we never learn but can see all around us, a story written in blood and fire and loss. 4/5

...and only too likely. This is the future some of our fellow citizens think they want, bloody, divided and lawless, where "what kind of American are you?" is a life or death question and it's fatal to be too foreign in the wrong place at the wrong time. 3/5

One one level, the basic plot is "A Star Is Born" with street combat; on another, the divided future, with real war burning, people far behind the lines ignoring it, power cuts and water shortages nearer the lines, with quiet atrocities and fighters hardened to them feels only too real... 2/5

Don't give 'em any ideas.

That'd be a no.