Glad I asked. Thank you for your thoughtful responses!

I've been thinking about this for awhile and had the vague feeling that there was a lot more to think about...kind of like when I see someone whose dog is hauling them down the street and I think...Jeepers, train your dog...if you can't do it yourself, get some help...kind of thing. I know what I'm talking about..but they are kind of clueless. That's how I felt at the beginning of ths thread.

to add:

Here in Portland, there was some discussion (bikeportland.org) about whether or not to press for seperated bike lanes....like they have in parts of Europe:

traffic /parked cars / bike lane / sidewalk. instead of

traffic / bike lane / parked cars / sidewalk

I could not think of a single reason NOT to do that...yet there was vociferous objection from the "cycles as vehicles" contingent.

If you/we/us want more people to ride, then it seems to me that there ought to be choices (as PscyclePath said) for riders of all temperements.
I would not want my 72 yr old mom, or my 13 yo niece to HAVE to ride in traffic...Yet I want them to be able to use their bikes as much as possible...

what to do?

But see...here I asked a question and already I'm expressing an opinion