On the Connection between Bikes, Buddys, and Bullying.

Someone yesterday asked me what the connection was between biking and bullying.  And I thought, nothing, nothing at all...and then I thought, everything, or well, realistically speaking, something.   I thought back to when we first get our bikes -- lower school?  5th 6th 7th grade?  We knew what a bike meant then -- it meant the flight after school, the getaway after dinner.  But to where?  I never really biked AWAY.  I always biked TO.  To a friend's house.   So off I went  by bike to see a buddy.  The bike helped me forge that important connection outside of my immediate family, outside of school hallways.  Aren't buddys made after school?  And don't our bikes carry us there?   So as I am biking across the country, sleeping in one Middle School after another, I wonder, to what extent do friends, real connections at this age, help kids cope with harassment, torment, and bullying?