But.... I wouldn't download a car.

Correct me if I am wrong, but we are not running out of anything (except maybe hydrogen and helium? And oil). What we are running out of is easily/cheaply minable stuff. Are asteroids any more easily/cheaply minable than landfill or than implementing decent recycing?

I'd rather somebody not be killed in the first place though.

I ride about 10,000km/year (6214 miles says google). My commute is 48km (30 mile) round trip.

IME, if you ride car-like distance then bicycle require more maintenance/km than cars. However, bicycles are simpler and require less/cheaper tools and space to fix.

So, I do not think that jmichaelg is exaggerating (much), but to a certain extent I think {s,}he needs more spokes :) (seriously, I am not joking get yourself some 32-36h wheels for commuting, save the 20-24spoke wheels for racing and whatnot). Patching and bulk buying tubes can save a motza. Also commuting on a sora/tiagra level bike is a good idea, especially in the rain.

I find it difficult to keep track of what I spend and how to allocate it. We have 5 bikes at home and another on the way between the two of us. A lot (most, truth be told) of the expense is recreational, but in a year if I had just one bike for just transport I reckon I'd go through:

1 Cassette ~= $20-30
3 chains ~= $60
Lube ~= $5
2 tubes ~= $5-10
4 tyres ~= $120
Couple of spokes ~= $5
Set of cables ~= $40

~$255-270pa

Cheap... however if you take it to a bike shop to get all this done you would be looking at double to triple the cost once you add labour into the equation. This is also taking advantage of the high Australian dollar. In less economically weird times it could easily be double the above.

Saying that though, it is still cheaper than paying for just the insurance. Unfortunately we still have to pay that on our car anyway :(.

We invest the money we save.

Cyclists in Sydney, Australia are generally from an above average demographic as far as education and income go, so I do not think that we would be unusual in that.

FWIW, based on the fuel liter/100km of our car, we cover most of the CO2 generated by our electricity usage by cycling. Not that I give too much of a crap about that, I cycle for the fitness and fun benefits. Still, I can feel generally silently smug about it :).

Osmosis? Pah. I use spooky action at a distance. I had read your comment before you had even posted it.

"There is no proof, it's only a THEORY."

The way you use theory in this context is analogous to a scientific hypothesis, not a scientific theory which is more or less what you would call a fact.

In science, the concept of evolution is not disputed. The only disputes are over how it works.

"If man evolved from apes, then why do we still have apes?"

Man is an ape. Humans and chimps (including bonobos) have a common ancestor from which we evolved. IOW, chimps are as evolved as us.

But seriously, read some books. The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins is a good place to start.

Roughly equivalent to a library of congress or a fotball field.

Shouldn't the fact that their may be unmarked police cars patrolling be a deterrent in itself?

Hmmm... Not really. I am altruistic, but my genes are not.

Genes exists to reproduce, they do not (and have no ability to) care what they do to do so, e.g. build and elephant, human, bacteria, virus etc. They just reproduce. Any side effect of their reproduction, i.e. us, elephants, bananas, whatever, is completely unintentional (genes do not have intentions) and occurs only because it has proven a successful way for genes to reproduce themselves.

Genes just say "reproduce me.... but build a dugong first".

IOW, genes in various species survive better than some other genes because they created vehicles they use to reproduce (i.e. living things) which display altruism.

HFCS is radioactive?

21 years (at least).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See

Haunted me for weeks afterwards.

In Korea, only old people program bacteria.

The Bovine Centiped - Their Flesh Is His Fantasy.