H.G. Wells

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race."
H.G. Wells

What do you think he meant by this?
I'm an adult who has started riding his bike to work, and I was inspired when I read this. Should I be?

At the time he was speaking (I'm guessing late 1800s) the bicycle as we know it (two equal wheels, chain drive, steerable front wheel) was still fairly new. I think he meant that an adult on a bicycle means an adult willing to try new things, especially new, better things, rather than leaving the exploration to young people who will screw it up through general inexperience.

>>1
Look up early bicycles on google images or wherever and you'll see what he meant.

They looked ridiculous, and people riding them looked ridiculous - so much so, that riding one might be considered awesome (in our internet-age usage of the word) by people that were themselves awesome, like Wells certainly was.

>>3
You're thinking of the sort of bicycle that was already deprecated when Wells quoth this quote (unless he said it in his teens).